PHOENIX — UPDATE: THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2023, 6:00 P.M.
Another week of voting has come to a close and now it is time to reveal which game you, the fans, have voted to become the Friday Night Fever Game of the Week for Week 7!
It was another fantastic week of voting, as for the fifth time in seven weeks, we received more than 40,000 votes!
This week, 55,934 votes were received and it was a close race with the winning game coming out on top by 3,550 votes.
Congratulations to Centennial at Chandler! Your game received 29,377 (52.52%) and will be the Game of the Week on Friday Night Fever! This is a very fitting matchup to earn the Game of the Week title, as both teams are undefeated at 6-0 and are atop the initial Open Division rankings (Centennial is #1, Chandler is #2).
As for the other two nominated games, Liberty at Pinnacle finished second with 25,827 votes (46.17%) and Chaparral at Saguaro finished third with 730 votes (1.31%).
Remember, you have until Friday at 10 a.m. to vote in our Hot Shots Week 6 Play of the Week poll! You can watch the top 3 plays in the video at the bottom of this story and then click here to vote for your favorite! Be a believer and catch the Fever Friday night at 11:35 p.m. to find out which play wins that vote.
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It is now Week 7 of the 34th season of Friday Night Fever, Arizona's #1 and longest-running high school football show! That means region play is firmly underway, the first Open Division and conference rankings come out this week, and the playoffs are just a few weeks away!
And, as we have done for the past two seasons, we are making you, the fans, a huge part of FNF, by letting you choose the first highlight of the night, the Game of the Week!
Week 6 was our second-best week of voting this season as 66,892 votes were received! ALA-West Foothills at Paradise Honors won the vote with 49,353 votes (73.78%) and the game was well-deserving of the title, as ALA-West Foothills won by just one point, 49-48.
And with that in mind, let's move on to Week 7 and take a look at the Game of the Week nominees!
Centennial at Chandler
Game #1 is one of the biggest matchups so far this year in Arizona high school football as 6-0 Centennial will travel across the Valley to take on 6-0 Chandler in a game that could be an Open Division playoff preview (and a rematch from last year's Open Division playoffs).
Head Coach Richard Taylor and the Centennial Coyotes have had a fantastic start to their season with wins over Desert Edge, Corona del Sol, Mountain Pointe, Mountain Ridge, Boulder Creek, and Saguaro. Four of those games (Desert Edge, Mountain Pointe, Mountain Ridge, and Boulder Creek) have been shutouts. The Coyotes are scoring an average of 36.8 points per game.
Head Coach Rick Garretson and the Chandler Wolves have wins over Cesar Chavez, Mountain Ridge, Orange Lutheran from California, Corona del Sol, Highland, and Casteel. The Wolves are scoring 42.5 points per game and have given up 10 or less points in four of their six wins.
Looking at common opponents, both Centennial and Chandler blew out both Mountain Ridge (Centennial won 38-0, Chandler won 49-7) and Corona del Sol (Centennial won 55-21, Chandler won 42-0).
This will be the eighth meeting between these two schools. Centennial won the first two games in 2009 and 2010, but Chandler is on a five-game win streak, including last year in the first round of the Open Division playoffs.
Liberty at Pinnacle
Game #2 is another huge 6A battle as Liberty will take on their Northeast Valley region rival, Pinnacle.
Head Coach Colin Thomas and the Liberty Lions are 4-1 this year and have looked every bit like a team that could challenge for the Open Division title. Liberty opened their season with wins over Hamilton, O'Connor, Queen Creek, and Sunrise Mountain, but lost two weeks ago to Centennial from Corona, California. The Lions had a bye last week. The Lions have yet to score less than 35 points in a game and no team from Arizona has scored more than 20 on the Lions (Centennial, the #18 team in the nation according to MaxPreps, scored 42).
Head Coach Dana Zupke and the Pinnacle Pioneers are 5-1 this season. They started the year with a win over Arbor View from Las Vegas at the Walkup Skydome in Flagstaff, then followed that up with wins over Tolleson Union, Corona del Sol, and Horizon. Pinnacle lost a close game to ALA-Queen Creek two weeks ago but bounced back to beat Chaparral last week. In three of their six wins, the Pioneers have given up nine or less points and their lone loss came by just a point.
This will be the seventh meeting between these two schools. Liberty leads the series 4-2 and is on a three-game win streak. Last year, Liberty beat Pinnacle 49-7.
Chaparral at Saguaro
Game #3 is another 6A Northeast Valley region rivalry between Scottsdale schools, as Chaparral will take on Saguaro.
It has been an up-and-down season for both of these schools.
Head Coach Doug Nisenson and the Chaparral Firebirds are 2-4 this season. They opened the season with a loss to O'Connor but bounced back to beat Shadow Ridge. However, Chaparral then lost back-to-back games against Desert Mountain and Brophy before beating Desert Vista. And then last week, Chaparral lost to Pinnacle.
Head Coach Zak Hill and the Saguaro Sabercats are 3-3 this season. They opened the year with wins over ALA-Queen Creek and Mountain View but then lost to Basha. Saguaro rebounded to bear Shadow Ridge but has lost the past two weeks to Sierra Canyon from California and Centennial.
Both teams have a win over Shadow Ridge this season. Chaparral won 42-0 and Saguaro won 41-9.
This will be the 43rd meeting all time between Chaparral and Saguaro. Saguaro leads the series 23-19, which includes a win in the 2008 4A Division I state championship game. Saguaro also won last year's meeting 59-17.
VOTE
Now it is time for you to make your choice for which game should be named the Game of the Week for Week 6 of Friday Night Fever!
Make your choice in the poll below (and remember, you can vote as many times as you want, so be sure to refresh the page and vote again), and if you don't see the poll, click here.
The poll will be open until Thursday at 10 a.m. Be a believer and catch Friday Night Fever this Friday at 11:35 p.m.!
Also, be sure to vote in our Hot Shots Play of the Week poll! You can watch the top 3 plays in the video below and then click here to vote for your favorite! The winner will be revealed Friday night on FNF.
Friday Night Fever on YouTube