Queen Creek and ALA Queen Creek meet tonight for only the third time, although it seems like the schools have been long time rivals.

Queen Creek opened in 1986, and ALA QC in 2012. The Patriots' football program spent many years in 3A, where it found succes, winning titles in 2016 and '19. ALA QC's football team was eventually 'placed' in 6A last season, despite a 4A enrollment. But it hasn't slowed down the Patriots, who are close to their fourth consecutive Open division playoffs.

Queen Creek is no stranger to the Open playoffs either, having qualified in 2021. Entering tonight's contest at ALA-QC, both teams boast 8-1 records. Both are in the top eight of the Open division rankings, with ALA-QC No. 5 and Queen Creek No. 8, making tonight's matchup one of state's most crucial. 

Kickoff is 7pm but the bleachers will likely be full before then.

"It's going to be a great atmosphere," Queen Creek coach Travis Schureman said. "Games like these are why you coach high school football and why you play."

Due to the unpredictable nature of the power point rankings, a loss for either team could displace them from the Open. 

"All we can do is worry about the game and our opponent," Schureman said. "Obviously we've got our hands full with ALA. They know how to play football and they're well coached."

Queen Creek has won six straight since a week three loss to Perry. The Bulldogs shocked almost everyone when they beat previously undefeated Red Mountain, 28-23 two weeks ago. Junior Tait Reynolds continues to demonsrate his status as one of the country's top quarterbacks and overall athletes. Reynolds has thrown for nearly 1,600 yards and is 22 yards away from the 1,000 rushing mark.

Tough Test for Tait

Tonight's match up also provides one of the most intriguing showdowns of the season; that being Reynolds, the five star Clemson bound phenom against the state's best defense. ALA QC is allowing just over 10 points per game on the season. They do so by playing disciplined, physical defense, and tend to improve as the game goes on. The Patriots also have experience with a highly rated quarterback with a similar dual threat playing style. In week six, four star andd Arizona State committ Michael Tollefson got his first start for Mountain Pointe after transfering from California. His highly anticipated debut against ALA-QC wasn't pretty. Mountain Pointe didn't come close to scoring, as the Patriot defense held the Pride to 42 total yards while sacking Tollefson six times. Tollefson went 0-11 passing.

"We'd heard about that quarterback but our coaches had a great gameplan and we executed," ALA-QC linebacker Ryder Agne said of the Mountain Pointe game.

Will the Patriot defense find similar success tonight against Reynolds? Time will tell.

ALA-QC isn't as explosive as last year's team, specifically in the passing game, but it finds aa way to wear down defenses with solid line play and strong running of Brandon Brown and Bobby Nesbit.

The matchups within the game will go a long way in determing the winner.

"(ALA) is gonna do what they do and we're gonna do what we do," coach Schureman said.