Queen Creek and Casteel will meet twice in eight days. A week after Queen Creek beat its crosstown neighbor 42-14 to finish unbeaten in region play, the Arizona Interscholastic Association's 6A bracket sends Casteel right back to Queen Creek High School for the first round on Friday.
The No. 16 Bulldogs host the No. 17 Colts at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13, according to the official AIA bracket. Two other town programs play the same night: ALA-Queen Creek plays in the Open Division and unbeaten Benjamin Franklin hosts a 3A quarterfinal.
Eight days, same opponent
Queen Creek (6-4) went 4-0 in the 6A Southeast region, beating Desert Vista 22-14, Corona del Sol 10-3, ALA-Queen Creek 12-7 and Casteel, according to its MaxPreps schedule. The Bulldogs have won four straight. All four of their losses came outside the region, against Williams Field, Brophy Prep, Pinnacle and Mesa Mountain View.
Casteel (2-8) lost four games by seven points or fewer. The Colts fell 35-34 to Red Mountain, 43-42 at Higley, 27-20 at Lake Oswego in Oregon and 23-16 at Mountain View. They also played Hamilton and Centennial before region play began.
Casteel's place in the bracket became part of a wider debate. Azcentral reported that the AIA issued a statement Saturday explaining its seeding formula after social-media criticism that Mesa Westwood (5-5) and Tempe Corona del Sol (7-3) missed the 20-team 6A field while Casteel, Tucson Salpointe Catholic (3-7) and Anthem Boulder Creek (2-8) got in.
Corona del Sol's season included a win over ALA-Queen Creek and a 42-14 loss to Casteel on Oct. 30.
The AIA's media office said in a post on AZPreps365 that the rankings formula, maintained by MaxPreps, is new to the association this year and was endorsed by football coaches around the state. The formula weighs the cumulative strength of schedule of teams a school beats, along with games between two higher-ranked teams. An azcentral column on Sunday argued the formula needs to be changed.
How the 6A bracket works
The 6A first round includes only the teams seeded 13 through 20. Seeds 5 through 12 play in the first round of the Open Division, and those four losers drop into the 6A bracket. The eight remaining teams will be reseeded for the 6A quarterfinals on Nov. 20, according to azcentral.
The semifinals are Nov. 27, and the 6A final is set for Dec. 5 at Mountain America Stadium.
That structure matters for ALA-Queen Creek. The No. 12 Patriots (4-6) visit No. 5 Chandler Basha at 7 p.m. Friday. A win would put them in an Open quarterfinal at No. 4 Centennial on Nov. 20. A loss would move them into the reseeded 6A field.
ALA-Queen Creek closed its regular season with a 54-22 home win over Red Mountain. Basha (7-3) lost 41-38 to Gilbert Perry in its finale but beat Liberty, Brophy Prep and Chandler earlier in the season.
Benjamin Franklin keeps rolling
The town's only unbeaten team is already in the second week of its postseason. Benjamin Franklin (11-0), the top seed in 3A, beat Coolidge 42-0 in the first round and has outscored opponents 489-61, according to MaxPreps.
