MESA, Ariz. — 12 months ago, Scottsdale Christian won a state championship by beating Pima.
A whole trip around the sun later, the teams will face off with a golden football on the line once again after advancing to the 2024 2A state championship game.
The teams both played in semifinal games on Saturday at Westwood High School in Mesa.
The day began with Pima, the No. 3 seed in 2A, taking on the No. 2 seed Tonopah Valley, who had been dominant in a perfect 10-0 regular season, but had been tested in the first two rounds of the playoffs.
The Roughriders, on the other hand, got to the semis with fairly comfortable wins over No. 14 St. Johns and No. 6 Bisbee.
This game would be a barnburner, but the Roughriders would come out on top, ending Tonopah Valley's season with a 40-34 victory.
In the second game of the night, Scottsdale Christian, the No. 12 seed, looked to continue their Cinderella run in the playoffs against No. 1 seed San Tan Charter.
Scottsdale Christian leaned on their playoff experience and kept their dream of back-to-back titles alive with a 34-21 victory to make it back to the 2A title game.
Next Saturday, Scottsdale Christian will be looking for the school's fourth state championship, as, along with last year's 2A title, the Eagles won titles in 1983 (C) and 1989 (1A).
This will be Scottsdale Christian's sixth appearance in a state championship game.
Pima will be looking for the school's 11th state title. The Roughriders also won titles in 1961 (C), 1969 (C), 1970 (C), 1973 (C), 1974 (C), 1984 (C), 2004 (1A), 2005 (1A), 2015 (1A) and 2022 (2A). This will be the third straight season Pima will play for a state title.
This will be the 21st time the Roughriders will play in a state championship game, which is the second-most in Arizona history behind Blue Ridge, which has played in 25 title games.
This will be the sixth football game between Scottsdale Christian and Pima, according to MaxPreps. Pima leads the series 4-1.
The 2A State Championship Game will be played at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 20 at Mountain Ridge High School in Glendale.
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