PHOENIX — The fifth high school football state championship of 2023 has been won as Friday Night Fever's 34th season continues championship week.
Already, we have seen Campo Verde win the 5A girls flag football state championship, Mountain View win the 6A girls flag football state championship, Hayden win the 1A tackle football state championship and Scottsdale Christian win the 2A tackle football state championship.
And now, we have a champion in 3A as the Sabino Sabercats out of Tucson get to add their name to the list of 2023 state champions.
The #4 Sabercats beat #3 Paradise Honors, 68-46, in a game that saw both offenses explode at Mountain Pointe High School in Phoenix on Saturday.
Paradise Honors jumped out to an early lead behind the rocket arm of QB Gage Baker, but Sabino just kept coming and the Sabercats built a 36-20 lead at halftime.
The lead exploded at the start of the second half as Sabino scored on the opening drive of the third quarter and then returned an interception for a touchdown on the ensuing drive. The pick-six made the score 52-20 and essentially sealed the victory.
Baker did his best to lead the Panthers, throwing seven touchdowns to tie the national record for touchdowns in a season at 91 with Corey Robinson from Lone Oak High School in Kentucky. Robinson set the record in 2007.
Baker also set the Arizona career passing touchdown record with 173, breaking the old record of 168, which was set by Yuma Catholic's Richard Stallworth last season.
This is Sabino's fourth state title in school history and first in 3A. They have won three state titles in 4A (1990, 1992 and 1998).
Here is a look at the final 3A playoff bracket:
This is the first high school football state championship in eight years to be won by a school from Tucson.
The last would have been in 2015 when Pusch Ridge won the Division IV state title.
Sabino earned the #4 seed in the 3A playoffs after a 7-3 regular season that saw them finish third in the 3A South region.
Sabino started the regular season with wins over Coolidge, Sahuaro and Crismon before losing to Mica Mountain. The Sabercats bounced back with wins over Safford and Pusch Ridge before losing to Thatcher. A win over ALA-West Foothills came next, followed by a loss to Morenci. Sabino then finished the regular season with a win over Mohave.
In the playoffs, Sabino beat #13 River Valley, #12 Round Valley, #1 Mohave and then #4 Paradise Honors for the championship.
Gage Baker Ties National Record
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We are just one week away from seeing more teams take home state championships during Friday Night Fever's 34th season!
This week, the Open Division, 6A, 5A, and 4A held their quarterfinal rounds on Friday night, while 3A and 2A held their semifinal games on Saturday.
Here is a look at the results of the 3A semis!
3A Semifinal Results
- #4 Sabino upset #1 Mohave, 30-16
- This will be Sabino's 10th state championship appearance and 2nd in 3A
- Sabino has won three state championships
- 1990, 4A
- 1992, 4A
- 1998, 4A
- Sabino's most recent title game appearance was in 2016, a 31-14 loss to ALA-Queen Creek
- #3 Paradise Honors beat #2 Valley Christian, 72-56
- This is tied for the 8th-highest combine score in Arizona history
- Paradise Honors QB Gage Baker threw 9 touchdowns in the victory
- This will be Paradise Honors' first state championship game appearance
3A Semifinal Highlights
- #3 Paradise Honors advances to state title game
Updated Bracket
#4 Sabino and #3 Paradise Honors will meet in the 3A state championship game on Saturday, November 25 at 6 p.m. at Mountain Pointe High School in Phoenix.
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Friday Night Fever's 34th season has hit the playoffs in every division!
This week, 6A, 5A, 4A, 3A and 2A all continued their playoffs with games on Thursday night due to Veterans Day. 1A is playing their state championship on Saturday and the Open Division will begin with the quarterfinals next week.
Here is a look at the results of the quarterfinals in 3A.
3A Quarterfinal Results
- #1 Mohave beat #9 Blue Ridge, 54-14
- #2 Valley Christian beat #7 Thatcher, 21-20
- #3 Paradise Honors beat #6 Morenci, 42-35
- #4 Sabino beat #12 Round Valley, 28-20
3A Semifinal Matchups
- #1 Mohave vs. #4 Sabino
- #2 Valley Christian vs. #3 Paradise Honors
You can take a look at the updated bracket below.
Both of the 3A semifinal games will be played on Saturday, November 18 at Mesa High School. Valley Christian will play Paradise Honors at 2 p.m. and Mohave will play Sabino at 6 p.m.
The winners will meet in the 3A State Championship game, which will be played on Saturday, November 25 at 6 p.m. at Mountain Pointe High School in Phoenix.
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The playoffs have arrived for the 34th season of Friday Night Fever, Arizona's #1 and longest-running high school football show!
3A kicked off their chase for a golden football in Week 11. Let's take a look at the results of the first round.
3A First Round Results
- #1 Mohave beat #16 Safford, 28-14
- #2 Valley Christian beat #15 ALA-Ironwood, 24-21
- #3 Paradise Honors beat #14 Gilbert Christian, 63-23
- #4 Sabino beat #13 River Valley, 46-31
- #12 Round Valley upset #5 ALA-West Foothills, 32-7
- #6 Morenci beat #11 Benjamin Franklin, 35-7
- #7 Thatcher beat #10 Florence, 35-14
- #9 Blue Ridge beat #8 Pusch Ridge, 20-17
3A Quarterfinal Matchups
- #9 Blue Ridge at #1 Mohave
- #12 Round Valley at #4 Sabino
- #6 Morenci at #3 Paradise Honors
- #7 Thatcher at #2 Valley Christian
You can take a look at the updated bracket below.
All of the 3A quarterfinal matchups will be played on Thursday, November 9 at 7 p.m. The games will all be played at the higher-seeded schools.
The 3A state championship game will be held on Saturday, November 25 at 6 p.m. at Mountain Pointe High School in Phoenix.
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Week 10 of Friday Night Fever's 34th season is complete and with that came the end of the regular season for 3A! The playoffs will start next week and the Arizona Interscholastic unveiled the bracket on Saturday.
As a reminder, 16 teams make the playoffs in 2A, 3A, 4A, 5A and 6A as opposed to eight in the Open Division and 12 in the 1A Playoffs.
Here are the teams that made it into the 3A playoffs (Bold = Region Champion).
- Mohave Thunderbirds (9-1, 4-0 3A West region)
- Valley Christian Trojans (9-1, 4-0 3A Metro East region)
- Paradise Honors Panthers (8-2, 4-1 3A Metro West region)
- Sabino Sabercats (7-3, 2-2 3A South region)
- ALA-West Foothills Guardians (8-2, 5-0 3A Metro West region)
- Morenci Wildcats (7-3, 3-1 3A South region)
- Thatcher Eagles (6-4, 3-1 3A South region)
- Pusch Ridge Lions (7-3, 1-3 3A South region)
- Blue Ridge Yellowjackets (8-2, 3-1 3A East region)
- Florence Gophers (8-2, 4-0 3A Central region)
- Benjamin Franklin Chargers (7-3, 3-1 3A Metro East region)
- Round Valley Elks (6-4, 4-0 3A East region)
- River Valley Dust Devils (7-3, 3-1 3A West region)
- Gilbert Christian Knights (6-4, 2-2 3A Metro East region)
- ALA-Ironwood Warriors (6-4, 3-1 3A Central region)
- Safford Bulldogs (4-6, 1-3 3A South region)
Here are the matchups for the round of 16:
- #1 Mohave vs. #16 Safford (at Anderson Auto Group Fieldhouse)
- #2 Valley Christian vs. #15 ALA-Ironwood
- #3 Scottsdale Christian vs. #14 Gilbert Christian
- #4 Sabino vs. #13 River Valley
- #5 ALA-West Foothills vs. #12 Round Valley
- #6 Morenci vs. #11 Benjamin Franklin
- #7 Thatcher vs. #10 Florence (at Eastern Arizona College)
- #8 Pusch Ridge vs. #9 Blue Ridge
All of the games will be played on Friday, November 3 at 7 p.m. at the higher-seeded school unless otherwise noted. You can take a look at the full bracket below.
The 3A state championship game will be held on Saturday, November 25 at 6 p.m. at Mountain Pointe High School in Phoenix.
Here's a look at every 3A state champion since the conference was re-named in 1989.
- 1989: Blue Ridge
- 1990: Blue Ridge
- 1991: Snowflake
- 1992: Snowflake
- 1993: Snowflake
- 1994: Blue Ridge
- 1995: Blue Ridge
- 1996: Blue Ridge
- 1997: Blue Ridge
- 1998: Payson
- 1999: Show Low
- 2000: Blue Ridge
- 2001: Blue Ridge
- 2002: Globe
- 2003: Show Low
- 2004: Blue Ridge
- 2005: Coolidge
- 2006: Coolidge
- 2007: Show Low
- 2008: Payson
- 2009: Blue Ridge
- 2010: Show Low
- 2011 (Note: 3A conference re-named Division IV): Blue Ridge
- 2012: Seton Catholic
- 2013: Blue Ridge
- 2014: River Valley
- 2015: Pusch Ridge
- 2016 (Note: Division IV re-named 3A): ALA-Queen Creek
- 2017: Casteel
- 2018: Northwest Christian
- 2019: ALA-Queen Creek
- 2020: Snowflake
- 2021: Snowflake
- 2022: Eastmark