Week 1 AZ Football High School Showdowns

Football season is upon us. The wait is finally over. We can finally embrace the spirit of Friday night lights after a seemingly endless winter. Spring ball is back in session and the schedules have dropped along with several seven-on-seven highlights from Arizona’s top programs. With plenty of marquee matchups, it’s hard to say which one is the most important. The first week is always the most pivotal. Some may go out on a limb and say it’s a tone-setter. With the first week in the scope, we’ll take a dive at the seven biggest matchups of the week followed by the predictions. First, we’ll cover the action that will happen on Thursday and then to the Friday showings.

Higley vs Highland

Welcome to the club, Higley. We missed you.

After a dominant run as the quintessential 5A team to beat, Higley is back in 6A taking role in the 6A Central division and roommates with the likes of Williams Field, Shadow Ridge, Saguaro, and Brophy. The Knights had a short lived run in 6A previously, going 6-15 in 2 years. In 2022, the Knights won the 5A championship against the Cactus Cobras and followed that up with another 5A championship, blowing through opponents in the process. And coming off of an Open playoff berth, there is a strong reason why this Higley team is considered one of the best in the state.

Highland has been in a tricky spot for a few years now. After winning the 6A championship, they have been at a crossroads. They reached the Open in 2023 but were bumped out in the 2nd round to Liberty. Last year, their fate was met after losing a 24-0 lead to Casteel at halftime. The first half of the season last year showed a lot of promise, beating the soon-to-be 6A champs Centennial and eventually Chandler in very close showings. The last showing between these two teams dates back to 2020, where Highland won 33-22. It’ll be a hard fought game by both teams, but Highland will spoil Higley’s welcome home party

Highland by 8

Basha vs Brophy

Basha was the team to watch during the summer. If you were up to date with all sports media that gets around on social media, Basha was the premiere team during the seven-on-sevens. Had there been some sort of a rankings system during the summer, Basha would absolutely be at the top of the list. Unanimously. The Bears took home championships from the ASU Sevens Tournament and the U of A Tournament, the first team in Arizona high school football history to do so. The postseason has not been kind to them recently. Losing in the Open Championship to Liberty 35-17 and losing to Centennial 35-27 in the 2nd round of the Open the year before. If a few things had gone Basha's way, the Bears would be the team to beat. 

Brophy had their hearts broken by two Mesa teams, ironically on the same street, for two years in a row now. Once in the semi-finals by Red Mountain in 2023 and another time by Mountain View in 2024. On the cusp of Open contention in 2024, Brophy’s dreams were dashed after a loss to Salpointe in the waning weeks of the season. The fact of the matter is, this current stretch in Brophy’s history is one of the most successful in years. It’s close to the campaign they had in the late 2000s, both winning and losing in the 5A championship game.. The last matchup these teams had was back in 2023, where Basha took home the win 31-13. This is, for sure, going to be a barnburner of a match, one that Basha will reign supreme in.

Basha by 5

Hamilton vs ALA - Queen Creek

Similar to Basha and Brophy, the Patriots find themselves always on the outside looking in when it comes to playing in the Open. Their lone loss of the regular season came against Red Mountain on a last second field goal. It was the battle of the unbeatens, and Red Mountain would come out as the last unbeaten team in 6A. The Patriots ended up having the better season of the two, reaching the Open before being eliminated by Basha in the 2nd round while Red Mountain struggled in the latter half of the year, finishing their season with a first round loss to Centennial.

Hamilton is the sleeper team with studs like WR Roye Oliver and DT Derrick LeBlanc Jr, and a host of young talent. As far as the 2024 season goes, they did great with the schedule they had. They laid waste to their competition, blowing out teams like Valley Vista, Desert Vista, and even Chandler. #1 seeded Marana proved to be no challenge as the “underdogs” beat the Tigers 31-22 before being eliminated by Liberty 56-24.

Hamilton by 3

Liberty vs Mountain View

Colin Thomas and the Liberty Lions are chasing the 3-peat after another near flawless season. After being snubbed out of the #1 seed and settling on the #4 seed, it didn’t matter much to them. They dominated Higley and then Hamilton, followed by beating Basha in the Open championship, their second in a row after beating Centennial the year prior. Liberty was the presumed #1 seed last year. The main argument was that Liberty hasn’t lost to an Arizona team in 2 years and for good reason, they should have been #1 in the state. However, Marana became #1 and social media was lit on fire by having 4 5A teams and 4 6A teams in the Open. And the rest is history.

The Mountain View football program was resurrected by Andy Litten. The former Horizon coach has brought energy and life into a program that hasn’t seen this much success in a while. His 2nd year with the Toros came with a 6A championship berth, ultimately coming up short to Centennial in what is known as Richard Taylor’s final game. Though there were doubts of Mountain View’s fire power, considering they played against opponents with below .500 records, they showcased their weapons on full display against Red Mountain, ultimately knocking them out of the Open. Last year’s contest ended in a Liberty victory 49-20. If the cards are played correctly, this is the Toros year.

Liberty by 3

Now that we covered the Thursday games, let’s shift our focus to Friday.

Corona Del Sol vs Williams Field

The Aztecs haven’t found roots of success since their 2022 campaign where they finished 8-2 in the regular season before getting beat in the first round by the Mesa Jackrabbits. They go into this season without Jake Barro, who resigned after 3 years. Eric Lauer from nearby Mountain Pointe will be taking the reins. Following a disappointing 3-7 campaign, there is reason and optimism for improvement. A new coach and new environment is all it takes for a team to be great again.

Steve Campbell is one of many journeymen coaches. Like Richard Taylor, Campbell has been there since day one, earning a 158-51 career record. Entering his 18th year and rebounding from a disappointing season last year, there is a lot of optimism with this Blackhawks program. Williams Field won the 6A title at the ASU sevens meet and impressed against the likes of Chandler and Brophy. Junior wideout Trey Smith is poised to have a breakout year after winning MVP honors in Tempe, not to mention multiple offers to his name. Q Skillings had a great year too, treading 767 rushing yards with 14 TDs. Williams Field was the most recent winner in the series, beating the Aztecs 13-7.

Williams Field by 13

Shadow Ridge vs Mesa

Keep calm and carry on. A motto of Mesa that has withstood the test of time.

Chad DeGrenier, after a 31-30 campaign in his 6 years as Mesa’s head guy, left in the offseason to be the first head coach of the Arizona Bandits, a minor league arena football team. Taking his place is the former Verrado head coach Jeremy Hathcock. In his lone season at Verrado, he took them to the 5A state championship. Previously, in the 14 years he was at Desert Ridge, he elevated the program to 2 6A championship games. Turning over a new stone, Mesa wants to get back to their Jim Rattay days. It was during this time where the Jackrabbits captured state titles. 

Shadow Ridge has a gauntlet of a region with the likes of Higley, Saguaro and Brophy. The Stallions have been ranked considerably one of the worst teams in 6A, finishing 25th after regular season play. The opportunity for improvement is there. Mike Zdebski’s experience in high school football is proven noteworthy. His reign with Hamilton began with a 3-7 record, the worst in Hamilton’s history. The years that followed were much better. Taking them to postseason after postseason.

Mesa by 20

Chandler vs Centennial

Richard Taylor’s last hurrah ended in a 6A championship victory against the Toros 31-21. Before the season had even started, Centennial was predicted to be in the Open championship but their gauntlet of a schedule got the best of them. Seeing a 13th seed in the championship, the first reaction was to assume this was a Cinderella story in the making. Not in this case. Centennial was predicted by main outlets, even azcentral, as the team to win the Open. With a 3-7 record with their lone wins being against Boulder Creek, Saguaro, and Chaparral and their seven losses against teams like Liberty, Queen Creek, and Brophy. The Coyotes caught a surge of life once the transfer rule was up. This factor played a key role in the Coyotes championship run.

The Rich Garretson era of Chandler Wolves football has come to a close. Garretson started his stint with Chandler with a bang. Back-to-back Open championships when the Open was first introduced. He was the predecessor to Shaun Aguano, who he previously was the offensive coordinator under. The Chandler Wolves finished the year with their worst record (5-6) since 2005. Times call for change, and the Wolves found their new guy after Garretson retired in the offseason. Ty Wisdom has returned to Arizona high school football. After a brief stint in Nebraska as part of Millard South, he had early success in turning around Horizon and Desert Vista. Will his expertise and experience be enough to top Centennial? Only time will tell.

Centennial by 10