PHOENIX — When it comes to high school football in Arizona, when the calendar flips to November, the games start to mean a whole lot more.
That's because high school football teams across the state will begin their chase for a golden football in the state playoffs and we can't wait to show you the action on Friday Night Fever, Arizona's No. 1 and longest-running high school football show.
On Saturday, the Arizona Interscholastic Association released the brackets for 2A and 3A. In this article, we'll show you the overall seeds and the matchups for the first round in 2A. To see the 3A bracket, click here. The 1A playoffs have reached the semifinals and you can see the latest bracket by clicking here.
But before we show you the matchups in 2A, here's a reminder of how the playoffs work in Arizona.
1A plays a 12-team bracket, where the top four seeds received byes to the quarterfinals. That is the only conference where teams receive byes. The 2A, 3A, 4A, 5A and 6A conferences all play a 16-team bracket. The Open Division is an eight-team bracket made up of the top eight teams in 5A and 6A, as ranked by the AIA.
Now, let's break down the 2A bracket.
2024 2A High School Football Playoff Seeds
- San Tan Charter Roadrunners (10-0) 2A Salt region champions
- Tonopah Valley Phoenix (10-0) 2A Gila region champions
- Pima Roughriders (9-1) 2A Black region champions
- Phoenix Christian Cougars (9-1) 2A Agua Fria region champions
- Santa Cruz Valley Dust Devil (8-2)
- Bisbee Pumas (9-1) 2A San Pedro region champions
- Arizona Lutheran Coyotes (7-3)
- Scottsdale Prep Spartans (9-1)
- Willcox Cowboys (7-3)
- Miami Vandals (7-3)
- Camp Verde Cowboys (7-3)
- Scottsdale Christian Eagles (6-4) 2A Verde region champions
- Veritas Prep Falcons (7-3)
- St. Johns Redskins (6-4)
- Parker Broncs (6-4)
- Holbrook Roadrunners (7-3) 2A Little Colorado region champions
2024 2A Playoff First Round (Round of 16) Matchups
Here's a look at the matchups in the first round of the 2A state playoffs.
- No. 1 San Tan Charter will host No. 16 Holbrook
- This will be the second meeting of the Roadrunner battle between STC and Holbrook, according to MaxPreps. The first came in 2020 when STC beat Holbrook 42-15.
- No. 2 Tonopah Valley will host No. 15 Parker
- This will be the 13th meeting, and second this season, between 2A Gila region rivals TV and Parker, according to MaxPreps. The last came in Week 7 when TV beat Parker 48-12.
- No. 3 Pima will host No. 14 St. Johns
- This will be the sixth meeting, and second this season, between Pima and St. Johns, according to MaxPreps. The most recent came in Week 5, when Pima beat St. Johns 7-2.
- No. 4 Phoenix Christian will host No. 13 Veritas Prep
- This will be the second meeting between PC and VP, according to MaxPreps. The first came back in 2016, when PC won 59-14.
- No. 5 Santa Cruz Valley will host No. 12 Scottsdale Christian
- This will be the sixth meeting between Santa Cruz Valley and Scottsdale Christian, according to MaxPreps. Scottsdale Christian won the last game, 34-7, in the quarterfinals of the 2A playoffs last year.
- No. 6 Bisbee will host No. 11 Camp Verde
- This will be the second meeting between Bisbee and Camp Verde, according to MaxPreps. In 2023, Camp Verde beat Bisbee, 72-16.
- No. 7 Arizona Lutheran will host No. 10 Miami
- This will be the fourth meeting between Arizona Lutheran and Miami, according to MaxPreps. Arizona Lutheran has won all three of the previous games, including a 63-13 win in 2023.
- No. 8 Scottsdale Prep will host No. 9 Willcox
- This will be the first meeting between Scottsdale Prep and Willcox, according to MaxPreps.
The full 2A bracket is below.
All eight of the first round games will be played at 7 p.m. on Nov. 8 at the higher-seeded school.
The 2A State Championship game will be played at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 30 at Mountain Pointe High School in Ahwatukee.
Who are the favorites to win the 2A State Championship?
The favorites to take home a golden football in 2A have to be San Tan Charter and Tonopah Valley. Both teams finished undefeated in the regular season and won their regions.
Tonopah Valley won their 10 games by an average of 37.3 points, but did have two close games. The Phoenix only beat Scottsdale Christian by three points and Arizona Lutheran by six.
San Tan Charter won their 10 games by an average of 30.3 points and only had one game decided by less than 10 points (a 24-15 win over Santa Cruz Valley).
These two teams only had one common opponent, Scottsdale Christian, and San Tan Charter had a larger margin of victory over the Eagles (17 points vs. three for TV).
On defense, San Tan Charter only allowed their opponents to score 10.5 points per game and pitched one shutout. The most points the Roadrunners allowed was 19 against Heritage Academy Laveen.
Tonopah Valley allowed their opponents to score 10.6 points per game and pitched four shutouts. The most points the Phoenix allowed was 32 against Scottsdale Christian.
Who is a team to watch in the 2A playoffs?
Outside of STC and TV, the team to watch, and the sleeper pick, is the defending 2A state champions, Scottsdale Christian.
The Eagles have shown all season that they know how to play when it matters most. The Eagles opened their season by losing three of their first four games, but won the most important game in that span, a region matchup against archrival Scottsdale Prep.
The Eagles are also coming into the playoffs hot, having won five of their last six games, including the last three and they went 6-0 in their region. And, as seen above, they played tough against the two top teams in 2A.
If the Eagles want to become the first back-to-back 2A state champions since Thatcher won three straight from 2016-18, they will need that strong play to continue, starting on Friday in Eloy against Santa Cruz Valley.
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