By Don Ketchum

The push for the playoffs continues as teams enter Week 7.

Here is a look at some of the top games for teams in Scottsdale, Phoenix, the southwest, northwest and north Valley, and northern Arizona . . .

There will be a few more games than usual on Thursday (Oct. 4), with the majority of the games remaining on Friday (Oct. 5).

Games on Thursday are Rough Rock at Ganado, Laveen Cesar Chavez at Phoenix Camelback, Glendale Copper Canyon at Avondale La Joya, Tempe McClintock at Phoenix South Mountain, Surprise Shadow Ridge at Goodyear Desert Edge, Glendale Deer Valley at Peoria Centennial, Phoenix Trevor Browne at Phoenix Alhambra, Phoenix Central at Glendale Ironwood and Peoria Sunrise Mountain at Phoenix North.

Among Friday’s best . . .

Phoenix Arizona Lutheran (5-1, Division V, Section II) at Phoenix Northwest Christian (6-0, DV, SII) – After a loss to Phoenix Christian in its opener, Arizona Lutheran has continued to roll. The Coyotes traditionally have had a strong running game. Northwest’s defense is its strong point and safety Trevor Osborne is one of the top players in the state, regardless of division.

Phoenix Brophy Prep (5-2, DI, SIII) at Avondale Westview (5-1, DI, SI) – Westview must find a way to derail a Brophy crew that regained a ton of momentum last week with its big win over Phoenix Mountain Pointe.

Glendale Mountain Ridge (3-3, DI, SIII) at Phoenix Pinnacle (5-1, DI, SIII) – Pinnacle was knocked from the unbeaten ranks last week by Mesa Mountain View and must attempt to rebound against a Mountain Ridge team that has won two in a row.

Glendale Raymond S. Kellis (4-2, DII, SI) at Laveen Betty H. Fairfax (5-1, DII, SI) – Betty H. Fairfax is 15^th in the AIA’s most recent seedings and Raymond S. Kellis 16^th. This game is as big to them as if it were No. 1 vs. No. 2. Staying alive in the playoff race is of the utmost importance, even if it means playing Tucson Ironwood Ridge, Peoria Centennial or Tempe Marcos de Niza in the opening round.

Payson (4-2, DIV, SIII) at Cottonwood Mingus (5-1, DIV, SIII) – Mingus wants to keep pace with teams such as Lakeside Blue Ridge and Show Low, and Payson wants to increase its standing on the seedings list. Could this be a playoff preview?

Joseph City (5-1, DVI, SI) at Bagdad (5-1, DVI, SIII) – You rarely stop offenses cold in the eight-man game, you just hope to slow them down. That is Bagdad’s goal going into this game against one of the division’s top scoring teams while seeing if its own offense is up to the task.