PHOENIX — Championship week for Friday Night Fever's 34th season continued with the 4A state championship on Friday night at ASU's Mountain America Stadium as #2 Canyon Del Oro (14-0) became the second team from the Tucson area this year to take home a title after staving off a comeback from #1 Yuma Catholic (13-1).
The battle between the top two teams in 4A certainly lived up to the billing.
The Canyon Del Oro Dorado jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first quarter thanks to a five-yard rushing touchdown from running back Kayden Luke.
However, the Yuma Catholic Shamrocks answered with just 23 seconds left in the first as running back Tayt Ford tied the game at seven with a touchdown of his own.
But it was in the second quarter when the Dorado really took over the game, starting with a 80-yard rushing TD from Chase Laux, which was followed later in the quarter with Luke's second rushing TD of the night, this one from 11 yards out, to put CDO up 21-7.
Yuma Catholic would pull within a score right before the half when quarterback Hunter Hancock found Nash Ott for a 35-yard score to make it 21-14.
That would remain the score until Laux scored with just eight seconds left in the third quarter to give CDO a 28-14 lead, which would prove to be insurmountable.
Grant Young added to CDO's lead with a 50-yard pick-six, which put the Dorado up 35-14 with 11:13 to go.
Yuma Catholic would attempt a comeback as Ford scored twice in the fourth quarter, but it would not be enough as CDO would cap their undefeated season with a 35-27 victory and the 4A state championship.
Here is a look at the final 4A playoff bracket.
This is the fourth state championship in the history of Canyon Del Oro High School. The previous three came in 1976 (AA), 1977 (AA) and 2009 (4A Division I).
Canyon Del Oro's title comes at the end of a perfect season that saw them ranked in the Open Division top eight multiple times, before ultimately finishing 11th. This season, CDO beat Eastmark, Bradshaw Mountain, Desert View, Amphitheater, Marana, Catalina Foothills, Mica Mountain (twice), Pueblo, Sahuaro, Walden Grove, Poston Butte, Arizona College Prep and Yuma Catholic.
Their 14 wins came by an average of 23.4 points with the closest games coming against Mica Mountain on October 13 (17-15) and in the 4A quarterfinals on Nov. 17 (a 33-27 victory over Arizona College Prep in quadruple overtime).
Before Canyon Del Oro's title win, Campo Verde (5A) and Mountain View (6A) won state championships in girls flag football, Hayden won the 1A tackle football state title, Scottsdale Christian won the 2A state title and Sabino won the 3A state title.
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It's championship time on Friday Night Fever's 34th season as state championship berths were won in 4A, 5A, and 6A on Friday night.
Before we get to who is playing for the 4A state title, as a reminder, 2A and 3A will play their state championships on Saturday at Mountain Pointe High School in Phoenix. The 2A game (#1 Pima vs. #3 Scottsdale Christian) will be at 2 p.m. and the 3A game (#3 Paradise Honors vs. #4 Sabino) will be at 6 p.m.
The Open Division semifinals will also be played on Saturday. #1 Liberty will play #5 Highland at 6 p.m. at Mountain Ridge High School in Glendale and #2 Basha will play #3 Centennial at 6 p.m. at Dobson High School in Mesa.
Now, here are the results from the 4A semifinals.
4A Semifinal Results
- #1 Yuma Catholic beat #4 Arcadia, 42-7
- This was Arcadia's first loss of the season
- This will be Yuma Catholic's 8th state championship appearance (all since 2010)
- Yuma Catholic will be looking for their 4th state title (last in 2014, Division V)
- Yuma Catholic has lost the last three times they have played in the state championship (2018 [3A], 2020 [3A], 2021 [3A])
- This will be Yuma Catholic's first appearance in the 4A state championship game
- #2 Canyon Del Oro beat #3 Mica Mountain, 23-7
- This was Canyon Del Oro's second win over Mica Mountain this season (CDO won 17-15 on Oct. 13)
- This will be CDO's sixth state championship appearance
- CDO will be looking for their fourth state championship (last in 2009, 4A Division I)
- CDO lost their last state championship appearance (2010, 41-34 to Saguaro in the 4A Division I title game)
4A State Championship Matchup
- #1 Yuma Catholic (13-0) vs. #2 Canyon Del Oro (13-0)
Here is a look at the updated bracket:
The 4A state championship game will be played on Friday, December 1 at 4 p.m. at ASU's Mountain America Stadium in Tempe.
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Friday Night Fever's 34th season has hit the playoffs! The quarterfinals were held in 4A, 5A, 6A and the Open Division on Friday night, and here's a look at the results in 4A!
But first, as a reminder, 2A and 3A will play their semifinal games on Saturday. The 3A games will be played at Mesa High School and the 2A games will be played at Westwood High School in Mesa.
4A Quarterfinal Results
- #1 Yuma Catholic beat #8 Eastmark, 28-13
- #2 Canyon Del Oro beat #10 Arizona College Prep, 33-27 in 4 overtimes
- #3 Mica Mountain beat #6 Northwest Christian, 38-17
- #4 Arcadia beat #5 Thunderbird, 31-28 in overtime
4A Semifinal Matchups
- #1 Yuma Catholic vs. #4 Arcadia
- #2 Canyon del Oro vs. #3 Mica Mountain
Here's a look at the updated bracket:
The 4A semifinal games will be played at the higher-seed schools (Yuma Catholic and Canyon Del Oro) at 7 p.m. on Friday, November 24.
The 4A state championship game is scheduled to be played on Friday, December 1. However, the time and location are still TBD. According to the AIA, “If a Northern Arizona, Yuma area or a Phoenix Metro school is the higher seed, the game will take place at ASU's Mountain America Stadium. If a Tucson area school is the higher seed, the game will take place in the Tucson area.”
That means if Arcadia upsets Yuma Catholic, the game will be played in the Tucson area (but the location has not been announced). If Yuma Catholic beats Arcadia, then the game will be played at ASU's Mountain America Stadium.
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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 first round in 4A.
4A First Round Results
- #1 Yuma Catholic beat #16 Peoria, 40-6
- #2 Canyon del Oro beat #15 Poston Butte, 45-20
- #3 Mica Mountain beat #14 Snowflake, 31-24
- #4 Arcadia beat #13 Coconino, 23-20
- #5 Thunderbird beat #12 Bradshaw Mountain, 17-16
- #6 Northwest Christian beat #11 Walden Grove, 40-12
- #10 Arizona College Prep upset #7 Lee Williams, 21-14
- #8 Eastmark beat #9 Buckeye Union, 48-14
4A Quarterfinal Matchups
- #1 Yuma Catholic vs. #8 Eastmark
- #2 Canyon Del Oro vs. #10 Arizona College Prep
- #3 Mica Mountain vs. #6 Northwest Christian
- #4 Arcadia vs. #5 Thunderbird
You can take a look at the updated bracket below.
All of the 4A quarterfinal games will be played at the higher-seed schools (Yuma Catholic, Canyon Del Oro, Mica Mountain and Arcadia) at 7 p.m. on Friday, November 17.
The 4A state championship game is scheduled to be played on Friday, December 1. However, the time and location are still TBD. According to the AIA, “If a Northern Arizona, Yuma area or a Phoenix Metro school is the higher seed, the game will take place at ASU's Mountain America Stadium. If a Tucson area school is the higher seed, the game will take place in the Tucson area.”
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Friday Night Fever's 34th season is now headed to the playoffs in every division as the regular season has now come to a close!
The Arizona Interscholastic Association (AIA) revealed the remaining playoff brackets Saturday morning.
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. The eight teams that made it into the Open are excluded from their conference playoffs, which opens the door for more teams to make playoff appearances, especially in 6A.
Here are the teams that made it into the 4A playoffs (Bold = Region Champion).
- Yuma Catholic Shamrocks (10-0, 5-0 4A West Valley region)
- Canyon del Oro Dorado (10-0, 5-0 4A Kino region)
- Mica Mountain Thunderbolts (9-1, 4-1 4A Kino region)
- Arcadia Titans (10-0, 5-0 4A Desert Sky region)
- Thunderbird Titans (8-2, 4-1 4A West Valley region)
- Northwest Christian Crusaders (8-2, 3-2 4A West Valley region)
- Lee Williams Volunteers (9-1, 5-0 4A Grand Canyon region)
- Eastmark Firebirds (8-2, 4-0 4A East Sky region)
- Buckeye Union Hawks (7-3, 2-3 4A West Valley region)
- AZ College Prep Knights (7-3, 4-1 4A Desert Sky region)
- Walden Grove Red Wolves (6-4, 3-2 4A Kino region)
- Bradshaw Mountain Bears (7-3, 3-2 4A Grand Canyon region)
- Coconino Panthers (7-3, 4-1 4A Grand Canyon region)
- Snowflake Lobos (7-3, 3-1 4A East Sky region)
- Poston Butte Broncos (6-4, 2-2 4A East Sky region)
- Peoria Panthers (6-4, 3-2 4A Skyline region)
Note: #1 Yuma Catholic was ineligible for the Open Division, according to the AIA. Also, the region champions from the Skyline (Moon Valley), Southwest (Independence), Copper Sky (Estrella Foothills) and Gila (Amphitheater) regions did not make the playoffs.
Here are the matchups for the round of 16:
- #1 Yuma Catholic vs. #16 Peoria
- #2 Canyon del Oro vs. #15 Poston Butte
- #3 Mica Mountain vs. #14 Snowflake
- #4 Arcadia vs. #13 Coconino
- #5 Thunderbird vs. #12 Bradshaw Mountain
- #6 Northwest Christian vs. #11 Walden Grove
- #7 Lee Williams vs. #10 AZ College Prep
- #8 Eastmark vs. #9 Buckeye Union
All of the games will be played on Thursday, November 9 at 7 p.m. at the higher-seeded school. You can take a look at the full bracket below.
The 4A state championship game is scheduled to be played on Friday, December 1. However, the time and location are still TBD. According to the AIA, “If a Northern Arizona, Yuma area or a Phoenix Metro school is the higher seed, the game will take place at ASU's Mountain America Stadium. If a Tucson area school is the higher seed, the game will take place in the Tucson area.”
Here's a look at the past 10 4A state champions.
- 2013 (Note: 4A was known as Division III): Saguaro
- 2014: Saguaro
- 2015: Desert Edge
- 2016 (Note: Division III re-named 4A): Saguaro
- 2017: Saguaro
- 2018: Saguaro
- 2019: Mesquite
- 2020: Mesquite
- 2021: Casa Grande
- 2022: ALA-Gilbert North
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