Football regular-season wrapup Friday night (Oct. 30)

October 29, 2015 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365


Seems like yesterday it was Zero Week with temperatures in the 105-110 range and water breaks added to game times. But temperatures have cooled and playoff berths and section titles still need securing. Section titles are important for pride and chest-beating sake, but also earn automatic playoff berths for teams on the bubble or below the top 16 in its division -- teams such as Millennium in D-II, Prescott, Tempe High and Cesar Chavez in D-III and St. Johns in D-V.

Here's a look at all the section races by division, who has won its section and what ifs if section crown is unresolved:

DIVISION I

Section I:  Hamilton at Chandler winner wins section. Section II: Centennial wins by beating Liberty or with a Chaparral win over Pinnacle. Liberty wins if it beats Centennial and Chaparral loses to Pinnacle. Section III:  Mountain Pointe wins with victory over Red Mountain. Mountain Pointe also wins if Desert Ridge defeats Highland. Red Mountain wins section if it beats Mountain Pointe and Highland beats Desert Ridge.

Games of note: #1 Hamilton at #3 Chandler; #2 Mountain Pointe at #8 Red Mountain.

DIVISION II

Section I: Sunnyside clinches with win over Tucson. Salpointe prevails with win over Cienega and Sunnyside loss to Tucson. Section II:  Westview-Millennium winner on Friday is champ. Section III: Queen Creek is champ. Section IV: Skyline clinches if it beats Mesa or if Williams Field beats Westwood. A three-way tie among Skyline, WF and and Mesa and Skyline has advantage. Section V: Marcos de Niza is champ. Section VI: Saguaro clinches with win over Sandra Day O'Connor or if Apollo defeats Desert Mountain. SDO wins by beating Saguaro combined with Desert Mountain win over Apollo.

Games of note: #4 Ironwood Ridge at #19 Marana Mtn. View; #15 Tucson at #10 Sunnyside; #11 Apollo at #12 Desert Mountain; Cienega at #13 Salpointe; #17 Gilbert at #14 Corona del Sol; Dobson at #16 Higley; #18 Sahuaro at Buena; #7 Mesa at #1 Skyline; #24 Millennium at #6 Westview; #9 Sandra Day O'Connor at #8 Saguaro.

DIVISION III

Section I: Tempe clinches section with win over Seton Catholic. Arcadia wins section with win over McClintock and Tempe loss to Seton. A three-way tie among Tempe, Arcadia and Maricopa would designate Arcadia as section champ. Section II: Cibola is champ. Section III: Paradise Valley is champ. Section IV: Cesar Chavez-Betty Fairfax winner Friday is champ. Section V: Verrado-Desert Edge winner Friday is section champ. Section VI: Catalina Foothills or Marana will win section. CFH has a bye Friday. If Sabino defeats Marana, CFH wins section. If Marana beats Sabino, Marana wins section. Section VII: Sunnyslope is champ. Section VIII:  Mingus-Prescott winner Friday is champ. Section IX: Sunrise Mountain-Cactus winner Friday is champ. 

Games of note:  #9 Fairfax at #17 Cesar Chavez; #10 Sabino at#15 Marana; #11 Mingus at #22 Prescott; #12 Cactus at #2 Sunrise Mountain; #16 Bradshaw Mtn. at #13 Maricopa; Apache Junction at #14 Vista Grande; Safford at #18 Nogales; Seton at #19 Tempe. 

DIVISION IV

Section I: Show Low is champ. Section II: Pueblo is champ. Section III: Lake Havasu-River Valley winner Friday is champ. Section IV: Yuma Catholic is champ. Section V: Casa Grande is champ. Section VI: Pusch Ridge is champ.

Games of note: #22 Glendale at #13 Dysart;  #14 Payson at #2 Show Low; #20 Florence at #15; #5 Snowflake at #16 Winslow; Fountain HIlls at #17 Combs.

DIVISION V

Section I: Chinle is champ. Section II: Benson is champ. Section III: Joy Christian is champ. Section IV: St. Johns-Round Valley winner Friday is champ. Section V: Scottsdale Christian is champ. Section VI: Miami is champ. Section VII: Monument Valley is champ. Section VIII: Either Tempe Prep or American Leadership Academy will win section. Tempe Prep-American Leadership winner Friday winsit. If American Leadership beats Tempe Prep and Santa Cruz Valley beats Scottsdale Prep a three-way tie among TP, ALA and SCV ensues. Tiebreaker would go to ALA with a better division (not section) record. Santa Cruz Valley cannot win section outright or in tie situation. 

Games of note: #14 Round Valley at #16 St. Johns; #17 Valley Christian at Veritas; #6 Tempe Prep at #5 American Leadership Academy. 

DIVISION VI

The top four seeds join the playoffs after a first-round bye last week to host quarterfinal games. One game is set for Friday Oct. 30 -- #9 Glendale Prep at #1 Pima at 7 p.m. The other three games are set for Saturday Oct. 31 at 6 p.m. Those games are: #5 St. David at #4 Bagdad; #6 Gilbert Christian at #3 Superior and #7 Mogollon at #2 Valley Union.