6A

Highland (4-0) at Basha (4-0)

Desert Ridge (2-2) at Corona del Sol (1-3)

Maryvale (0-4) at Mesa (1-3)

Hamilton (2-2) at Mountain Pointe (1-2)

Brophy Prep (3-1) at Mountain View (1-3)

Desert Vista (3-0) at North (1-3)

Cesar Chavez (2-2) at Perry (3-1)

Skyline (1-3) at Queen Creek (3-1)

Westview (2-1) at Red Mountain (3-1)

Chaparral (3-0) at Saguaro (3-1)

Dobson (1-3) at Westwood (2-2)

One of Basha-Highland will head to the turn of the 2018 season Friday night guaranteed a .500 record. Not too surprising given Highland's play from last year has carried over. Basha has regrouped under new head coach Chris McDonald. While none of the Bears wins have come against a winning team, they're averaging 34 points a game and allowing 12. Quarterbacks Connor Phelan and Gabe Friend are playing well behind center combining for nearly 916 yards through the air. Running back Cole Lundberg leads in rushing averaging 114 yards per game. Highland's schedule has been slightly more rigorous. Running backs Kohner Cullimore, Dayton Huffman and Daniel Wood each have 200 yards or more rushing and have combined for 14 TDs. It's all region games after this week for Highland with Mountain Pointe, Queen Creek, Desert Vista, Desert Ridge and Corona. Schools with winning streaks of three intact are Brophy Prep and Perry. Desert Vista and Chaparral put their 3-0 marks on the line this week. Desert Vista has the better chance of moving to 4-0 vs. North. Chaparral-Saguaro renew a rivalry that has been idle since 2014. That was the senior year for the Sabercats' and now Arizona Cardinal, Christian Kirk. Chaparral had a bye last week while Saguaro knocked off another sister school, Desert Mountain, with ease. Chaparral is led by the Jack MIller-Tommy Christokas pitch--and-catch duo. Miller is averaging 312 yards passing per game and Christokas160 yards receiving per outing. Saguaro junior quarterback Tyler Beverett had his best game of the season connecting on 10 of 16 passes -- five went for TDs in win over Desert Mountain.

 

5A

North Canyon (1-3) at Carl Hayden (1-3)

Raymond Kellis (0-3) at Casteel (3-1)

Paradise Valley (3-0) at Flowing Wells (3-1)

Millennium (3-0) at Higley (3-1)

Williams Field (3-1) at Marana (4-0)

Central (0-4) at Maricopa (3-1)

Horizon (1-3) at McClintock (3-1)

Desert Mountain (0-4) at Notre Dame Prep (4-0)

Cactus Shadows (2-2) at South Mountain (1-3)

Gilbert (3-1) at Sunrise Mountain (1-2)

Campo Verde (4-0) at Verrado (1-2)

The most inviting games of the week -- Williams Field-Marana and Millennium-Higley. Williams Field has won three in a row and Marana has found the 5A waters to its liking moving up from 4A. Marana has pitched two shutouts and Williams Field's allowed only three points the last two weeks. Marana quarterback Trenton Bourguet has accounted for 1,300 all-purpose yards (rushing and passing) and 12 TDs thus far. Defense is where it's at for Williams Field. So far for Millennium-Higley they've entertained fans with mostly close games. Millennium has won its three games by a total of nine points. Getting it done when it matters. Higley was doing the same in its first two games then graduated to a rout in Week 3. Last week the Knights were routed in California by Moorpark, CA, 35-7. The last time Higley scored seven points or fewer in a game -- 62 games ago in 2012. Casteel has rebounded from an opening loss to Centennial with three wins. Campo Verde is the lone unbeaten team in the San Tan Region. Notre Dame Prep is kicking tail and taking names with four blowout wins. McClintock is 3-0 after losing its opener to Maricopa and Maricopa's only loss is to Millennium.Gilbert bounced back nicely to top Goldwater last week after a 47-0 shellacking from NDP.

 

4A

Mesquite (1-3) at Buckeye (2-2)

Seton Catholic (3-0) at Combs (0-3)

Poston Butte (2-2) at Desert Edge (2-2)

Tempe (2-1) at Marcos de Niza (0-3)

Arcadia (4-0) at Shadow Mountain (1-2)

 

Arcadia and Seton have thrown up zeroes in the loss column so far. Arcadia is lightling up the scoreboard averaging 46 points a game. Dropping from 5A to 4A has helped. The Titans wins are over Coronado (0-3), Deer Valley (0-3), Washington (1-2) and St. Mary's (1-2). Seton has topped St. Mary's (1-2), Xavier Prep of Palm Desert , CA (1-3) and knocked Mingus (3-1) from the unbeaten ranks last week. Tempe-Marcos de Niza have played each of the last three years with Marcos de Niza prevailing in all three. Prior to that the sister schools hadn't met in the new millennium and not since the mid-1980s. Marcos de Niza will honor former coach Frank Castro at Friday's game with the Buffaloes. Castro was head coach at Marcos from 1980-88 and moved over to assist at Tempe High from 1990-96 among his many coaching stops. Marcos is seeking its first win for new coach Eric Lauer.

3A

Kingman (3-0) at Americain Leadership Ironwood (0-4)

Yuma Cathoic (2-1) at American Leadership Queen Creek (3-1)

Coolidge (4-0) at Benjamin Franklin (2-2)

Arizona College Prep (0-3) at Chino Valley (2-1)

Odyssey Institute (3-0) at Florence (0-3)

Coronado (0-3) at Kingman Academy (0-3)

American Leadership Gilbert (2-2) at Northwest Christian (2-1)

Valley Christian (2-1) at Page (3-1)

Gilbert Christian (0-3) at River Valley (0-3)

Monument Valley (0-3) at San Tan Foothills (1-2)

Fountain Hills (1-2) at Wickenburg (3-0)

Yuma Catholic-American Leadership Queen Creek met for the first time ever last season - in the 3A quarters. ALA won on the field, 28-21, but had to forfeit games for the use of ineligible player. Yuma Catholic has veteran skill players who again are producing at a high level. Quarterback Gage Reece, running back Ean Chavez and receiver John Henderson are putting up big numbers -- 75 percent of the yardage from the line of scrimmage. The Shamrocks try to bounce back from a 41-20 loss to Brawley, CA last week. ALA-QC has played two of the best teams in 2A beating Phoenix Christian 23-20 last week and losing in Week 2 to Thatcher, 30-10. ALA-QC is young, filling many holes from a massive 2018 senior class. 

 

2A

Tempe Prep (2-2) at Arizona Lutheran (3-0) -- Sept. 12

Veritas Prep (2-2) at Scottsale Christian (2-1)

Chandler Prep (3-1) at Trivium Prep (4-0)

Tempe Prep-Arizona Lutheran play on Wednesday, an odd day for a varsity football game. Arizona Lutheran defeated a good 3A Valley Christian team, 23-21. ALA senior quarterback Jamie Heyn and senior running back  Brandon Garcia keyed a 261-yard rushing attack that won last week's nail-biter. Defense helped as cornerback Matthew Bernthal came up with two picks and seven tackles. Tempe Prep is getting situated with new coach Larry Cain. All of Tempe Prep's games have been lopsided. Its wins are over Valley Lutheran and Heritage Academy (combined 1-6 record) and losses to St. Johns and North Pointe Prep (combined 6-1 record).