All eyes in Tucson will be fixed on the Tucson High-Sunnyside battle which has implications for both in the Division I football playoff chase.

Sunnyside enhanced its postseason outlook by downing Cibola, 35-31, with a late fourth-quarter touchdown. That bumped the Blue Devils record to 6-2. Teams with seven wins are pretty much a lock to qualify. Sunnyside is currently No. 12 in the power rankings. A win over Tucson and an expected triumph the following week over struggling Buena would send Sunnyside to the playoffs at 8-2 with a shot at hosting a first-round home game.

Tucson has a more treacherous road. The Badgers are 5-3 and No. 15 in the power rankings. A win this week and one next week against Flowing Wells would punch a playoff ticket. A split of those games at 6-4 is iffy and two losses a death knell.

Sunnyside's passing game has shined, particularly last week in beating Cibola. Quarterback Julian Jones passed for more than 300 yards with half of that going to wide out Steven Corral. Jones fourth-quarter TD toss to Anthony Jewitt was the deciding score vs. Cibola.

Tucson met up with hard-charging D-II Canyon del Oro, which used its running game to soundly beat the Badgers, 36-15. After a 7-7 deadlock in the first period, CDO ran off 22 unanswered points through the third period. Tucson has been led by its ground game spearheaded by Dre Williams and Raedell Floyd.

Other games of note in southern Arizona and the East Valley this week:

Cibola (6-2) at Gila Ridge (7-1) -- The best big schools in Yuma face off for area supremacy. Both have dominated their sister schools in town. Outside of the area is where their losses have come -- Cibola to Corona del Sol and Sunnyside and Gila Ridge to Perry. Both are playoff bound in D-I and D-II respectively. Cibola will be guaranteed a berth as one of the top three teams in D-I, Section I.  Mesquite (3-5) at Corona del Sol (4-4) -- Mesquite is the only team in D-I with a chance (slight) of makling the playoffs with a .500 record. Beating Corona this week and then one of D-II's better teams, Deer Valley, next week are a must. Corona faces an uphill climb having to beat Mesquite and then Hamilton next week. Mountain Pointe (4-4) at Mesa Mountain View (3-5)  -- So far, so good for Mountain Pointe. After a 1-4 start the Pride is rolling in a bid to qualify for the playoffs for the third time in coach Norris Vaughan's three years as coach. Wins over Mountain View and Westwood next week would give the Pride a solid shot at a berth. Mountain View, which was 3-2 at the midpoint, has dropped three straight and took a crushing loss to Highland last week. That means the Toros won't be playoff bound for the first time since 1984. Catalina (1-7) at Sahuaro (6-2)-- Sahuaro is hanging tough to a D-II berth at No. 14. The Cougars should win this one, but face one of Tucson's top teams (D-III and once-beaten Sabino) on the road next week. If Sahuaro qualifies for the playoffs, Tucson would likely have five teams in the D-II playoff field. Gilbert (4-4) at Chandler (6-2) -- Gilbert, like most teams struggling to earn one of the final D-I berths, has to notch a win against a bonafide contender like Chandler to be playing past October. The Tigers must win out (Chandler and Dobson) to have a shot. A tall order as Chandler is batltling to stay in the top 8 and earn a first-round home game.