Shaun Aguano (foreground) & Norris Vaughan have combined to guide 3 of last 4 big-school champs. (AZPreps365 photo)

 

Eighty percent of  high seeds (36 of 40) took care of business in the first round of the 6A-2A football playoffs last weekend. Three East Valley schools were victims -- 6A No. 2 Desert Ridge, 5A defending champion and No. 7 Williams Field and 2A No. 7 Gilbert Christian.

Here's a glance at the quarterfinals. All games are  Friday Nov. 10 since school is out around the state:

6A

#8 Highland (8-3) at #1 Mountain Pointe (9-2): Rematch of defensive struggle won by Mountain Pointe late, 14-13.

#5 Hamilton (8-3) at #4 Perry (10-1): Rematch of offensive showcase won by Perry, 65-63. First one to 60 wins. (Hamilton would be 2-0 in that case dating back to last year's playoff)

#6 Pinnacle (9-3) at #3 Chandler (9-2): Rematch of overtime game won by Chandler, 35-28. Jacob Conover is back this time, but Billy Bolger threw 5 TD passes subbing for Conover.

#15 Westview (6-5) at #7 Red Mountain (9-2): As long as Red Mountain ( 9 wins in a row) heeds warning issued by upstart Westview (6 wins in a row) last week, the Lions should be OK. 

5A

#5 Queen Creek (10-1) at #4 Notre Dame Prep (11-0): Should be best game of the 5A quarters.

#10 Chaparral (8-3) at #2 Centennial (10-1): Jack Miller vs. Zidane Thomas. Centennial defense stands to be the difference.

4A

#6 Seton Catholic (9-2) at #3 Higley (10-1): Seton needs to get off to a better start in this rematch, but regardless Higley has too much for Sentinels.

#7 Peoria (8-3) at #2 Saguaro (9-2): Saguaro riding an 8-game winning streak. Peoria hasn't fared well against playoff contenders Sunrise Mountain and Cactus. Two of its three losses. 

3A

#5 Sabino (9-2) at #4 Benjamin Franklin (10-1): Retooled Sabino is last year's runner-up making its bid against red-hot newcomer Ben Franklin with 10 straight wins.

#6 Florence (8-2) at #3 Casteel (11-0): Florence's only two losses are to American Leadership and Ben Franklin. This is another tough get from the San Tan Valley. 

#7 Yuma Catholic (9-2) at #2 American Leadership (10-1): Defending champ ALA's only loss is to unbeaten Pusch Ridge. Yuma Catholic is game giving Casteel its toughest in-state game this year.

2A

#5 Scottsdale Christian (10-2) at #4 Santa Cruz Valley (10-0): Santa Cruz Valley possesses highly-touted defense (allowing 9 points game). Hasn't faced a top-10 team all year. SCA qualifies and is more playoff-caliber tested. Likely best game of 2A quarters.

#10 Tempe Prep (7-4) at #2 Phoenix Christian (11-0): Rematch won by Phoenix Christian, 65-15, a month ago.