Friday Night Notebook: Honor Bowl, close games, and more

Arizona high school football is cruising now, just a month into the season.

It’s flying by.

First ever Honor Bowl in AZ

For the first time, the Honor Bowl was played in Arizona.

Red Mountain hosted, after competing in San Diego Honor Bowl games the last two years.

The Mountain Lions welcomed Downey (CA) and four star Purdue QB commit Oscar Rios town. Red Mountain won 35-32.

Coach Kyle Enders has his defense humming like usual. Offensively, quarterback Simon Lopez and athlete Bode Wagner were dialed in.

MUST WATCH 🫡

Unreal catch by @wagner_bode & a dart from @SimonLopez__ 🎯 pic.twitter.com/4aZCVdkGIf

— Jordan Spurgeon (@spurge_) September 21, 2024

The first ever Honor Bowl flag football game was before the tackle football game. Mesa Mountain View beat Red Mountain 15-13 after a field goal by Kaylei Yazzie with 11 seconds left.

FOR THE WIN

Kaylei Yazzie makes her 3rd FG of the game with 11 seconds left. @MVToroFlag wins 15-13. pic.twitter.com/aWPzbx82gk

— Jordan Spurgeon (@spurge_) September 21, 2024

I’ll have more about the Honor Bowl on the site soon. More games are being played Saturday at Liberty high school.

Liberty will face California Centennial. Hamilton flag football will play Campo Verde flag football at Liberty as well.

6A MUST WATCH

Probably the biggest non-region game of the year so far was Brophy versus Perry. The Broncos outlasted the Pumas 24-20, sealed by a pick in the final minute.

Brophy is making its case for a run at the Open Division. Perry is now gearing up for the brutal gauntlet that is the premier region. Both squads will be in good shape going forward.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:@FootballBrophy at @perrypumas
Final Score – Broncos Win 2⃣4⃣-2⃣0⃣ pic.twitter.com/xH0XogYqFz

— Claudia Collins (@ClaudiafCollins) September 21, 2024

Thursday Night Lights

On Thursday, there were some exceptional performances.

Horizon and Pinnacle played a game for the ages, with the Pioneers coming out on top 54-51, after Xavier Valdivia punched it in with less than 30 seconds left.

Xavier Valdivia scores with less than 30 seconds left to give Pinnacle a 54-51 win over Horizon.

Pinnacle is 17-1 in this rivalry.

(Pinnacle Football Broadcast on YouTube on the call) pic.twitter.com/pnNam2LLSh

— ArizonaVarsity.com 🔥PREPS🔥 (@AZHSFB) September 20, 2024

Wyatt Horton was masterful in the biggest moments.

Also, Horizon continues to show why they belong in the category of “best teams in 5A.” Don’t be shocked to see the Huskies competing for a gold ball in December…

Thursday also was the day Centennial dropped to 0-4, following a 27-23 loss to Salpointe Catholic. The open conversation is over for the Coyotes, but the season is far from over. I’ve heard some say this could be a 2 win season… I don’t buy that at all, especially with 10 starters being eligible after week 5. The 6A playoff bracket will be fascinating and Centennial will be a big reason why.

Higley is still Higley

Coming off a loss to Marana, Higley was out for blood against Desert Edge in a 5A championship rematch.

The Scorpions took a 14-7 lead into halftime, but the Knight responded with 32 unanswered…

Great TEAM WIN!! Down 14-7 @ half. 32 Unanswered points @Luke_Haugo 173 1TD 75 Rush@Jadenta3 105 1TD@DanielZubey 23 TDs@JBender2025 133 2TD@kooper_woolf 5 Tkl 1Int TD@EzyBrown2 4 Tkl 1 FumRec@JaydenOlcott 6 Tkl 1TFL 1INT
@_DylanH251 INt TD@bostontil 9 Tkl 1 Sack pic.twitter.com/iHkXB379Wm

— Higley Football (@HIGLEYFOOTBALL) September 21, 2024

5A is loaded this year. Higley can win a third straight, but the road will be challenging. Marana, Horizon, Desert Mountain, and others have a fair shot to take them down. But, Eddy Zubey has his guys playing the right way, and a loss last week may have given this squad more faith in the path to a third straight title.

Other Notable Scores

Cesar Chavez 45 – Camelback 28

Chandler 49 – Corona del Sol 6

Hamilton 52 – Desert Vista 18

Mission Viejo (CA) 31 – Basha 28

*Shoutout Basha for going toe to toe with one of the best teams in California and nationally.

Basha drops a heartbreaker in Cali.. https://t.co/WLlNDql2wg

— Just Chilly (@JUSTCHILLY) September 21, 2024

Queen Creek 22 – Canyon View 0