Something's gotta give tonight at Red Mountain High School in Mesa. 
The Mountain Lions are hosting ALA-Queen Creek in a battle of the last two unbeaten clubs in 6A. 

Kickoff is 7pm.

"It doesn't get much better than this," ALA Queen Creek coach Rich Edwards said of tonight's contest.

"We've got a challenge."

Based on each team's last outing, tonight should make for a slugfest.

Red Mountain beat previously unbeaten Highland 28-11 with a dominant second half. ALA-Queen Creek beat a 4-1 Mountain Pointe team 17-0 in a game that was far more lopsided than the final score. So dominant was the Patriot defense, they held Mountain Pointe to 42 yards of total offense. Mountain Pointe's new quarterback Michael Tollefson, an Arizona State commit who transferred from California, did not complete one pass while being sacked six times.

"ALA-QC has one of the best defenses in the state," Red Mountain quarterback Simon Lopez said earlier this week.

"We have one of the best offensive lines in the state, so protection up front will be a huge key for us."

Both teams are also coming off bye weeks and are well rested. 

Unchartered Lion Territory?

This is the first varsity season in the history of the school that Red Mountain's football program has started off 6-0. The school opened in 1988. The Lions started making regular playoff trips in the early 90's, won state titles in 2000 and '01, and reached two recent 6A championship games, along with a handful of semifinal appearances. One accomplishment from the resume is a trip to the Open playoffs.

So is this new ground for Red Mountain? 

Hardly. The Lions have made regular trips to the semifinals since 2016. The 2019 team finished 9-1 before reaching the 6A state title game, falling to Liberty in overtime. Last year's team went 4-6 before reaching the 6A state championship game. 

"I think everyone is just ready to roll, we want to be in the Open," linebacker Jameson Wade said. "We want to go play in the Open state championship and win it all. We believe we're all good enough to do that."

The Mountain Lions are 6-0 primarily because of the way they have dominated the line of scrimmage, while getting big plays from the skill positions. Lopez is quietly manufacturing one of the best seasons of any quarterback in the state. 
The senior is completing 79 percent of his passes for over 1,100 yards with 15 touchdowns, and has yet to throw an interception in 2024. He's just as dangersou with his legs, which played a huge part in the Highland victory. With 20 starts as dual threat, he may give Red Mountain the advantage offensively.

Lopez still prefers deflecting credit elsewhere: "We've won this year because our offensive line and defense," Lopez said after the Highland win. "Those guys deserve all the credit."

Red Mountain still has work left to secure an Open playoff birth. The remaining schedule is as tough as it gets, with the four teams left sporting a combined record of 21-3 (ALA-QC, Queen Creek, Hamilton and Mountain View. That will also help their power point standings

Little Big Big Men

The ALA-QC Patriots have qualified for the Open playoffs three straight seasons, as a 4A team in 2021, a 5A team in '22 and as a 6A member last year. The Patriots still have a 4A enrollment with the football team competing in 6A. ALA-QC has rightfully earned a reputation as an undersized yet overachieving group year in and year out. The 6-0 record, and specifically the dominating performance against Mountain Pointe two weeks ago only further certified the Patriots as a dangerous team once again worthy of Open playoff contention, and a group afraid of no one.

One thing missing from ALA-QC's impressive resume? An Open playoff victory. The Patriots took Basha to the wire in the first round each of the last two seasons. Hamilton knocked them in 2021. Like Red Mountain, ALA-QC still has to get through some elite East Valley Region oppnents to secure an Open spot. 

"We're clearly not the biggest, strongest or fastest," ALA-QC linebacker Ryder Agne said. Credit to our coaches, we have one of the best coaching staffs in the state...we have to give all props to them."

ALA-QC defensive linemen Hatcher Arnson (44) and Luke Mcbratney (43) are part of a defense that sacked Mouhtain Pointe quarterback Michael Tollefson six times. (Photo by Cumorah McOmber)

Agne, Brody Michael and Diesel Mack lead a defense that uses speed and physicality to dominate offenses. They should expect a more difficult task dealing with Red Mountain's offense, which can chew up yards and clock with the run game, while receiver Bode Wagner is able to get behind defenses with his speed.

Running back Brandon Brown is the workhorse offensively, averaging 100 yards per game. The Patriots pulled out a nailbiter last year against the Lions 17-14 on a last second field goal.

Open Power Rankings: All's well that ends well

The second week of power point rankings were released earlier this week, with ALA-QC sitting at No. 4 behind Basha, while Red Mountain came in at No. 7. As seems to be the case almost every year, the early rankings include surprises, and 2024 is no different. Almost no one expected three 5A teams ranked in the top eight (the number of teams that qualify for the Open), but that's what the rankings currently tell us. 5A schools Marana (7-0) and Desert Mountain (6-0) sit atop the rankings, with 5A Horizon (5-1) at No. 8. Highland currently resides in the 10th spot. 

But when the dust settles after week 10, the rankings always seem to make sense when it comes to the Open playoff qualifiers. This season should be no different. Three weeks is a lot of football and a lot of formula to determine.