After Week 3 of the high school football season in Arizona, it’s still not clear just where the seat of power resides in Division I.
Top-ranked Chandler High School made perhaps the best showing of the week among the top teams in Division I. And it was on the road. Really on the road.
Chandler traveled to Colorado for its third game of the season to take on one of the better teams in this part of the country, Valor Christian, the five-time defending state champion. The Wolves dominated from start to finish, leaving the Rocky Mountain state with an impressive 22-7 win.
And it was, indeed, impressive. Not only was it the first loss of the season for the Colorado powerhouse, it was the first time since 2008 that Valor Christian has suffered a double-digit loss. A three-yard plunge with 3:59 left to play was the only thing that kept the Eagles from being shut out for the first time in the last 73 games.
The lopsided win could have been even more so had Chandler not had to overcome an interception and a pair of fumbles that gifted the ball to the Eagles.
Valor Christian usually thrives on out-of-state challenges, since there is so little competition within the state. Friday’s game with Chandler was the third against an out-of-state opponent this season.
Chandler QB Bryce Perkins finished the game with 172 yards passing and three touchdowns to lead the team in stacking up 350 yards of offense, while the defense held the host to 222 yards. Chase Lucas was the workhorse in the backfield, carrying 31 times for 162 yards.
Chandler is the No. 1 team in Division I and the No. 3-ranked team in Arizona and, as good as the Wolves looked in this one, they haven’t separated themselves from the pack yet. They had to come from behind to post a four-point win against Centennial in the season opener, when Centennial was the top-ranked team in Division II. And their 56-10 win against Buena High in the second game didn’t mean much since Buena has yet to win a game.
Meanwhile, No. 3 Hamilton High and No. 5 Pinnacle High played to a near-dead heat in their third game of the season. Hamilton let the Pioneers rally from a 34-7 deficit and then used three second-half touchdown passes by Brian Lewerke and a Brandon Krcilek field goal with 37 seconds left on the clock to pull out a two-point win, 37-35.
Hamilton is 3-0, but the Huskies have built their record on wins over Brophy Prep, which has won just one game, and Sandra Day O’Connor High School, a .500 team. And Pinnacle’s two wins have come against winless Red Mountain High School and Millennium High, which has just one win so far.
No. 2 Mountain Pointe High School offered an embarrassing display of running up the score Friday against a winless Maryvale High team, which told us little. Nor does it’s 4-0 record. After beating Nevada’s Reed High, 66-13, in the Sollenberger Classic, the Pride posted lopsided wins against three teams that don’t have a win among them. Maryvale has scored just one touchdown all season.
So Mountain Pointe, which is loaded with talent, is still something of a question mark.
And then there’s No. 4 Desert Ridge High, which beat O’Connor Friday night, but by just two scores over a team that is .500 on the year. Desert Ridge also hasn’t had a signature win yet this season.
However, this week may begin sorting things out among the big-school teams at the top.
Mountain Pointe will play host to Chandler as it tries to do what Valor Christian couldn’t.