MESA, Ariz. — It all comes down to this. Since August, high school football teams have been battling to see who will play for a golden football and now the matchup is official.
No. 2 ALA-West Foothills will take on No. 4 Pusch Ridge in the championship game next Saturday, Nov. 30, after both teams won their semifinal games at Mesa High School.
The day started with No. 2 ALA-West Foothills, the Metro West region champion, taking on No. 3 Thatcher, who finished second in the 3A South region. ALA-WF has been one of the best teams in the state this entire season, and showed just that on Saturday, rolling to a 34-22 victory to advance to the title game.
The other team that has been a favorite to make it to the title game this whole season has been No. 1 Benjamin Franklin. The Chargers came into Saturday's semifinal matchup with No. 4 Pusch Ridge with just one blemish on their record, a loss to 4A Arcadia back in September.
However, Pusch Ridge came into the game inspired after losing to Benjamin Franklin, 31-7, earlier this season. The Lions, who won the 3A South region, made sure that they wouldn't lose to BF twice in 2024, taking down the Chargers, 24-13, to advance to the title game.
Looking ahead to next week, ALA-West Foothills will be playing for the school's first state championship while Pusch Ridge will be looking to win the school's second state title (the first came in 2015, when Pusch Ridge won the Division II state title).
ALA-WF has never played in a state title game before. Pusch Ridge will make their third appearance in a state title game, and first since they played in the 3A title game in 2017, but lost to Casteel.
This will be the third time that ALA-WF and Pusch Ridge will play each other in football, according to MaxPreps. Pusch Ridge currently has a 2-0 lead in the series, as the Lions won both games the teams played against each other in 2022. The second win came in the first round of the 3A playoffs.
ALA-WF and Pusch Ridge will face off in the 3A State Championship Game on Nov. 30 at 6 p.m. The game will be played at Mountain Ridge High School in Glendale.
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