PHOENIX — We're back! It's been nine long months, but Friday Night Fever, Arizona's No. 1 and longest-running high school football show will return for Week 1 this week!
And the return of Friday Night Fever means the return of our Game of the Week poll, where you, the fans get to be a huge part of the show by choosing the first highlight of the night!
Week 1's winner is...
Liberty at Desert Edge
Game No. 1 takes us out to the westside, where the defending Open Division champions, the Liberty Lions, will open the season against a team that came up just short in the 5A state championship game, the Desert Edge Scorpions.
These are two very different teams in 2024, as they both lost a lot of talent to graduation.
Liberty is once again led by head coach Colin Thomas, while Desert Edge welcomes new head coach Henri MacArthur, who takes over for the Carter twins, who are now in Georgia.
The schools have met six times previously, dating back to 2009 and have split the meetings, 3-3. Liberty won the most recent matchup, 31-7, in 2014.
This game received 6,201 votes and won with 52% of votes overall.
Now, let's take a look at the games that were nominated in Week 1!
Brophy Prep at Williams Field
Game No. 2 sees one of the top teams from Phoenix, Brophy Prep, head down to Gilbert to take on Williams Field in a big-time 6A matchup.
Brophy is one of the top up-and-coming programs in the state and has a real shot at going to the Open Division playoffs this season. The Broncos are motivated this season after losing to Red Mountain in the 6A semifinals last year and are the favorites in the 6A Central region.
Williams Field will look to play spoiler on opening night against Brophy. The Black Hawks are coming off of a trip to the 6A quarterfinals in 2023, where they were defeated by Salpointe Catholic from Tucson.
This will be the third meeting between the schools. Williams Field won the first two, 21-17 in 2021 and 35-34 in Week 1 last year.
This game received 3,505 votes and came in second place with 29.4% of votes overall.
Red Mountain at Mesa
Game No. 3 is a crosstown rivalry in Mesa where the Mesa Jackrabbits will play host to the Red Mountain Mountain Lions.
Red Mountain was one of the top stories of the 2023 playoffs. The Mountain Lions lost their final five games of the 2023 regular season but then went on a run all the way to the 6A state championship game, where they lost to Saguaro. Head coach Kyle Enders' squad will be looking to finish the deal this season.
Mesa is coming off of back-to-back playoff appearances for the first time in nearly 20 years. Head coach Chad DeGrenier and the Jackrabbits will be looking to make it three straight trips this season and improve on last year's finish that saw them lose in the first round of the 6A playoffs to Brophy.
The schools have played 34 times (including playoffs) dating back to 1991. Red Mountain leads the series 21-13 and won the most recent matchup, 41-7, last year.
This game received 2,218 votes and came in third place with 18.6% of votes overall.
Be a believer and catch Friday Night Fever this Friday at 11:35 p.m.!
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