PHOENIX — For football fans, this is the very beginning of the most wonderful time of the year because football is back!
High school football is returning in Arizona as schools in 1A, 2A, and 3A are opening up their season on August 18, followed one week later by the big schools in 4A, 5A, and 6A.
That means Friday Night Fever is back for another exciting season!
This will be the 34th season of Arizona's #1 and longest-running high school football show and to help get you ready, not only is 12News.com/FridayNightFever loaded with season previews for many teams that you will want to watch this fall, but 12Sports is also starting FNF with our season preview show once again.
We start by checking in with the 'Kings of Arizona,' the Basha Bears, who are coming off of the first state championship in school history, which just so happened to be Arizona's top prize, the Open Division title.
That has put the Bears in the local and national spotlight and they feel that they are ready for the pressure of defending the title.
"I hope that we continue with what we do," Basha head coach Chris McDonald said. "We want to be an explosive offense, we want to have a shutdown defense, (and) we want to play a physical brand of football. We have a standard and that's the goal is to meet the standard."
"I feel like that was the main goal for me coming to Basha was to change the program around (and) change the culture," Basha senior quarterback Demond Williams Jr. said. "I feel like we've done just that. So I feel like the same mindset should be done and we should be aiming for another state championship."
In our preview show, which airs at 11:35 p.m. on August 18, 12Sports also hears from coaches and players from Desert Mountain, Cactus, Perry, Red Mountain, Arizona College Prep, Chandler, Hamilton, Saguaro, Desert Vista, Arcadia, and Pinnacle.
We also hear from ArizonaVarsity.com's Just Chilly about some other teams you'll want to watch for this year and head out to practice with the Brophy Broncos to see what happened when the moms took the field.
We also go 'On The Road' with the Liberty Lions, see what teams will be featured as 'On The Road teams in 2023 (needs link to Lina's story), and hear the amazing comeback story from Tempe Offensive Coordinator Matt Pinnick after a heart transplant. (needs link to Cam's story)
If you miss the season preview show Friday night, it will also air every night next week leading up to Week One of the FNF at 9:30 p.m. on the 12News+ app on Apple TV, FireTV, or Roku.
Be a believer and catch Week One of the Fever on Friday, August 25 at 11:35 p.m.!