In football, not much really gets settled during the month of September. But any debate over who will own No. 1 ranking in next week's Arizona Division I state rankings will definitely be put to bed Friday night when Chandler travels to Mountain Pointe.
The showdown between the No. 24 Wolves and No. 17 Pride is the only head-to-head matchup of nationally ranked teams in the latest edition of the MaxPreps Top 10 Football Games of the Week.
In other action, St. Edward will spend its first weekend as the No. 1 team in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 in Cincinnati to play Elder on Saturday afternoon; No. 10 DeSoto has a Thursday night date at Baylor's new McLane Stadium to face fellow unbeaten Steele; No. 16 St. Thomas Aquinas will try to bounce back from a crushing loss to Don Bosco Prep when it plays South Florida rival Miramar on Saturday night.
Despite going only 6-4 last week, Jamie DeMoney maintained a two-game lead in our season-long predictions contest. DeMoney has correctly picked the winner in 29 out of 40 games this season. Next closest in the standings are Leland Gordon and Kevin Askeland, with 27 correct picks each. Stephen Spiewak sits alone in fourth place only three games back. Mitch Stephens and Colin Ward-Henninger are currently in the cellar, both six games off the pace.
Here's a look at this week's Top 10 games along with predictions by MaxPreps staff writers and contributors Mitch Stephens, Stephen Spiewak, Kevin Askeland, Leland Gordon, Colin Ward-Henninger and Jamie DeMoney.
Chandler (Ariz.) at Mountain Pointe (Phoenix)
The Valley of the Sun is the hot spot for this week's slate of great games.
Photos by Ray Chen/Jann Hendry. Graphic by Ryan Escobar
Arizona is in very select company among the states with more than one team nationally ranked this week. Both No. 17 Mountain Pointe and No. 23 Chandler have undefeated records, but Chandler (3-0) is probably a little more battle-tested at this point. The Wolves have a win over state-ranked Centennial (Peoria) plus an impressive win at Colorado power Valor Christian (Highlands Ranch) last week. Conversely, Mountain Pointe has beaten every team it's played by at least 42 points. But the combined won-loss record of those four teams is just 2-11.
Just the facts: Both squads are led by senior quarterbacks. Arizona State-bound
Bryce Perkins had a hand in eight of Chandler's 15 touchdowns so far. Mountain Pointe's
Garvin Alston – whose dad was a major league pitcher – is averaging a touchdown pass in every 3.7 attempts. ... These teams have split the four games they've played since 2004. Mountain Pointe has two wins in a row, including a 38-14 victory at Chandler last season.
Mitch Stephens: Mountain Pointe 35, Chandler 28
Kevin Askeland: Mountain Pointe 45, Chandler 35
Jamie DeMoney: Chandler 32, Mountain Pointe 27
Stephen Spiewak: Mountain Pointe 35, Chandler 28
Leland Gordon: Mountain Pointe 49, Chandler 43
Colin Ward-Henninger: Chandler 28, Mountain Pointe 27
