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Nationally Ranked Teams Highlight 2021 Arizona GameTime Schedule

GameTime Arizona’s 40th season features four of the top 50 nationally-ranked teams. Watch all the action on YurView AZ (Cox ch. 4 Phoenix, ch. 7 Tucson). Live streams available at watch.yurview.com.

By
Haley Stesiak
-
arizona high school football
Chandler Wolves, ranked 18th nationally and riding a 36 game winning streak, are featured twice on GameTime

The 2021 Arizona high school football season marks a special year for GameTime Arizona. This season is also the 40th season of televised high school football here on Cox.

Former play-by-play announcer George Allen presented the idea to showcase high school football on television in 1981. He brought on current Arizona Diamondbacks Radio play-by-play voice Greg Schulte as his partner and together they brought high school football into homes across the state.

Watch it now:  40 Years of Arizona High School Football

Forty years later, Allen’s legacy continues to live on through the GameTime Arizona featured game of the week.

The 2021 season will kick off on Friday, September 3rd featuring two of the state’s storied programs in Centennial and Chandler. The schedule includes nine weeks of some of the top matchups of the regular season and one playoff game.

centennial vs chandler
2021 Arizona GameTime season opens 9/3 with powerhouse programs Centennial vs Chandler
How To Watch

All games this season will be televised on YurView Arizona – Cox channel 4 in Phoenix and channel 7 in Tucson. Cox customers can also watch the games on their phones using the Cox Contour App. Download the Coutour App on Apple and Android.

Live streams and replays of all games will be available to rent or purchase at watch.yurview.com.

Visit yurview.com throughout the season for Arizona player profiles and high school game previews.

Featured Matchups

GameTime Arizona’s 40th season will showcase three Top 50 nationally-ranked teams from Arizona and one from California.

Chandler is ranked #18 nationally and #1 in Arizona. The Wolves have dominated Arizona high school football winning their second straight Open Division title last season and extending their win streak to 36 games after a second consecutive undefeated year.

“The bar has been raised the last six or seven years,” Chandler head coach Rick Garretson said. “Everybody wants Chandler to get beat. We’ll be taking it game-by-game. The ultimate goal is that we’ll be standing with the gold ball again in the Open Division.”

Number 43 nationally ranked Saguaro will be featured taking on #42 nationally ranked Sierra Canyon out of California on October 15.

We’ll close out the regular season on November 12 with perhaps the season’s most anticipated game – #1 Chandler versus #2 Hamilton. Hamilton is ranked #28 nationally.

This season will feature 11 total teams in the MaxPreps Arizona Top 25 Preseason Rankings. In addition to #1 Chandler, #2 Hamilton and #4 Saguaro, the season will also include #3 Chaparral, #6 Desert Edge, #8 Cactus, #9 Queen Creek, #10 Liberty, #11 Williams Field and #16 Sunrise Mountain.

September 3 – #12 Centennial vs. #1 Chandler

The season gets started on September 3rd with two of the top programs in the state going head to head.

Chandler is lethal on both sides of the ball. On offense, the Wolves return Ohio State commit Kyion Graves who is ranked as the #2 player in the state and the #6 wide receiver in the nation in the 2022 class by 247Sports.

They also have running back Quaron Adams returning to the offense. Adams is ranked as the #5 player in Arizona in the 2022 class and is committed to Iowa State.

Centennial has won seven state titles since 2006. They won four of five championships from 2014 to 2019.

In 2019, Centennial was eliminated in the first round of the Open Division by top-ranked Hamilton. Then in 2020, the Coyotes season ended in heartbreak after another opening-round loss in the Open Division playoff to Liberty, 25-24.

This year they’ll be looking to take advantage of this early challenge against Chandler to make a strong push into the postseason.

The Coyotes return running backs Kavaughn Clark and James Scott who will be key weapons in the offense.

 October 8 – #6 Desert Edge vs. #8 Cactus

This midseason matchup will be a premier battle of the West Valley. The two programs know each other very well as Desert Edge co-head coaches Mark and Marcus Carter got their start in coaching with the Cobras.

The Scorpions rode an undefeated 2020 regular season to the Open Division playoffs but were taken down by #1 Chandler in the opening round 52-0.

“We’ve got a chip on our shoulder from last year,” Desert Edge co-head coach Marcus Carter said. “We took one on the chin pretty hard in the Open so we’re eager to get back out there.”

The Scorpions will return quarterback Adryan Lara who is rated as the #18 player in the state by 247Sports and is a Washington State commit. They also return offensive lineman Gavin Broscious, a Michigan State commit. Broscious is rated as the #10 player in Arizona.

When these two teams met last season Desert Edge got the shut-out win 12 -0.

October 15 – Sierra Canyon (CA) vs. #4 Saguaro

Saguaro’s 2020 season ended early due to COVID-19 protocols.

This year head coach Jason Mohns said he’s got his most dynamic group of players across all three classes of sophomores, juniors, and seniors.

“We’re going to have major contributions from all three classes,” Mohns said. “The 2020 senior class was a deep and talented senior class, but this one is a little more balanced across all three classes.”

The Sabercats will be returning some key players out of the 2022 class this season.

Offensive lineman Parker Brailsford is rated by 247Sports as the #7 player in Arizona, #22 offensive lineman in the country and is committed to the University of Washington.

Linebacker Tristan Monday will play both sides of the ball for the Sabercats this year. He’s is rated as the #8 player in the state and is committed to the University of Arizona.

The Sabercats have tried to get Sierra Canyon on the schedule for a couple of years now, but due to a scheduling conflict and COVID, the matchup has been delayed.

“Sierra Canyon is a top-five team in the state of California,” Mohns said. “They’ve been so for the last couple of years and are only getting better.

“It’s nice to play a team like that out of state…it makes it a good environment to go out, get a great game, great competition, get better and learn about your team and where you’re at in that point in the season.”

The two schools will do a home and home with the Trailblazers visiting Arizona this year and the Sabercats heading to California next season.

 November 12 – #1 Chandler vs. #2 Hamilton

GameTime Arizona will close out the 2021 regular season with the much-anticipated Battle of Arizona Avenue.

Hamilton returns quarterback Nicco Marchiol who is committed to West Virginia. Marchiol is rated as the #6 player in the state and the #29 quarterback in the 2022 class.

Chandler has three senior quarterbacks competing for the starting job. Blaine Hipa transferred to the Wolves from Hawaii, Kenneth Cooper Jr. came over from Texas and Ethan Moore from California.

Hipa is ranked by 247Sports as the #25 player in the state.

“They’ve competed well,” Garrettson said of the trio. “They’re learning the system. (The deciding factor) will be who moves the offense best. We’ve got a scrimmage next week, so we’ll see how that all pans out.”

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