The number of unbeaten football teams in the East Valley and southern Arizona took a small hit Friday as Week 6 came and went and October arrived.

Three teams with umblemished records met defeat for the first time on Sept. 30 (Cibola, Ironwood Ridge and Queen Creek). Cibola fell at home to Corona del Sol, 39-13; Ironwood Ridge lost to unbeaten Centennial, 21-7 and Queen Creek was topped by Catalina Foothills, 28-17.

After six weeks of play 20 schools across the state are undefeated. Four reside in Division I (Hamilton, Basha, Desert Vista and Pinnacle); three in D-II (Centennial, Cienega and Deer Valley); three in D-III (Nogales, Liberty and Poston Butte); two in D-IV (Blue Ridge and Seton Catholic); four in D-V (Willcox, Thatcher, Northwest Christian and Camp Verde) and four in D-VI (Joseph City, St. David, Pima and Joy Christian). Eleven of the 20 are from the East Valley or southern Arizona.

East Valley and southern Arizona schools just scraping by to stay unscathed this week were Hamilton, with a 15-0 finish to snatch in beating rival Chandler for the 15th time in a row, 28-21. Another narrow escape came from Desert Vista, which spotted Division III power Saguaro a 28-6 lead and won on a last second field goal, 31-28. Cienega got a tougher battle than expected from Sahuaro, but prevailed, 31-24.

Taking no prisoners in keeping perfect records were Basha (49-17 over Gilbert); Nogales (40-14 over Sahuarita); Poston Butte (51-6 over Coolidge); Seton Catholic (61-13 over Combs); Willcox (49-0 over San Carlos); Thatcher (63-28 over Safford);  St. David (66-28 over Valley Union) and Pima (52-14 over Ray).

Many games in week 7 will take place Thursday (Oct. 6) in deference to Yom Kippur. Matchups to look forward to involving East Valley or southern Arizona schools that day are: Hamilton (6-0) at Desert Vista (6-0); Basha (6-0) at Desert Ridge (4-2); Thatcher (6-0) at Willcox (6-0) and Pima (6-0) at Mogollon (5-1).