No asterisk needed this time.

Another week, another mid-game quarterback change for Chaparral. And for the second week in a row, the change led to a come from behind victory, as the Firebirds  rallied to defeat Mesquite 40-20 on Friday.

The three-time defending state champions seem to be catching stride at the right time.

There is a sense of calm this week within the Marcos de Niza football team.

Backup quarterback Sean Paul Brophy began the second half holding a clipboard on the sideline. He ended it as the biggest man on the Chaparral campus after leading the Firebirds  to one of the wildest comebacks in school history, 30-27, over Notre Dame.

Timing is everything.

Former Saguaro football coach John Sanders set the high school football community into a tizzy last season when he rested his starters in a 65-0 loss to rival Chaparral.

Maurice Lee was the last one off the bench and into the postgame handshake line for Marcos de Niza on Friday night.

Josh Eckley knew he couldn’t fail.

For Desert Mountain coach Tony Tabor, Friday’s win for Desert Mountain was one his program has been wanting for a long time.

A lot of change can happen in a calendar year. Unless, of course, it's Chaparral and Perry. It seems even a new season couldn’t create an original script to a familiar playoff ending between the two schools.

Decisions, decisions.

A collection of the best individual performances from Week 9:

Batten down the hatches. Send the dog outside. Find a babysitter. Order the pizza early. Power down the phones.

The Campo Verde football team’s defense is only allowing 11 points per game, which is fifth-best in Division III. Tempe, meanwhile averages 37.8 points per contest behind the superb play of quarterback Emanuel Gant (93-of-128 for 1,521 yards, 13 TD, 6 INT).

A collection of some of the best East Valley high school football performances from Friday’s quarterfinals of the 2012 playoffs:

All-Tribune First Team Offense

Tempe quarterback Emanuel Gant, threw for five touchdowns and ran for another Friday to help the Buffaloes defeat visiting Arcadia, 49-39 in a Division III football shootout.