PHOENIX — From Gilbert to Glendale and Tucson to Sierra Vista, high school football playoff action took center stage as teams continued to battle it out for state championships!
And we're making sure to follow all of the action on the 35th season of Friday Night Fever, Arizona's No. 1 and longest-running high school football show.
On Friday night, the number of teams still alive in the 5A playoffs got whittled down to just four after the quarterfinals.
In this article, we'll show you the scores of each game and take a look ahead to the semifinals.
12Sports has also been following all of the high school playoff action this fall.
- To find the latest on the Open Division playoffs, click here.
- To find the latest on the 6A playoffs, click here.
- To find the latest on the 4A playoffs, click here.
- To find the latest on the 3A playoffs, click here.
- To find the latest on the 2A playoffs, click here.
- To see who won the state championship in 1A, click here.
- To find the latest on the 4A, 5A and 6A flag football playoffs, click here.
5A Playoffs Quarterfinals Scores
- No. 1 ALA-Gilbert North defeated No. 8 Campo Verde, 42-7
- No. 7 Desert Edge upset No. 2 Tucson, 30-14
- No. 6 Verrado upset No. 3 Buena, 41-26
- No. 4 Cactus defeated 12 Raymond S. Kellis, 21-6
5A Playoffs Semifinals Matchups
No. 1 ALA-Gilbert North vs. No. 4 Cactus
- ALA-Gilbert North is 9-3 this year with losses to ALA-Queen Creek (6A team selected to play in the Open Division), Desert Mountain (selected to play in the Open Division) and Notre Dame Prep.
- Cactus is 9-3 this year with losses to Snowflake (4A semifinalist), Desert Mountain (Open Division) and Desert Edge (5A semifinalist)
- This will be the first-ever football game between ALA-Gilbert North and Cactus, according to MaxPreps.
- With a win, Cactus will advance to the 11th state championship game in school history
- Cactus has won three state titles:
- 4A Division I in 2005
- 4A Division II in 2006
- 4A Division II in 2009
- Cactus' last state championship appearance came in 2022, when they lost to Higley in the 5A State Championship Game.
- Cactus has won three state titles:
- With a win, ALA-Gilbert North will advance to the second state championship in school history
- ALA-GN won the 4A state title in 2022 when they beat Snowflake, 28-14.
No. 7 Desert Edge vs. No. 6 Verrado
- This will be a rematch between the two Desert West region rivals
- Verrado defeated Desert Edge, 17-10, in the teams' regular-season finale on Nov. 8.
- Verrado is 10-2 this year with losses to Desert Mountain (which was selected to play in the Open Division) and Cactus
- Desert Edge is 8-4 this year with losses to Liberty (6A team selected to play in the Open Division), Notre Dame Prep, Higley (selected to play in the Open Division) and Verrado.
- This will be the 17th meeting all-time between DE and Verrado in football, according to MaxPreps.
- DE leads the series 13-3 and has won four of the last five games
- With a win, Desert Edge will advance to their second-straight 5A State Championship Game and fifth overall.
- DE has won one state championship:
- Division III in 2015
- DE lost to Higley in last year's 5A State Championship Game, 42-41
- DE has won one state championship:
- With a win, Verrado will advance to the first state championship game in school history.
*Note: Three of the four 5A semifinalists come from the 5A Desert West region (Cactus, Verrado and Desert Edge). The region is guaranteed to have a team advance to the state championship game.
The updated 5A bracket is below.
The two semifinal games will be played next Friday, Nov. 29 at 7 p.m. and each game will be hosted by ALA-Gilbert North and Verrado.
The winners of those semifinal games will advance to the 5A State Championship Game, which will be played at 8 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 6 at Arizona State University's Mountain America Stadium in Tempe.
For the first time in three years, there will be a new state champion in 5A as Higley, who won the 2022 and 2023 5A state titles, was selected to play in the Open Division playoffs this year.
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