November football is great, isn’t it? 

The latest playoff football games in Arizona provided just about everything. There were blowouts, close games and upsets across all divisions. But some games stood out just a little bit more than the rest. 

Here’s a look at some of the top headlines from this past week’s playoff action. 

Upset City

The first round of the playoffs for big schools, as well as the quarterfinals for small schools, came with plenty of drama and some upsets. 

Arguably one of the biggest upsets of the week came in the 2A Conference, where No. 9 Tanque Verde, fresh off its upset victory over No. 8 Camp Verde the week prior, did it again by knocking off top-ranked Veritas Prep. The Hawks now face St. Johns in the semifinals. 

In 4A, Coconino avenged its loss to Bradshaw Mountain in the regular season with a 31-14 beat down of the Bears. The Panthers, who were the 14-seed in the 4A playoffs, now move on to face No. 6 Gila Ridge in Yuma. 

Staying in the 4A, ALA West Foothills took the long trip out to the far southeast Valley and knocked off No. 5 Combs. The Guardians have been up and down all season, but turned it up a notch with a 34-14 win. 

The lone “upset” in 5A came in the 8-9 matchup, as Desert Mountain knocked off Cactus 24-14. 

In 6A, Mountain View knocked off Centennial to move on to the quarterfinal round of the Open Division. The Toros were the higher seed at No. 8, but the entire team at Arizona Varsity chose the Coyotes as the team moving on. 

Williams Field moved on to the Open Division quarterfinals for the first time after upsetting Pinnacle, 39-36. Both the Coyotes and the Pioneers dropped down to the 6A bracket. 

Salpointe Catholic made the trip to Queen Creek from Tucson and knocked off the Bulldogs, 23-8, ending their season. 

Desert View keeps on rollin’ 

Desert View earned respect in southern Arizona this season for its undefeated record and impressive play from talented players young and old. But the true test came last Friday in the second round of the 5A playoffs, when Mountain Pointe made the trip from Ahwatukee to south Tucson. 

The Jaguars passed the test with flying colors.

Not only did they beat the Pride, they dominated. Senior quarterback Ryan Vasavilbaso passed for 255 yards and two touchdowns against the Pride, while sophomore star running back Jaylee Abraham had 21 carries for 116 yards and three touchdowns. He also caught four passes for 129 yards and another score. 

The Desert View defense held the Pride to 225 yards of total offense. The Jaguars now take on Canyon View in the second round. 

The 6A brackets and Open Division quarterfinals are set

The first-ever play-in games for 6A schools went off without a hitch last week. Well, depending on who you ask. Can’t please everyone, right? 

Mountain View, Brophy, Red Mountain and Williams Field all advanced to the quarterfinals, where the likes of top-ranked Hamilton, No. 2 Basha, No. 3 Liberty and No. 4 Chandler await. 

Below are the matchups. 

• 8 Mountain View at 1 Hamilton
• 5 Brophy at 4 Chandler
• 6 Red Mountain at 3 Liberty
• 10 Williams Field at 2 Basha

The losers of the Open play-in games dropped back into the 6A bracket and were re-seeded alongside the winners of the play-in games for the conference tournament. 

Here are those matchups. 

• 8 Salpointe Catholic at 1 Pinnacle
• 5 Higley at 4 Casteel
• 6 Perry at 3 ALA Queen Creek
• 7 Mesa at 2 Centennial