Class 5A Southern champion Salpointe Catholic is the No. 2 seed in the 5A state playoffs and Desert View, which set a school-record with nine regular-season victories, is the No. 6 seed in the brackets released by the AIA on Saturday morning.
Cienega, the 5A Sonoran champ, is the No. 9 seed, and Ironwood Ridge is the No. 13 seed.
Marana, despite being 7-3, did not make the 16-team field rated No. 18. Phillip Steward, in his first year, had the Tigers rated No. 11 only two weeks ago but losses to Cienega and Ironwood Ridge made them slip seven spots.
The Lancers (8-2) will host No. 15 Phoenix Sunnyslope (6-4) on Friday night while the Jaguars (9-1) will host No. 11 Goodyear Millennium (5-5).
Salpointe, playing for second-year coach Eric Rogers, has played the last two seasons in the Open Division playoffs. The Lancers’ No. 2 seed assures them a chance to host a game in the first round, quarterfinals and semifinals.
This will be the first time in school history the Jaguars will host a playoff game. In 1987, Desert View beat Flagstaff Coconino in an opening-round game at Sunnyside and then lost to Peoria at Rincon/University in the next round.
Desert View is in its 10th year with Robert Bonillas, a former Nogales and Arizona tight end, as the head coach.
Cienega is 7-3 in its first season under Justin Argraves. The Bobcats, who have won five straight games on the field (the season ended with a forfeit win over Rincon/University), will travel to No. 8 Buckeye Verrado (7-3) on Friday.
Ironwood Ridge (6-4) has also come on strong under coach James Hardy, winning its last four games including scores of 63-0 over Rincon/University, 71-0 over Nogales and 69-27 over Marana. The Nighthawks will play at No. 4 Scottsdale Desert Mountain (9-1).
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