Heading up to North Scottsdale this week for a big 5A matchup between Cactus and Desert Mountain.

Cactus (2-1) rallied to score the last 27 points of the game (all in the 4th quarter) in a 41-30 win over O'Connor last Friday. It was a school-record game from Juju Stubblefield, who had 16 catches for 224 yards. One concern - the Cobras were limited to just 12 yards rushing.

Desert Mountain (3-0) made the Open last year, but graduated a lot off of that team. The Wolves have been sound defensively, though allowing just 21 points so far. The defense even scored the first 4 points of the game in last week's 18-7 win over rival Chaparral with a pair of safeties. No stats posted on MaxPreps from that one yet (hint-hint), but QB Bryce Herges threw 7 total TD passes in the Wolves' first 2 wins.

It's been 9 years since I've seen a game out at DMHS. Should be an entertaining one!

Heading out to the East Valley this week to see a pair of talented young QBs as Perry plays host to Queen Creek this Friday. Both teams come in at 2-0.

Queen Creek brings Clemson commit Tait Reynolds, who I haven't seen play live yet. The Bulldogs could equal their win total from all of last year this week. A dual-threat, Reynolds is averaging 224 passing yards for QC and also running for 129 yards per game. He's surpassed the 100-yard mark in each game. QCHS had a dramatic come-from-behind victory last week against Casteel, 39-38. This week brings another chance to take out a team from the CUSD.

Perry has sophomore QB Kael Snyder, who has thrown 7 TD passes in his first 2 varsity starts. He is coming off an Honor Bowl MVP performance against Granite Hills in San Diego, where he was 22-of-33 for 250 yards and a touchdown pass in a 39-21 win. Perry also has a two-way star in Maddox Ford, who has rushed for 109 yards and has 10 tackles and an interception from his linebacker position. Ford had 11 sacks last year as a sophomore.

So who will go to 3-0? I'll be on hand in Gilbert to find out on Friday night!

The Arizona Varsity AALL Power 25 (9/5/24)


Chilly and I had a debate over #1, and even though we went with Liberty... he might have been right.

This Friday, I'll be heading to Scottsdale to see a consensus-Top 10 team in the 5A Conference as Horizon (1-0) plays host to Marana Mountain View (1-0).

Horizon brought the offensive firepower in a 48-8 win at Canyon View last week. Quarterback Jase Ashley (252 yards) threw 2 of his 3 TD passes to Jordan Partridge (117 yards). Bodie Zamorano added 102 yards on the ground and 3 rushing touchdowns for the Huskies.

Marana Mountain View held Gilbert to just 68 passing yards in a 23-21 victory last week. The defensive came up big for the Mountain Lions as Diego Gomez had 2 of the team's 3 interceptions and Julien Sanchez had 2 of Mountain View's 3 sacks. The Lions had to rally as they trailed 21-17 before Gomez had a long punt return with less than 3 minutes to go. Damien Wallace then connected with Michael Davis for the game-winning TD with less than a minute to go. In Year 16 of covering HS games, this will be my first Marana MV game!

Can Mountain View get some more magic and pull off the stunner, or will Horizon put another pounding on in its home opener? I'll be on hand to find out.

Arizona Varsity High School Football 2A-6A Rankings- 8/29/24