PHOENIX — There is now just one game left in Friday Night Fever's 34th season as the Saguaro Sabercats have been crowned as the champions in 6A.
This is the eighth state championship to be awarded this season.
Campo Verde (5A) and Mountain View (6A) won the first-ever state titles for girls flag football, Hayden claimed the 1A tackle football title, Scottsdale Christian won the 2A tackle football title, Sabino won the 3A state championship, Canyon Del Oro won the title in 4A and Higley won their second straight 5A state title.
And that brings us to 6A, where #3 Saguaro won the 14th state championship in school history by beating #12 Red Mountain, 40-20, at ASU's Mountain America Stadium in Tempe on Saturday afternoon.
Saguaro grabbed the lead early in the first quarter after an onside kick recovery led to a Mason Bray touchdown pass to Jaci Dickerson off a screen. That made it 7-0 Saguaro.
Red Mountain, who had been on a surprise playoff run, tied the game at seven later in the first quarter with a rushing touchdown by running back Isaiah Savoie on 4th and goal, just inches away from the endzone.
Saguaro grabbed the lead back in the second quarter when Bray found wide receiver Reiss Rinaldi wide open for a Sabercat touchdown, which made the score 14-7.
The back-and-forth first half would continue when Red Mountain QB Simon Lopez found wide receiver Gunner Moore behind some Saguaro defenders. Moore would run the rest of the way for an 83-yard touchdown to tie the game at 14.
However, just before the half, Saguaro would grab the lead back on a 15-yard rushing touchdown by Jaedon Matthews to make it 21-14.
Saguaro wouldn't give up the lead again.
The Sabercats extended their lead on the first possession of the second half. It started with a 68-yard pass from Bray to Dickerson, which then led to a Kamden Segall touchdown run. The score stood at 27-14 after a missed extra point.
The Sabercats' dominant third quarter continued with running back Jacob Brown scoring from four yards out to make it 33-14.
Red Mountain showed some fight in the fourth quarter when Lopez found Bode Wagner for a seven-yard touchdown on 4th and Goal to make the score 33-20.
Brown would seal the game with 1:42 to go with a 55-yard touchdown run to give Saguaro a 40-20 victory and the 6A state championship.
Here is a look at the final 6A bracket.
Saguaro welcomed former ASU and ALA-Gilbert North offensive coordinator Zak Hill as their new head coach before the 2023 season. Hill replaced Jason Mohns, who left to join ASU head football coach Kenny Dillingham's staff as the tight ends coach.
Saguaro began the season as one of the favorites to make it into the Open Division playoffs, as they had made the Open the previous four seasons. They won the Open Division championship in 2021 and were the Open Division runners-up in 2022.
However, the 2023 regular season was tough for the Sabercats, as they played one of the toughest schedules in Arizona.
Saguaro began the season with wins over ALA-Queen Creek and Mountain View before falling to Basha. A win over Shadow Ridge was then followed by losses to Sierra Canyon from California and Centennial. The Sabercats then beat rival Chaparral but that was followed by losses to Liberty and Salpointe Catholic. Saguaro wrapped up the regular season with a win over Pinnacle.
Saguaro finished the regular season 5-5 and in third place in the 6A Northeast Valley region, but earned the #3 seed in the 6A playoffs due to seven teams from 6A advancing to the Open Division playoffs. This was the first time since 2005 that Saguaro finished the regular season with only five wins.
In the playoffs, Saguaro beat #14 Queen Creek, #6 Perry, #2 Salpointe Catholic and #12 Red Mountain to claim the title.
This was Saguaro's 10th title game appearance in the last 11 seasons. The only season they missed the title game was 2020 when they were shut down in the first round of the playoffs and had to forfeit to Salpointe.
This was Saguaro's 17th title game appearance, which is the third most in Arizona history.
Saguaro now has 14 state championships in school history, which is second all-time behind Blue Ridge's 15.
Highlights
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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 6A 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 6A semifinals.
6A Semifinal Results
- #12 Red Mountain upset #1 Brophy, 36-35 in overtime
- Red Mountain scored 28 unanswered points to take the lead in this game before it went to overtime, where the Mountain Lions won
- Red Mountain lost the last five games of their regular season before going on a run to the state championship game
- Red Mountain finished #19 overall in 6A, meaning they would not have made the playoffs if the Open Division did not exist
- Seven teams from 6A made the Open Division this year
- This will be Red Mountain's fourth state championship appearance
- Red Mountain lost their last state championship appearance (2019, 34-28 to Liberty in overtime in the 6A title game)
- #3 Saguaro beat #2 Salpointe Catholic, 42-24
- Saguaro won their rematch with Salpointe, who beat the Sabercats 21-14 on October 27
- If Saguaro wins, they would win their 14th state championship, moving just one shy of Blue Ridge for the most in Arizona history
- This will be Saguaro's 17th state championship appearance
- Saguaro lost to Basha in last year's Open Division state championship game
- Saguaro's last state championship was in 2021 (Open Division)
6A State Championship Matchup
- #3 Saguaro (8-5) vs. #12 Red Mountain (7-6)
Here is a look at the updated bracket:
The 6A state championship game will be played at 12 p.m. on Saturday, December 2, 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 6A!
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.
6A Quarterfinal Results
- #1 Brophy beat #8 Casteel, 31-17
- #2 Salpointe Catholic beat #7 Williams Field, 35-25
- #3 Saguaro beat #6 Perry, 42-32
- #12 Red Mountain upset #4 Pinnacle, 27-24 in overtime
6A Semifinal Matchups
- #1 Brophy vs. #12 Red Mountain
- #2 Salpointe Catholic vs. #3 Saguaro
Here's a look at the updated bracket:
The 6A quarterfinal games will be played at the higher-seed schools (Brophy Prep and Salpointe Catholic) at 7 p.m. on Friday, November 24. Brophy plays their home games at Central High School in Phoenix.
The 6A state championship game will be held on Saturday, December 2 at 12 p.m. at ASU’s Mountain America Stadium in Tempe.
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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 6A.
6A First Round Results
- #1 Brophy Prep beat #16 Mesa, 35-7
- #2 Salpointe Catholic beat #15 Corona del Sol, 41-0
- #3 Saguaro beat #14 Queen Creek, 59-13
- #4 Pinnacle beat #13 Desert Ridge, 35-18
- #12 Red Mountain upset #5 Mountain View, 20-14
- #6 Perry beat #11 Mountain Pointe, 30-27
- #7 Williams Field beat #10 Boulder Creek, 35-6
- #8 Casteel beat #9 Sandra Day O'Connor, 38-35
6A Quarterfinal Matchups
- #1 Brophy Prep vs. #8 Casteel
- #2 Salpointe Catholic vs. #7 Williams Field
- #3 Saguaro vs. #6 Perry
- #4 Pinnacle vs. #12 Red Mountain
You can take a look at the updated bracket below.
All of the 6A quarterfinal games will be played at the higher-seed schools (Brophy Prep, Salpointe Catholic, Saguaro and Pinnacle) at 7 p.m. on Friday, November 17.
The 6A state championship game will be held on Saturday, December 2 at 12 p.m. at ASU’s Mountain America Stadium in Tempe.
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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 6A playoffs (Bold = Region Champion).
- Brophy Prep Broncos (8-2, 4-0 6A Central region)
- Salpointe Catholic Lancers (8-2, 3-1 6A Central region)
- Saguaro Sabercats (5-5, 2-2 6A Northeast Valley region)
- Pinnacle Pioneers (6-4, 1-3 6A Northeast Valley region)
- Mountain View Toros (8-2, 5-0 6A Fiesta region)
- Perry Pumas (7-3, 1-3 6A Premier region)
- Williams Field Black Hawks (5-5, 1-3 6A East Valley region)
- Casteel Colts (5-5, 0-4 6A Premier region)
- Sandra Day O’Connor Eagles (5-5, 3-1 6A Desert Valley region)
- Boulder Creek Jaguars (6-4, 4-0 6A Desert Valley region)
- Mountain Pointe Pride (6-4, 2-2 6A Central region)
- Red Mountain Mountain Lions (4-6, 1-3 6A East Valley region)
- Desert Ridge Jaguars (5-5, 4-1 6A Fiesta region)
- Queen Creek Bulldogs (3-7, 1-3 6A East Valely region)
- Corona del Sol Aztecs (3-7, 1-3 6A Central region)
- Mesa Jackrabbits (6-4, 3-2 6A Fiesta region)
Here are the matchups for the round of 16:
- #1 Brophy Prep vs. #16 Mesa (at Central High School)
- #2 Salpointe Catholic vs. #15 Corona del Sol
- #3 Saguaro vs. #14 Queen Creek
- #4 Pinnacle vs. #13 Desert Ridge
- #5 Mountain View vs. #12 Red Mountain
- #6 Perry vs. #11 Mountain Pointe
- #7 Williams Field vs. #10 Boulder Creek
- #8 Casteel vs. #9 Sandra Day O’Connor
All of the games will be played on Thursday, November 9 at 7 p.m. at the higher-seeded school unless otherwise noted. You can take a look at the full bracket below.
The 6A state championship game will be held on Saturday, December 2 at 12 p.m. at ASU’s Mountain America Stadium in Tempe.
Here's a look at the past 10 6A champions.
- 2013 (Note: 6A was known as Division I): Mountain Pointe
- 2014: Chandler
- 2015: Centennial
- 2016 (Note: Division I re-named 6A): Chandler
- 2017: Chandler
- 2018: Chandler
- 2019: Liberty
- 2020: Chaparral
- 2021: Highland
- 2022: Highland
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