PREVIOUSLY IN OUR LOOK AT 2026 SCHEDULES
— Salpointe Catholic in the 6A Southern
— 4A Kino
— 4A Gila
— 3A East
2A INDEPENDENT
CATALINA TROJANS
Last year: 3-6
Head coach: Keith Edwards (First season as head coach at Catalina and overall)
— Edwards’ first game as a head coach after serving as an assistant with the three previous coaching staffs at Catalina is a home game against Santa Rita on Aug. 21.
— Catalina is classified as an independent, so it cannot qualify for the postseason. The Trojans, beset by low numbers of player involvement, can still play in games this season and try to build momentum under Edwards, the school’s fourth coach in the last four years.
— Catalina will host ALA-Sierra Vista (Aug. 28) and Desert Christian (Sept. 11) and play at Palo Verde (Oct. 1) in games involving Southern Arizona schools.
2A METRO 2
ALA-SIERRA VISTA GUARDIANS
Last year: 0-10 (Canyon Athletic Association)
Head coach: John Kraus (3-14, third year at ALA-Sierra Vista and overall)
— After playing eight-man football in 2024 in its first season of existence and elevating to 11-man last year within the CAA, ALA-Sierra Vista is joining the AIA and will compete in the 2A Metro 2 region that has schools Phoenix Madison Highland, Heritage Academy Mesa (also in CAA last year), Scottsdale Prep, Phoenix Arizona Lutheran and Parker.
— The Guardians’ first AIA game is at home against Scottsdale Coronado, a 2A Independent team last year that went 0-9, on Aug. 21. They travel to Catalina the week after. Catalina was also a 2A Independent team last season that was 3-6.
— ALA-Sierra Vista has ambitiously scheduled the last regular season game Oct. 16 at perennial power Pima in a freedom game.
2A SOUTH I
BISBEE PUMAS
Last year: 3-7
Head coach: Carlos Lopez (13-9, third year at Bisbee and overall)
— Bisbee’s opener at rival Benson is a freedom game on Aug. 21. Benson leads the series 25-12-2 that dates to only 1982 although Bisbee’s first season was in 1906 and Benson’s first team played in 1939. Bisbee won three straight games in the series before losing 34-0 at home to the Bobcats to begin last season. Benson has won 11 out of the last 15 games to take command of the rivalry.
— After playing at Benson, Bisbee will play three straight home games in the freedom portion of its schedule against Phoenix Cortez (3-7 last year), Douglas (5-4) and Morenci (7-5). Bisbee played all three on the road last season, winning 26-20 against Cortez before losing 25-0 against Douglas and 26-0 against Morenci.
— The Bisbee-Douglas series, the second-oldest high school football rivalry in the nation, first began in 1906 with Bisbee winning 7-6. Douglas won the rematch later that year, 18-0. The teams often played two games in a season during their early inception. That’s why the game Sept. 4 is the 156th meeting in the historic rivalry. Douglas has defeated Bisbee four of the last five years. The Bulldogs leads the series 84-62-8.
PALO VERDE TITANS
Last year: 6-4
Head coach: Jamal Chatman (14-26, fifth year at Palo Verde and overall)
— Palo Verde, coming off its first winning season since 2009, will travel to Willcox to open it season Aug. 21. The Titans lost 49-0 at home against the Cowboys to start last season when the started 1-3. Palo Verde then won five straight games to clinch the winning season.
— Palo Verde’s three straight home games against ALA-Anthem South (Aug. 27), Tanque Verde (Sept. 3) and Rincon/University (Sept. 10) could allow it to flip what happened last year with the slow start. The game against Tanque Verde to open region play will be a challenging one. The Titans lost 69-0 on the road against the Hawks last year.
— The Titans will play three of their last five games on the road. Their two home games in that stretch are against TUSD rivals Catalina and Santa Rita. The Titans are riding a six-game winning streak against Catalina and have won the last three meetings with Santa Rita.
SANTA RITA EAGLES
Last year: 0-10
Head coach: Cam Gaddis (First year as head coach at Santa Rita and overall)
— Gaddis will try to restore pride in the program from when he played under Jeff Scurran from 2007 to 2009, a time in which Santa Rita was 34-7 with state championship appearances in 2008 and 2009. The Eagles are mired in a 24-game losing streak dating to 2021.
— The Gaddis Era begins with three of the first four games on the road, including the opener against Catalina. His first game as coach at the field he once played on will be Aug. 28 against Miami, which has won the last three games against Santa Rita (including a 64-0 score last year at Miami).
— Santa Rita will play four home games and five on the road. Home region games are against Bisbee on Sept. 18 and Tombstone Oct. 2. The Eagles will try to achieve their first win over Bisbee since 1972 (trailing 1-5 in the series) and first victory over Tombstone (0-6 in the series dating to Santa Rita’s first season in 1969).
TANQUE VERDE HAWKS
Last year: 11-3, lost in the 2A semifinals 29-16 against St. Johns.
Head coach: Jeffrey Bollnow (26-10, fourth year at Tanque Verde and overall)
— Tanque Verde’s series with Phoenix Christian continues to start the season. This will be the fourth straight season the schools have opened their seasons against each other with Phoenix Christian winning the last two games, including a 47-7 victory at Tanque Verde last season when the Cougars finished 8-3.
— The Hawks’ other freedom games are against established programs at home against Morenci (7-5 last year) on Aug. 28, Benson (8-5) on Sept. 11 and Goodyear Trivium Prep (8-4) on Sept. 18. The last freedom game is at Surprise Highland Prep (2-7) on Oct. 9.
— Tanque Verde ran the table against its four region opponents last year in a very convincing way (69-0 win over Palo Verde, 59-6 over Santa Rita, 62-8 over Bisbee, and 64-0 over Tombstone).
TOMBSTONE YELLOW JACKETS
Last year: 2-7
Head coach: Anthony Ciccariello (First year as head coach at Tombstone and overall)
— The Ciccariello Era starts with a home game against Miami on Aug. 21. Tombstone lost at Miami 28-7 last year to open the season. The Yellow Jackets started their series with Miami winning the first four games before losing the last two (in 2017 and last year).
— Tombstone opens the season with five consecutive freedom games. After the game at Miami, the Yellow Jackets face four teams that reached the postseason last year — at Pima (7-5), at home against Benson (8-5), at Eloy Santa Cruz Valley (6-6) and at home against Willcox (10-3).
— The Yellow Jackets have struggled in recent years against nearby rivals Bisbee (2-8 since 2017) and Benson (1-19 dating to 2007).
2A SOUTH II
BENSON BOBCATS
Last year: 8-5
Head coach: Chris Rasmussen (13-10, third year at Benson and overall)
— After opening at home against Bisbee and Phoenix Christian, Benson plays four straight games on the road — all freedom games — against Tombstone, Tanque Verde, Phoenix Veritas Prep and Morenci. Benson split those four games at home last year, beating Tombstone and Tanque Verde before losing to Veritas Prep and Morenci.
— Veritas Prep went 11-1 last year with its first loss of the season against Tanque Verde in the second round of the 2A state playoffs. Benson lost 29-6 to the Falcons last year.
— Only three other teams in the region — Santa Cruz Valley, Desert Christian and Willcox — and Benson plays two of them at home (against Santa Cruz Valley and Willcox). Benson lost both of its games last year at Willcox, 26-17 in the regular-season finale and 26-6 in the 2A quarterfinals.
DESERT CHRISTIAN EAGLES
Last year: 3-6
Head coach: Zachary Davila (First year at Desert Christian; 8-22, fourth year overall)
— Davila, an assistant at Walden Grove in recent years, returns to being a head coach after his stint at Rio Rico from 2016 to 2018. His first game with the Eagles is a freedom game at home against ALA-Anthem South (3-7 last year with a 28-18 loss to Desert Christian at home to start the season).
— Desert Christian is in its third year of existence, second at the 2A level playing 11-man football after playing 8-man football as a 1A independent in 2024. Davila is the third coach in the Eagles’ three years.
— The Eagles went 0-3 against region opponents Willcox, Benson and Santa Cruz Valley last season as part of a five-game losing streak to end the season.
SANTA CRUZ VALLEY DUST DEVILS
Last year: 6-6, lost in the 2A quarterfinals 35-6 at Veritas Prep
Head coach: Thomas Cortez (28-16, fifth year at Santa Cruz Valley and overall)
— After Santa Cruz Valley opens its season with three of four games at home, including against nearby 3A opponent Coolidge in the opener, the Dust Devils play four straight road games against Phoenix Christian, Arizona Lutheran, Benson and Willcox. Those four teams each reached the postseason last year and had a combined record of 36-12.
— A home game against St. Johns in Week 3 can be a payback game after the Dust Devils lost 49-0 at St. Johns last year. St. Johns finished 12-2 last year with a 27-22 loss to Scottsdale Christian in the 2A state championship.
— The Dust Devils, who went 1-2 in the region last year, play only Desert Christian at home after playing at Benson and Willcox. They lost at home against Benson and Willcox last season.
WILLCOX COWBOYS
Last year: 10-3, lost in the 2A semifinals 28-25 to Scottsdale Christian
Head coach: Steven Ward (First year as head coach at Willcox and overall)
— Ward will coach his alma mater after serving as an assistant in the last decade, and he has two home games to welcome him to his new role. They won’t be easy games with Palo Verde (6-4 last year) and Arizona Lutheran (10-2).
— Then comes four straight road games against Morenci, Tombstone, Scottsdale Prep and Desert Christian. Morenci and Scottsdale Prep advanced to the postseason last year.
— The region schedule ends with a home game against Santa Cruz Valley at home and then Benson on the road. Willcox won all three of its region games last season.
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