Varsity Xtra football rankings as of Sept. 15:
1. Mountain Pointe 4-0
2. Red Mountain 4-0
3. Desert Vista 3-1
4. Brophy 3-2
5. Chandler 4-0
6. Hamilton 2-2
7. Basha 3-1
8. Desert Ridge 3-1
9. Desert Mountain 4-0
10. Westview 3-1
The top five remain the same as all teams won, while Hamilton begins its climb back up with a statement win over Desert Ridge. Basha led Chandler 17-0 at the half before falling apart but stays at No. 7 for now because it very well could have won. Desert Ridge drops three spots to No. 8. Desert Mountain jumps into the rankings by beating Chaparral, while Westview sticks at 10. Pinnacle is 4-0 on the season but drops just outside the top-10 because it had trouble putting away a winless North Canyon team.
1. Centennial 4-0
2. Marcos de Niza 4-0
3. Salpointe 4-1
4. Ironwood Ridge 4-0
5. Cesar Chavez 4-0
6. Horizon 4-0
7. Chaparral 1-3
8. Notre Dame 2-2
9. Cienega 3-1
10. Perry 2-2
The top-5 here remains the same as everyone was victorious. Horizon and Chaparral flip-flop after the Huskies remained undefeated and the Firebirds went down in the last seconds again, this time to Desert Mountain. Notre Dame got back on track with a rout of Goldwater to move up a couple spots, while Cienega jumps back into the rankings on the heels of three consecutive victories. Perry dropped a couple spots but at least hung with Marcos de Niza on Thursday night, while Apollo drops out after getting blown out by Centennial.
1. Sabino 4-0
2. Cactus 4-1
3. Saguaro 3-1
4. Queen Creek 4-0
5. Liberty 4-0
6. Desert Edge 4-0
7. Thunderbird 2-2
8. Williams Field 4-0
9. Sunrise Mountain 4-0
10. Paradise Valley 2-2
There is a flip at the top, as Sabino rises to No. 1 because Cactus had trouble putting away Greenway. The Cobras drop down to No. 2, followed by Saguaro, Queen Creek, Liberty and Desert Edge, which all won to stay pat. Thunderbird moves up to No. 7 by continuing to impress, while Williams Field drops another spot after barely beating Canyon del Oro. Sunrise Mountain moves up to No. 9, while Paradise Valley barely hangs on at No. 10.
1. Blue Ridge 4-0
2. Show Low 4-0
3. Coolidge 4-0
4. Seton Catholic 3-1
5. Mingus 3-1
No changes here as everyone won out this week. The Seton blowout win of San Tan Foothills was probably most surprising, in as much as the Sabercats were on the border of cracking the rankings and figured to make a better game against the shorthanded Sentinels.
1. NW Christian 4-0
2. Yuma Catholic 3-1
3. Scottsdale Christian 3-1
4. St. Johns 3-1
5. Tempe Prep 3-1
A week after its big win against Seton Catholic, Tempe Prep makes things murky by losing to Arizona Lutheran Academy. ALA is a good team, so it’s not like the Knights were going to cruise by any stretch, but it drops them to No. 5 while everyone else moves up a notch to fill the void, and, in fact, ALA makes a case for breaking into the rankings with a narrow loss to Phoenix Christian followed by three consecutive wins.
1. Pima 4-0
2. Mogollon 4-0
3. Scottsdale Prep at Veritas Prep 4-0
4. Joseph City 3-1
5. Joy Christian at Walden Grove 4-0
Joseph City falls from No. 1 after being hammered by Mogollon, 58-26, though another meeting could take place in late October or November between the schools. That pushes Pima to the No. 1 spot, and Mogollon makes a leap to No. 2 with the blowout victory. Joseph City falls to No. 4 for this week.
Chandler better regroup fast, because the Wolves have to travel to Ahwatukee and take on No. 1 Mountain Pointe. The Wolves won 35-24 at Chandler in last year’s meeting, but the Pride are a better team than in 2011, especially on offense. The Wolves will face a much-improved passing game and defense from last year’s version of the Pride, who are coming off an easy victory at Sierra Vista Buena in Tucson on Friday night.
Conversely, how will Basha handle Friday night’s hugely disappointing finish? The Bears also need to lick their wounds quickly because Highland isn’t going to help them heal.
Scottsdale might be the other place to be this week. Horizon and Pinnacle will tangle in a matchup of undefeateds. The Huskies and Pioneers each have yet to play against an elite team, and a battle of running games should emerge here.
Speaking of undefeateds, Desert Mountain is off to a storybook start at 4-0 after beating rival-Chaparral for the second time in the past five meetings. The Wolves get Notre Dame at Scottsdale Community College this week, as the Saints continue to deal with a difficult schedule in trying to squeeze into a playoff spot.
In the Southeast Valley, Desert Ridge is heavy favorites against neighboring Skyline, but the coaching connections (Skyline coach Angelo Paffumi was a Desert Ridge assistant until last spring) and kids familiar with one another should be a nice sideshow.
Though struggling for wins, Westwood has been a thorn in the side for a couple bigger schools already this year, and Mountain View is next on the Warrors’ list after the Toros enjoyed a blowout win at Glendale Mountain Ridge on Friday night.
For
more high school coverage, visit the East Valley Tribune's Varsity
Xtra.
