A lot of upheaval as quarterfinal action dawns Friday (Nov. 14) in the Division II football playoffs.

Defending champion Salpointe was vanquished as upstart Sunnyslope kept its perfect record intact. Add to that one of the bonafide, pre-tournament favorites and No. 2 seed  -- Ironwood Ridge - was stunned by #15 seed Sunnyside. Three lower-seeds prevailed in the opening round -- three of the double-digit variety (Marcos de Niza, Chaparral and Sunnyside).  Only four of the final eight from last year are still playing  (Liberty, Centennial, Marcos de Niza and Chaparral).

Are more surprises on the way?  Perhaps. D-II was arguably the most wide open tournament when brackets were released. First-round results are proof. Here's a look at at each pairing:

#8 Paradise Valley (10-1) at #1 Liberty (10-1): Paradise Valley is one of the surprise teams in the division as new coach Greg Davis has guided the Trojans to a section title after following longtime head coach Donnie Yantis. PV has prevailed with solid play on both sides of the ball and taken care of business in its wins. It's only loss was to D-I Horizon. Junior quarterback Daniel Bridge-Gadd pilots the offense. The Trojans have a 1,000-yard rusher in senior Bailey Thompson and a big-play receiver in junior Jacob Brown. Bridge-Gadd has passed for 2,528 yards, 40 TD with only seven picks. The Trojans schedule hasn't been particulary meaty with the marquee victory over Chaparral two weeks ago. Liberty is a big hurdle to leap. Liberty's only loss came early on to Centennial. The Lions haven't lost since Sept. 26 and opened the season with impressive wins over Ironwood Ridge and Desert Edge. Mulitple-sport talent Tyler Wyatt is the quarterback and kicker helping put up plenty of points. Wyatt has thrown for 16 TDs with the go-to guys juniors Alex and Deyton Jackson. Wyatt has made 6-of-12 field goals, including a long of 47. Running back Jake Schuiteboer is a few yards shy of the 1,000-yard mark for the season after rushing for 119 and two TDs last week.

#12 Marcos de Niza (7-4) at #4 Cienega (10-1): It's been an up-and-down season for Marcos de Niza under new coach Sean Morin, but the Padres are where they usually are -- the final eight or better. A rout of No. 5 Deer Valley was an attention-getter. Quarterback Nazareth Greer sliced and diced Deer Valley for 350 yards and four touchdowns in the 42-7 romp. Greer spreads the wealth with his throws with Luke Nguyen and Anthony Trujillo combining for 16 TD receptions.Nguyen, however, was lost for the season last week with a dislocated hip vs. Deer Valley. Marcos has faced six playoff teams (D-I, D-II and D-III) and gone 3-3. Cienega is in the midst of a 10-game winning streak with its only blemish a season-opening loss to eliminated-Ironwood Ridge. The Bobcats, like Marcos de Niza, have faced six playoff teams (D-I, D-II and D-III) and gone 5-1 in those. Quarterback Adriell Alvarado has been as efficient as any quarterback. Alvarado's thrown 16 TD passes and been intercepted only once. Cienega features a balanced offense. On the ground that comes primarily from Francisco Dicochea (1,214 yards and 14 TDs). Dicochea and Alvarado combined for three TDs in the first-round win over Poston Butte. Versaltie, two-way starter Terrence Johnson had 101 all-purpose yards, rushed for a TD and nabbed his fifth interception of the season vs. Poston Butte.

#6 Sunnyslope (11-0) at #3 Centennial (9-2): Sunnyslope is 21-1 the last two seasons and avoided a first round defeat this year by beating last year's state champ Salpointe, who by season's end was a shell of last year's champ. Sunnyslope running backs Tim Fryson and Joey Smith are 1,000-yard rushers and quarterback Mason Cheatham has thrown for 1,578 yards and 19 TDs. Sunnyslope has faced only two playoff teams (St. Mary's and Salpointe) the past two weeks. This is a marquee test for the Vikiings. Centennial has won nine games in a row and is itching to erase last year's painful quarterfinal exit to Deer Valley. The Coyotes only losses are to D-I Chandler and Basha and they've beaten Liberty and Brophy. Centennial's top weapon -- running back Dedrick Young -- is fresh for postseason averaging just 12 carries a game in 11 starts. Young picked up 89 yards on nine carries last week in the win over Lake Havasu and has 1,098 yards for the year. He has double-digit carries in only four games. Centennial got plenty of rest last week building a 42-0 lead over Havasu at the half. A running clock was used the entire second half making it a quick, tidy contest.     

#15 Sunnyside (7-4) at #10 Chaparral: (8-3): These teams had a heavy Valley-Tucson rivalry going from 2000 to 2004 as both were title-cailber squads. They played five times in that span with Chaparral winning three out of five, including their state-championship matchup in 2000. Sunnyside doesn't have a star, but quarterback Isaiah Salazar came up big last week in the upset of No. 2 Ironwood Ridge. Salazar passed for 238 yards and four TDs and rushed for99 yards and another tally. Salazar missed three games in September. Running back Carlos Lara leads the ground game. Sunnyside was 0-4 vs. playoff teams prior to last week's win over Ironwood Ridge. Chaparral also is without a household name offensively since quarterback Sean Paul Brophy went down with a fractured clavicle a few weeks back. Grayson Barry filled in admirably once during the regular season and last week. A backfield by committee worked well in the whitewash of Westwood last week. Spencer Greenberg, Gabe Lutz and ian Nadel led a potent rushing game. Chaparral regained its swagger after a loss to Paradise Valley, but has to cut out excessive penalties that have hampered it all season.

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