PHOENIX — It is officially playoff season on Friday Night Fever, Arizona's No. 1 and longest-running high school football show.
On Saturday, the Arizona Interscholastic Association released the playoff brackets for Arizona's small school conferences, 2A and 3A. In this article, we'll show you the overall seeds and matchups for 3A. To see the 2A bracket, click here. The 1A playoffs are headed to the semifinals next week. To see the latest 1A bracket, click here.
Before we break down the matchups in 3A, here's a reminder of how the high school football playoffs work in Arizona.
1A plays a 12-team bracket with the top four seeds receiving byes to the quarterfinals. 2A, 3A, 4A, 5A and 6A all play 16-team brackets. The Open Division plays an eight-team bracket, which consists of the top eight teams in 5A and 6A, as ranked by the AIA. The teams selected for the Open Division are excluded from the bracket for their conference.
Now, here's a look at the 3A bracket.
2024 3A High School Football Playoff Seeds
- Benjamin Franklin Chargers (9-1) 3A Metro East region champions
- ALA-West Foothills Guardians (10-0) 3A Metro West region champions
- Thatcher Eagles (8-2)
- Pusch Ridge Lions (9-1) 3A South region champions
- Mohave Thunderbirds (8-2) 3A West region champions
- Florence Gophers (9-1) 3A Central region champions
- River Valley Dust Devils (9-1)
- ALA-Ironwood Warriors (8-2)
- Payson Longhorns (8-2) 3A East region champions
- Round Valley Elks (7-3)
- Wickenburg Wranglers (7-3)
- Paradise Honors Panthers (6-4)
- Blue Ridge Yellowjackets (7-3)
- Gilbert Christian Knights (6-4)
- Dysart Demons (7-3)
- Page Sand Devils (7-3) 3A North region champions
2024 3A Playoff First Round (Round of 16) Matchups
Here's a look at the matchups in the first round of the 3A state playoffs.
- No. 1 Benjamin Franklin will host No. 16 Page
- These teams have only played once before, according to MaxPreps. Benjamin Franklin won 34-14 in a first-round playoff game in 2017.
- No. 2 ALA-West Foothills will host No. 15 Dysart
- This is a rematch of this past week's Game of the Week on Friday Night Fever, which ALA-West Foothills won 55-7.
- No. 3 Thatcher will host No. 14 Gilbert Christian
- This will be the first-ever meeting between these two schools, according to MaxPreps.
- No. 4 Pusch Ridge will host No. 13 Blue Ridge
- This will be the second time these two schools have played in football, according to MaxPreps. The first came in the first round of the playoffs last year, when Blue Ridge won, 20-17.
- No. 5 Mohave will host No. 12 Paradise Honors
- This will be the fourth meeting ever, and the second this season, between Mohave and Paradise Honors, according to MaxPreps. Mohave will be looking for revenge, as they lost to Paradise Honors, 34-27, in Week 2.
- No. 6 Florence will host No. 11 Wickenburg
- This will be the sixth meeting between Florence and Wickenburg, according to MaxPreps. The last meeting came in 2009, a 40-13 Florence victory in the first round of the 3A playoffs.
- No. 7 River Valley will host No. 10 Round Valley
- This will be the second meeting between River Valley and Round Valley, according to MaxPreps. The first was in 2004 when Round Valley beat River Valley 28-21 in the quarterfinals of the 3A playoffs.
- No. 8 ALA-Ironwood will host No. 9 Payson
- This will be the first meeting between ALA-Ironwood and Payson, according to MaxPreps.
Take a look at the full 3A bracket below.
All eight of the first-round games will be played on Nov. 8 at the home stadium of the higher-seeded school.
The 3A State Championship game will be played at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 30 at Mountain Pointe High School in Ahwatukee.
There will be a new state champion in 3A this year as last year's champion, Sabino, did not make the playoffs this year.
Who are the favorites to win the 3A State Championship?
The two clear favorites are No. 1 Benjamin Franklin and No. 2 ALA-West Foothills.
ALA-WF finished the season undefeated, and Benjamin Franklin finished with just one loss, which came by just one point in Week 4 to Arcadia, one of the top teams in 4A.
It's very easy to imagine that those teams will run the table on their sides of the bracket and meet in the title game at the end of the month as both have been dominant against fellow 3A schools this year and ran the table in their respective regions.
Who is a team to watch in the 3A playoffs?
Pusch Ridge is a team that could make some noise and a deep run in the 3A playoffs this year. The Lions' only loss this season came in Week 2 to Benjamin Franklin, which could serve as inspiration should the teams meet in the semifinals.
Pusch Ridge has a dominant defense, as they pitched five shutouts this season and only game up more than seven points in two games.
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