Arizona’s top teams are already starting to separate themselves two weeks into the high school football season, and the latest Top 25 has a little bit of everything: revenge wins, shutouts, statement road trips and a few programs trying to find their footing before region play ramps up.
Liberty has been one of the early standouts. The Lions of Peoria avenged a 2025 loss to Utah’s Corner Canyon, erasing a 10-point deficit and scoring 24 unanswered points to win their interstate showdown and improve to 2-0. Next up for Liberty is Highland in Week 3.
Hamilton looked every bit the part in Week 2, rolling past Nevada’s Arbor View 44-0. Quarterback Jax Sculley and running back Devante Roebuck helped power the offense, while cornerback Keaton Fields and the defense delivered a shutout. The Huskies finally face a major measuring stick in Week 3 when they meet the 2-0 Perry Pumas.
Chandler answered a Week 1 loss with a strong showing of its own, knocking off Cathedral Catholic of California 42-13. Quarterback Will Mencl and receiver Jai Jones were the headliners, with the five-star Oregon commit finding the Wisconsin commit for two touchdowns. The Wolves now turn to a north-south matchup with Tucson’s Salpointe Catholic.
Basha came back from California without a win, falling 23-17 to Orange Lutheran and dropping to 1-1. The Bears had opened the year with that memorable night on ESPN, but the road loss sets up another tough Week 3 assignment against Pinnacle.
Centennial handled its business in California, beating Servite 22-14. Junior receiver Torrin Hill made the most of his touches, posting 98 yards on four catches and adding a touchdown. The Coyotes now head into a big Week 3 date with Mountain View (Mesa).
At the top end of the rankings, Desert Mountain has been ruthless. The Wolves have outscored their first two opponents 104-14, and quarterback Jake Pilarcek added three more touchdowns against Arizona College Prep in Week 2. That gives him six on the season, with Mountain View (Tucson) waiting in Week 3.
Brophy found the response it needed after a rough opening week, beating Boulder Creek 31-19. Junior running back Eli Price scored twice, and the Broncos’ backfield accounted for four rushing touchdowns on the night. Brophy returns home to host Queen Creek in Week 3.
Red Mountain is also off to a 2-0 start after Caleb Joe turned in a three-touchdown performance against Westwood. That win followed the Mountain Lions’ dramatic 35-34 victory over Casteel in Week 1. They’ll take that momentum to Phoenix for a Week 3 meeting with O’Connor.
And one of the most eye-catching stat lines of the week belonged to Washington quarterback commit Blake Roskopf. In a 52-0 win over Cienega, he went 9 of 11 with four touchdowns, pushing his season total to seven touchdowns and more than 700 yards. Roskopf and his team get a real test next, with Notre Dame Prep on deck.
The Toros also made a strong impression, running past Pinnacle behind a big day from the backfield. Junior Brayden Merwin and senior Coy Bodily combined for 257 rushing yards and two touchdowns, with both breaking runs of more than 20 yards. Their next challenge is Centennial in Week 3.
In Other News...
Arizona Faces A Dangerous BYU Team With More Than One Twist
Arizona heads to LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo for a matchup that already looks like it will demand full attention, and BYU brings a few layers of intrigue beyond the usual road test. The Cougars have a quarterback in Bear Bachmeier, a freshman playmaker in Legend Glasker, and a new defensive coordinator in Kelly Poppinga, all of which add a little uncertainty to a program that still expects its defense to travel well.
Nick Lee of Vanquish the Foe painted BYU as a team worth taking seriously on both sides of the ball, with the roster and recent performance suggesting this is not the kind of game Arizona can treat lightly. The twists around the Cougars personnel and coaching setup make the matchup even more interesting, especially with key pieces in the secondary and backfield facing availability questions that could shape how this one unfolds. [Read more 🡒]
Arizona Gets The Chance It Wanted After Opening Win
Brent Brennans Arizona Wildcats opened the 2026 season the way they wanted, rolling past Northern Arizona 35-7 and giving themselves a clean first step before the schedule tightens. Even with the comfortable win, Arizona stayed parked just outside the AP Top 25 at No. 29 with 33 votes, the same spot it held in the preseason poll, which says plenty about how much more proving it still has to do.
Now comes the kind of stage that can change that quickly. Arizona heads into Week 2 to face No. 15 BYU, and the matchup arrives with real ranking stakes attached, especially after the Wildcats handled their opener in convincing fashion. A road win there would put them squarely in the national conversation and give the selection committee chatter around this team a very different tone going forward. [Read more 🡒]
Arizonas 2027 Recruiting Push Is Turning Into Another Tommy Lloyd Test
Tommy Lloyds recruiting momentum has already given Arizona a strong runway, with commitments in place from Koa Peat and Brayden Burries in 2025 and Caleb Holt in 2026. Now the Wildcats are spending real energy on the 2027 class, where the board is deep and the names are familiar to anyone tracking elite high school hoops. Adan Diggs sits near the top of that group, while Arizona is also in the mix for Asa Montgomery, NaVorro Bowman Jr., Darius Wabbington, Cherif Millogo, Kamsi Awaka and Jason Gardner Jr.
What makes this next phase interesting is how much of it is moving beyond casual interest and into active scheduling. Bowman Jr. and Wabbington both have official visits lined up for late September, giving Arizona a chance to keep building on the kind of recruiting traction Lloyd has been able to sustain. For a program that already looks well positioned in the classes ahead, the 2027 chase is another chance to see whether the Wildcats can turn early buzz into another wave of commitments. [Read more 🡒]