PHOENIX — It may still feel like summer outside with temperatures continually reaching 110 degrees, but for football fans in Arizona, the start of fall has arrived with the beginning of the high school football season!
And the beginning of the high school football season means the start of another season of Friday Night Fever, Arizona's No. 1 and longest-running high school football show!
This is a benchmark season for FNF, as it is the 35th season of the show, and we can't wait to see all of the awesome action coming this fall.
Without further ado, it's time to take a look at the highlights from Week 1 of Friday Night Fever, starting with our Game of the Week!
Game of the Week: Liberty at Desert Edge
Our Game of the Week took us out to the westside, with the matchup between the reigning Open Division champions, Liberty, and last year's 5A runner-up, Desert Edge, winning with 52% of the 11,924 votes cast by you, the fans!
Liberty won the season opener, 22-0. Watch the highlights below.
Be sure to tune in to 12Sports Tonight at 10:35 p.m. on Sunday to see which games will be nominated to become the Week 2 Game of the Week.
Brophy Prep at Williams Field
Next up the game that finished in second place in our Game of the Week poll, as the Brophy Broncos took on the Williams Field Black Hawks, with Brophy getting the victory, 35-28. Watch the highlights below.
Higley at Campo Verde
Staying the East Valley, the two-time defending 5A state champion Higley Knights opened their season by taking on their crosstown rival, the Campo Verde Coyotes. Higley is starting the season 1-0 after winning 42-0. Watch the highlights below.
Centennial at Hamilton
We saw a huge season-opening matchup over in Chandler on Thursday as longtime head coach Richard Taylor and the Centennial Coyotes traveled from Peoria to take on new head coach Travis Dixon and the Hamilton Huskies.
It was the Huskies who took home the victory in the matchup between two of 6A's top teams, 17-10. Watch the highlights below.
Cesar Chavez at Chandler
Heading up Arizona Avenue, Cesar Chavez and new head coach Chandler Hovik traveled over to Chandler High School to take on head coach Rick Garretson and the Wolves.
It was a close game, but Chandler got the victory on Thursday night, 27-18. Watch the highlights below.
Red Mountain at Mesa and Shadow Ridge at Highland
Over in Mesa, we saw a crosstown rivalry to start the 2024 season as the Red Mountain Mountain Lions beat the Mesa Jackrabbits, 42-10, and then in Gilbert, the Highland Hawks started their season with a 35-0 win over the Shadow Ridge Stallions.
12Sports journalist Jake Garcia was there for both games. You can watch the highlights below.
Fever Flyover: Sunrise Mountain at Queen Creek, Millard South (Omaha, Nebraska) at Basha and Desert Ridge at Perry
For the third season, Sky12 took to the skies over the Valley to bring us some highlights from the air. This week, the chopper was in the East Valley, where it saw Queen Creek beat Sunrise Mountain 42-7, Basha get a 39-25 victory over Millard South from Omaha, Nebraska, and Perry beat Desert Ridge 40-7.
You can watch highlights from all of those games below.
Fever Spotlight: Meet Uriah Neloms and Shadow Mountain at San Tan Charter
12Sports journalist Luke Lyddon took a trip down to Gilbert to turn the Fever Spotlight on the quarterback of the San Tan Charter Roadrunners, Uriah Neloms, who is committed to play college football at Arizona State as a wide receiver.
The Roadrunners started their season last week with a 23-6 over defending 2A state champs Scottsdale Christian then continued their strong start to 2024 with a 51-16 win over Shadow Mountain. Watch the full story and highlights below.
Mountain Ridge at Tolleson Union
Let's head over to the West Valley now, where the Mountain Ridge Mountain Lions took on the Tolleson Union Wolverines. Mountain Ridge took home the Week 1 win, 28-0. Watch the highlights below.
Friday Night Fever On the Road: Glendale at Arcadia
Now, for the third year, it is time to head On the Road, as 12Sports journalist Lina Washington took a trip down Indian School Road to start the 2024 season with the Arcadia Titans, who made it the 4A state semifinals last year.
Arcadia opened their campaign against the Glendale Cardinals and won 41-0. Watch the highlights below.
Friday Night Fever On the Road: Checking in with the Arcadia Titans
After their season-opening victory over Glendale, Lina caught with the Titans. Watch her full interview below.
Friday Night Fever On the Road: Arcadia head coach Ray Brown
Lina also spoke with Arcadia head coach Ray Brown after the team's game against Glendale. Watch that full interview below.
Friday Night Fever Sweet Plays
And finally, in case you missed the announcement in the FNF season preview show last week, our Hot Shots segment has a new name and higher stakes.
It is now called Sweet Plays. Each week three plays will be nominated to become the Sweet Play of the Week and will be voted on by you, the fans.
Each weekly winner will be eligible to become the Sweet Play of the Year, with the player in the winning play at the end of the season taking home a $5,000 scholarship, courtesy of Sweet James Injury Attorneys.
Watch the video below to see this week's Sweet Plays and then click here to vote for your favorite!
Arizona sports
The city of Phoenix is home to four major professional sports league teams; The NFL's Arizona Cardinals, NBA's Phoenix Suns, WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and MLB's Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Cardinals have made State Farm Stadium in Glendale their home turf and the Footprint Center in downtown Phoenix is home to both the Suns and the Mercury. The Indoor Football League’s Arizona Rattlers play at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale.
Phoenix also has a soccer team with the USL's Phoenix Rising FC, who play at Phoenix Rising FC Stadium in Phoenix.
The Valley hosts multiple major sporting events every year, including college football's Fiesta Bowl and Guaranteed Rate Bowl; the PGA Tour’s highest-attended event, the WM Phoenix Open; NASCAR events each spring and fall, including Championship Weekend in November; and Cactus League Spring Training for 15 Major League Baseball franchises.
Friday Night Fever on YouTube
Catch up on the latest Arizona high school football news and action on the 12News YouTube channel. And don't forget to subscribe!
