Picking winners in 3A, 2A football playoffs

November 3, 2010 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365


First-round prognosticating isn't usually very hard so here is my take on the opening round games for 3A and 2A football. For good measure, I'll throw in picks through the final Thanksgiving weekend.

2A first-rounders are on Friday night and 3A openers are Saturday night. Here goes:

2A: Northwest Christian over Miami; Arizona Lutheran over Canyon State; St. Johns over Bisbee; Camp Verde over Pusch Ridge; Willcox over Thatcher; Tempe Prep over Williams; Scottsdale Christian over Valley Christian and Yuma Catholic over Bourgade. That's selecting all the better seeds except for Pusch Ridge, which played in a weak 2A South Region.

Three of the games are rematches with Willcox beating Thatcher earlier, 21-20, a game in which Willcox won despite five turnovers. Scottsdale Christian beat Valley Christian, 17-3, and Yuma Catholic handled Bourgade, 62-26.

2A quarterfinals: Northwest over Arizona Lutheran; St. Johns over Camp Verde; Willcox over Tempe Prep; Yuma Catholic over Scottsdale Christian.

2A semifinals: St. Johns over Northwest; Willcox over Yuma Catholic

2A final: St. Johns over Willcox.

3A: Show Low over River Valley; Winslow over Empire; Coolidge over Holbrook; Snowflake over Monument Valley; Florence over Chinle; Round Valley over Payson; Fountain Hills over Wickenburg and Blue Ridge over Parker. No upsets here according to seeds, but two rematches.

That's an interesting one between Payson and Round Valley. Payson blasted Round Valley, 42-0, back in September, but Round Valley quarterback Chantz Davis was injured during the game and missed most of it. His presence might make it a much more interesting contest this time. Both teams can score, but have difficulty stopping opponents. Each has allowed more than 200 points this season. With a healthy Davis in 2009, Round Valley beat Payson, thanks in part to a 276-yard passing night from Davis. In the other rematch, Fountain Hills already has a 10-0 win over Wickenburg and should prevail a bit easier on its home field.

3A quarterfinals: Show Low over Winslow; Snowflake over Coolidge; Florence over Round Valley; Blue Ridge over Fountain Hills.

3A semifinals: Show Low over Snowflake; Blue Ridge over Florence.

3A final: Blue Ridge over  Show Low