It’s a new week of Arizona high school football and teams are solidifying their starts to the 2025 season. This week’s Best in the West sweeps across Glendale and takes a look at this week’s Fiesta Bowl High School Showdown matchup!
Little Problems and a Big Grant
The Thunderbird Titans have been on the rise over the past few seasons. THS has made the 4A Conference quarterfinal in each of the past three seasons. The Titans fell short in their 2024 postseason against eventual state champion Mica Mountain. Thunderbird looks to finally return to their first title game since claiming the 2010 championship with a 3-0 start to 2025. To do that, they travel to face sister school Independence on Friday night.
The Independence Patriots are in search of their first win of the season after losses to Northwest Christian and Bradshaw Mountain. While IHS didn’t make the postseason in 2024, momentum is on the Patriots’ side. The program has earned a winning record in each of the past two seasons after finishing with losing records every year from 2010 to 2022. Senior receiver Daniel Rodriguez has been the leader on offense for Independence, logging 144 receiving yards on 16 catches while also rushing for 72 yards on just five carries. On defense, senior linebacker Kesean Wright leads the team with 13 total tackles. It will be a big day for IHS as Cody Cameron has reported that prior to the game, the Patriots will be awarded an $8,000 grant from Dick’s Sporting Goods to help cover the costs of their team camp.
What a great group! @IndyAZfootball Appreciate @fbcoach_hagen for bringing his Independence team to our CA Team Camp. pic.twitter.com/EKmdrtRFg4
— American Youth – BILT (@AY_BILT) July 9, 2025
Thunderbird enters game two of a three-game road trip after squeaking out a 38-35 victory over Prescott last week. A monumental piece of the Titan’s early success has been the Littles. Cousins Melakye and Daryl have blown up the stat sheets to open 2025. In the past two games, Melakye Little has tallied a team-leading three touchdowns courtesy of 125 rushing yards on 23 carries to begin his senior season. Meanwhile, Daryl Little has managed to rack up 474 all-purpose yards in just two games. The sophomore has caught two touchdown passes on just eight total catches. He has parlayed that into 217 receiving yards on top of 105 rushing yards, 60 kick return yards, 8 punt return yards, plus an extra 84 yards on three interceptions. Oh, and don’t let that overshadow Melakye’s sophomore brother, Zychayn Little, who has a rush TD and kickoff return TD so far. Oh, and did I mention Trey and Andrew Little have also been picking up stats on defense? Five Littles, five humongous problems for opposing teams.
These two Glendale Union District sister schools have not seen each other since 2015. Thunderbird has dominated the all-time series, 10-1.
Glendale Rivals Face-off
Sunnyslope put the 5A Conference on notice Friday night as the Vikings defeated Notre Dame Prep 29-28. A 4-6 finish last year was less than ideal since SHS had finished .500 or better every year since 2013. Now 2-0, the Vikings face fellow Glendale Union school, Apollo, which missed last year’s postseason by just one spot. Both teams see Friday as an opportunity to bolster their résumé for this year’s state tournament.
The AHS Hawks opened the year at home with a win against Ironwood and are now in the middle of a three-game road trip. After a 56-7 loss to a physical Horizon team, Apollo looks to bounce back against their Glendale rival. Senior receivers Deandre Crum and Mila Chieg have surpassed 100 receiving yards and both have found the endzone. On defense, the Hawks have forced six turnovers this year, five against Ironwood and one against Horizon. Senior linebacker Javier Quinonez leads the team so far with 13 total tackles.
What a finish at Sunny @SlopeFootball
Reed Mitzel from 53 yards to win the game…..
It’s your play of the night on the #VarsityZone on @azfamily pic.twitter.com/wQQtl370ea
— Mark McClune (@MarkMcClune) September 6, 2025
It’s not every day you get a walkoff in high school football but that’s what senior kicker Reed Mitzel had to do for Sunnyslope to knock off Notre Dame Prep, 29-28, with an improbable 53-yard field goal. Along with that game-winning kick, the Viking defense has been vital in the 2-0 start. Junior defensive back Brendon Camp swiped an interception in both games this year. Senior safety Tommy Reeve snagged a scoop-and-score fumble recovery against NDP. On offense, Sunnyslope’s junior running back is two-for-two this season in eclipsing 100 yards on the ground. Kelton Rogers has been a menace in the run game with 113 rushing yards against Central, 102 rushing yards against Notre Dame Prep, and one touchdown in each game.
This will be the 28th all-time matchup between the Glendale Union sister schools since their first meeting in 1972. Sunnyslope has a chance to even the all-time record as Apollo leads the series 14-13.
Fiesta Bowl Showdown Visits the West Side
The Fiesta Bowl High School Showdown on CW 7 heads west of the I-17 just three times in 2025. The first of those three is hosted at Sandra Day O’Connor as the Eagles welcome Mesa Red Mountain on Thursday. This game will have the Sports360AZ crew on the mics, and you can watch the game live on CW 7 Arizona.
The Eagles started the year strong with a 42-6 win over Valley Vista. O’Connor then put out a brief upset alert, keeping up with Hamilton on the road, 14-14, at the end of the first quarter. Hamilton quickly took over the steering wheel, though, and won 62-14. Ben Kullos is in his first year as head coach at SDO after several successful years at Raymond S. Kellis.
First week of fall practice complete.
The new era of @oc_football.@bkullos #MTC pic.twitter.com/7tMlIyP6ra— CoachSlade (@FBCoach_Slade) August 10, 2025
This offseason, Kullos raved about running back Jeremy Adeyanju, and so far, he’s had plenty to rave about. The junior has tallied 244 rushing yards and five touchdowns. Adeyanju was the only O’Connor player to score against Hamilton with one rush TD and caught his first receiving touchdown of the year. The O’Connor defense was able to swipe two interceptions against the Huskies with the hands of Colton Lauffer and Marchus Johnson. As a team, Owen Williams’ 13 total tackles lead the defense, while Johnson has earned a team-leading three tackles for loss.
This will be just the second meeting between these two programs. The first meeting came in 2022 when O’Connor defeated Red Mountain 28-14 and eventually qualified for the Open Division Playoff.
Be sure to head out and support your local teams this Friday night. Also, keep an eye on Sports360AZ for all of our high school football content, including the Fiesta Bowl High School Showdown on CW 7, Bleacher Talk, Zone Read, Recruiting Roundup, and more.
Join the conversation on X using #FridayNight360AZ and follow @Sports360AZ to keep up with the action from across the state on Friday nights!
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Devon Henry
Arizona native, Devon Henry, joined the Sports360AZ crew in 2018 after graduating from Arizona State's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Communication. Devon has avidly partaken in coverage of the Arizona high school sports scene since 2013 and has covered NASCAR and INDYCAR at Phoenix Raceway since 2017. Devon is also a play-by-play announcer, calling over a dozen different sports and hundreds of events.