Football walk through Week 11 (Oct. 27)

October 24, 2017 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365


This is it. Final week of football regular season for 6A-2A schools. Everybody except a few with byes play Friday Oct. 27. Playoff pairings will be computed Saturday morning (Oct. 28). There are still region titles up for grabs and playoff spots hanging in the balance. Here are matchups with East Valley and Northeast Valley schools. Current power ranking of each team listed (power ranking from Tuesday Oct. 24):

FRIDAY OCT. 27

6A

#3 Desert Ridge (8-1) at #6 Highland (7-2): Desert Ridge wins the region title with a victory. Highland can share the region title with Desert Ridge and Mountain Pointe with a win over Desert Ridge and with Mountain Pointe beating Gilbert in its finale. That would mean all three finish 4-1 in region. In that case the tiebreaker for the automatic region berth would go to Mountain Pointe by virute of a better conference record (8-1 vs. 8-2 for the other two). None of the three teams need the automatic berth to qualify.

#11 Desert Mountain (5-4) at #14 Boulder Creek (4-5): No chance for the Desert Valley Region title, but both are battling for spots with Boulder Creek's posiition a bit more dicey.

#21 Mesa (4-6) at #16 Mountain View (5-4): Mountain View is one of those bubble teams and must win and finish No. 15 or better. No guarantees, even with a win.

#10 Horizon (7-2) at #8 Pinnacle (7-3): The winner is the region champ. There could be a three-way tie at 4-1 among Horizon-Pinnacle-Boulder Creek (if Horizon defeats Pinnacle and Boulder Creek defeats Desert Mountain). In that scenario Horizon would earn the automatic region berth due to a better conference record (7-1 Horizon vs. 7-3 Pinnacle and 5-3 Boulder Creek).

#4 Hamilton (7-2) at #5 Chandler (7-2): Chandler wins the Premier Region title with a win. If Hamilton wins and Perry defeats Basha, a three-way tie among Chandler-Hamilton-Perry would exist. The tiebreaker would go to Perry with a better conference record (Perry 9-1, Hamilton 8-1, Chandler 7-2). All have clinched playoff berths.

#35 Corona del Sol (1-8) at #9 Desert Vista (5-4): Desert Vista has clinched playoff berth.

#13 Skyline (5-4) at  #31 Dobson (3-6): Skyline needs to win and should hang on for a playoff spot if that happens.

#17 Gilbert (4-5) at #2 Mountain Pointe (7-2): Gilbert needs upset in this one to have a shot at qualifying.

#7 Red Mountain (7-2) at #24 Westwood (4-5): Red Mountain has clinched playoff berth and East Valley Region title.

#23 Basha (2-7) at  #1 Perry (8-1): Perry has clinched playoff berth,

5A

#15 McClintock (6-3) at #19 Maricopa (5-4): After losing to Raymond Kellis in a close one last week, Maricopa needs the win badly to keep its hopes alive in the spirited battle for the final couple conference playoff berths. McClintock had the reverse outcome last week -- a narrow win over Sunnyslope that buoyed the Chargers' hopes. McClintock seeking its first playoff berth since 2009.

#13 Williams Field (7-2) at #2 Queen Creek (9-0): Winner wins the region title outright. Queen Creek is in the playoffs regardless and Williams Field likely is, win or lose. A loss to Queen Creek would almost be as good as a win for Williams Field in the power rankings given Queen Creek's strength of schedule.

#12 Campo Verde (7-2) at #27 Mesquite (3-6): Must win for Campo Verde. Last year at 7-3 the the Coyotes were bumped from the playoffs as the No. 15 seed. One would think 8-2 is enough to avoid that fate again.

#11 Chaparral (5-4) at #40 Arcadia (0-9): Chaparral has clinched a playoff berth.

#4 Notre Dame Prep (9-0) at #41 Vista Grande (0-9: Notre Dame's one-year probation is over. The Saints are marching into postseason.

#22 Poston Butte (5-4) at #33 Desert View (3-6): Poston Butte needs to win, but even that likely isn't enough.

#26 Paradise Valley (3-6) at #37 North Canyon (4-5)

4A

#25 Apache Junction (5-4) at #36 Combs (3-6): AJ has clinched the Black Canyon Region title and an automatic playoff berth. The Prospectors will bump a non-region champ with a higher power ranking.

#6 Seton Catholic (8-1) at #4 Higley (8-1); Winner takes the region title outright. Both headed to postseason.

#8 Cactus Shadows (6-3) at # 1 Saguaro (7-2): Winner takes region title outright. Both headed to postseason.

#10 Marcos de Niza (4-5) at #33 Tempe (1-8): Marcos in good shape win or lose. 

#34 Dysart (3-6) at #41 Coronado (1-8)

3A

#5 Florence (6-2) at #25 Coolidge (2-7): 3A playoff berths go to the top two teams in each region (that's 12 out of 16 teams) so four at-large berths available. Florence is in the running for one of the at-large berths. A win should secure one for the Gophers. Florence, this week's Sabino-Empire loser, Fountain Hills-Yuma Catholic loser and one of Blue Ridge, Show Low and Snowflake figure to gain at-large berths.

#11 Fountain Hills (6-3) at #8 Yuma Catholic (7-2): An automatic playoff berth goes to the winner.  The loser in decent shape for at-large. If #17 Ganado (an automatic qualifier) does not finish in the top 16 it would bump a higher ranked non-region and non-second place team. Ganado plays winless Window Rock in its finale.

#21 Valley Christian (3-6) at #3 Casteel (9-0): Casteel looking to finish perfect in its second season.

#4 Benjamin Franklin (8-1) at #27 Globe (2-7): Ben Franklin has berth tucked away.

#2 American Leadership Academy (8-1) at #16 Safford (4-5): ALA playoff bound.

2A

#5 Gilbert Christian (7-2) at #12 Arizona Lutheran (6-3): Both teams playoff bound.

#9 San Tan Foothills (7-2) at #27 Glendale Prep (4-5): San Tan Foothills is Metro East champion.

#36 Arizona College Prep (1-8) at #33 San Carlos (2-7)

#34 Joy Christian (1-8) at #6 Scottsdale Christian (8-2): Scottsdale Christian headed to postseason.

#16 Chandler Prep (6-3) at #40 Scottsdale Prep (0-9): Chandler Prep win needed and at least keeps it in the running. #15 Tonopah Valley wins Central Region if it defeats Paradise Honors. Otherwise #20 Kingman Academy is a region champ and likely would bump No. 16 seed.

#23 Parker (5-3) at #11 Tempe Prep (5-4): Tough schedule has kept Tempe Prep in the playoff hunt.