5 Most Important Games to Determine Playoff Rankings

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>1 week left in the regular season and what a season it has been. Teams representing out of state, teams fighting for the #1 seed, and teams fighting for their playoff lives throughout the year has made this season incredible. 1 more week until the final playoff rankings are revealed, here are the 5 games this week that can make or break playoff seedings. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Pinnacle vs Centennial </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Pinnacle (#8, Open) travels to face Centennial (#6, Open) in a battle of two Open Playoff teams. The winner of this game guarantees a spot in the Open. Pinnacle comes into the game on a two game losing streak, scoring a combined 14 points which includes a shoutout loss to Highland. Centennial is also coming off a loss, to the top team in the state Liberty. The question and key of the game is can Pinnacle get the offense going again, and get [player_tooltip player_id='42949' first='Duce' last='Robinson'] involved early and often? This can be a must win for the Pioneers, the #8 and final team in the Open, and with Highland looming at #9 and beat them a couple weeks ago, a loss here can slide the Pioneers out of the Open bracket. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Chaparral vs Highland </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Like previous mentioned, the Highland Hawks are coming off a win against Pinnacle where they shut them out and won convincingly. Leaning on that stout defensive unit, Highland is hard to score on. In a 6A championship final from last year, Chaparral comes in at 3-6 and hoping to improve their 6A seeding. With a win here, Highland can sneak into the final Open slot, with help from Centennial. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Sandra Day O'Connor vs Mountain Ridge </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>O'Connor goes on the road to face the Mountain Lions of Mountain Ridge, where this game also can determine the final Open spot. Sandra Day O'Connor is #2 in 6A, and #10 overall in the Open. A convincing win this week against a high flying offense can help them in the rankings. Mountain Ridge averaging over 30 points a game, they will score points in bunches. If O'Connor can win and get a Highland and Pinnacle lose, they could have a case for the final Open seed. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Gilbert vs Notre Dame Prep</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Gilbert (#11, 5A) goes in to face Notre Dame Prep (#2, 5A) for both of them to try and move up. Gilbert is 6-3 and currently have better records than the next two teams, where NDP is less than .05 rank points away from securing the top seed in the division. If Gilbert wins, they absolutely shoot up the ranks, and can grab a top 8 seed. NDP can help their top seed case by winning and winning big. NDP wide out duo of [player_tooltip player_id='290173' first='Hudson' last='Stych'] and [player_tooltip player_id='170342' first='Nathan' last='Wingfield Jr'] will have to have great games to help their team this week get a W. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Williams Field vs Higley</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This might be the most interesting game all week. Williams Field (#11, 6A) goes to face the Higley Knights (#4, 5A) in an interdivision battle. [player_tooltip player_id='368904' first='Jamar' last='Malone'] II will have his Higley offense going, averaging over 45 points a game this year. With 2802 yards on the year, Malone looks to surpass 3000 yards against this Blackhawk defense. The Williams Field defense, led by [player_tooltip player_id='358489' first='Josiah' last='Dye'] and [player_tooltip player_id='165889' first='Faimafili' last='Snuka'], only allow 22 points a game. Top offense against a top defense, both trying to secure wins and go into the playoff season on the right foot. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->