After three weeks of high school football across the state of Arizona, nine Tucson-area teams (plus Buena in Sierra Vista) enter the new week undefeated. This Friday’s slate features a couple longstanding west side rivalries, the Santa Cruz County rivalry and perhaps the start of a new east side rivalry in Sabino versus Mica Mountain.
All games start at 7 p.m.
ClASS
6A
Salpointe Catholic (2-0)
at Surprise Shadow Ridge (1-1)
Location: 10909 North Perryville Road
Notable: Salpointe had six players on the statewide Ed Doherty Award watch list. Doherty coached at Salpointe as well as UA, ASU and the Philadelphia Eagles.
CLASS 5A
Catalina Foothills (1-1)
at Buena (2-0)
Location: 5225 East Buena School Boulevard, Sierra Vista
Notable: After opening with San Tan Valley Combs and Yuma Catholic, the Falcons get Buena still having yet to play a Tucson team.
Desert View (2-0)
at Canyon del Oro (2-0)
Location: 25 West Calle Concordia
Notable: Last season CDO beat Desert View 38-7 at home on Sept. 16.
Tucson High (1-1) at Cienega (1-1)
Location: 12775 East Mary Ann Cleveland Way
Notable: The Bobcats are 4-0 all-time against Tucson High.
Ironwood Ridge (1-1)
at Empire (1-1)
Location: 10701 East Mary Ann Cleveland Way
Notable: Ironwood Ridge opened in 2001 and Empire opened in 2005.
Amphitheater (1-1)
at Flowing Wells (0-2)
Location: 3725 North Flowing Wells Road
Notable: Flowing Wells leads the Battle for Prince Road in the MaxPreps era (since 2004) 9-7. The Cabs won last year after Amphi had won three in a row.
Marana (1-1)
at Gilbert Higley (2-0)
Location: 4068 East Pecos Road, Gilbert
Notable: Game four of the Tigers’ four-game (at least) road trip to start the season sees them go to Gilbert.
Rio Rico (0-2) at Nogales (0-2)
Location: 1905 Apache Boulevard, Nogales
Notable: Nogales leads the Santa Cruz County rivalry 13-1 but that one Hawks win came last year.
Sunnyside (1-1) at
Glendale Raymond S. Kellis (1-1)
Location: 8990 West Orangewood Avenue, Glendale
Notable: The Blue Devils open the season with three straight road games after playing no games on campus last year.
Maricopa (1-1) at Sahuarita (1-1)
Location: 350 West Sahuarita Road
Notable: The Mustangs’ last win at home was Oct. 1 2021.
Mountain View (0-2)
at Peoria Sunrise Mountain (0-2)
Location: 21200 North 83rd Avenue, Peoria
Notable: The Mountain Lions have lost three games in a row.
CLASS 4A
Pueblo (1-1) at Cholla (2-0)
Location: 2001 West Starr Pass Boulevard
Notable: Pueblo leads the Battle for the Santa Cruz 13-4 in the MaxPreps era (since 2004) but Cholla is 2-0 for the first time since 2017.
Sahuaro (0-2) at Douglas (1-1)
Location: 1550 15th Street, Douglas
Notable: According to azfootballarchives.com, the Cougars are 8-0 all time against Douglas, a series that started in 1970 with a 16-6 Sahuaro win.
Sabino (3-0)
at Mica Mountain (2-0)
Location: 10800 East Valencia Road
Notable: It’s the second 2-0 start in three years of varsity play for Mica Mountain. They also were 2-0 in 2021, finishing 3-3.
Safford (1-2)
at Rincon/University (2-0)
Location: 421 North Arcadia Avenue
Notable: The Rangers are 2-0 for the first time since 2010. They also doubled their 2022 and 2021 win totals.
CLASS 3A
Pusch Ridge Christian (2-0)
at Yuma (0-3)
Location: 400 South Sixth Avenue, Yuma
Notable: In 1910 Yuma High School moved into the abandoned Yuma Territorial Prison and in 1913 after moving into their new building, YHS beat Phoenix and the angry Coyotes dubbed the Yuma players “Criminals” giving Yuma their famous nickname.
CLASS 2A
Florence ALA — Anthem South (0-3) at Catalina (2-0)
Location: 3645 East Pima Street
Notable: The Trojans are 2-0 for the first time since 2017 after their 52-0 win last week over Winterhaven (Calif.) San Pasqual Valley.
Scottsdale Coronado (0-3)
at Palo Verde (0-2)
Location: 1302 South Avenida Vega
Notable: The Dons forfeited their game last week against Teec Nos Pos Red Mesa and have lost 18 in a row.