At 5-1, Avondale Westview was barely in the top 20 in power points. At 5-2, Phoenix Brophy was still widely seen as a state title contender.

The turn of events bordered on the ridiculous.

The Brophy football team brought its firearm to a gunfight, it just happened to be an antiquated six-shooter.

With standout running back Marche Dennard watching the football game from the sidelines, Brophy should have been in trouble against powerful Pinnacle, right?

Welcome to the big time, Red Mountain.

Brophy pulled a first-round upset Friday, knocking off No. 4-seeded Glendale Mountain Ridge 24-17 in the opening round of the 5A-I state tournament.

Tempe schools (Tempe High and Tempe Prep) have been the only two tests for Seton Catholic most of this season, including last week’s easy win over Chinle in the first round.

Paradise Valley knew Cactus Shadows’ quarterback, Bryce Kinsler, was closing in on the Class 4A career passing yardage record, but the Trojans weren’t about to hand it to him on their field.

Two quarters of bad football, the equivalent of 24 minutes of game time out of a total of about 580, marred an otherwise perfect season.

Brophy Broncos

Brophy’s Tyler Bruggman is mentioned every time someone has had a conversation about Arizona’s top quarterback the last two years.

It was another memorable football postseason, as Hamilton assumed its familiar place atop Division I, while Queen Creek and Seton Catholic also won championships.

Red Mountain quarterback Mason Thorman tied a big-school state record with six touchdowns passes to lead the Mountain Lions to a 56-13 rout over visiting Gilbert on Friday night.

Clarence Clark called it being on a team.

During what should be this most wonderful time of year for teams fortunate enough to still be playing.