All four top seeds advanced to the 3A semifinal round to be played this Friday night at two locations. No. 1 Benjamin Franklin will face No. 4 Snowflake at Williams Field High School and No. 2 American Leadership Academy – Queen Creek will go up against No. 3 Northwest Christian at Higley High School. Both games are set to start at 6 p.m.

Benjamin Franklin is 11-1 on the year with the 26-14 loss coming at home to ALA-Queen Creek on Oct. 18. The Chargers beat Snowflake 43-21 on Aug. 30 at home and Northwest Christian 21-10 on Sept. 13 on the road. ALA-QC won the 3A Central Region over Benjamin Franklin but the Patriots were upset 38-21 at Florence on Oct. 25.

The Gophers finished the year with a 4-6 record and a No. 17 ranking so the loss dropped the Patriots out of the top spot based on the lower power-rankings despite the victory over Benjamin Franklin. ALA-QC is also 11-1 on the year and the Patriots did not face Snowflake or Northwest Christian in the regular season.

Sr. QB Danner Bowen has 517 yards passing for the Chargers but the team relies heavily on a ground attack with over 3,500 yards gained. Sr. RB Zach Jefferies has 883 yards with 12 touchdowns, Sr. RB Ammon Warby has 827 yards and 11 TDs, Bowen has 688 yards with seven TDs and Jr. RB Chancin Loving has 605 yards with eight TDs. Warby leads the team in receiving with 170 yards and three more TDs. Jefferies also has three TDs receiving. Sr. LB Cade McAfee has 128 tackles and Loving has 92. Sr. DB Braiden Moffat has four interceptions on the year and Sr. lineman Tanner Willis has six sacks.

The Patriots have a balanced attack with Sr. QB Rand Jensen throwing for 2,882 yards with 44 TDs, So. RB Aziya Jamison has 1,192 yards rushing with 21 TDs, Sr. WR Ethen Cluff has 1,062 yards receiving with 16 TDs and Sr. WR Carter Taylor has 821 yards receiving with 13 TDs. Sr. MLB Logan Call has 110 tackles and Jr. Micah Ferrin has 86 with 11 sacks. Sr. Ben Strong has eight interceptions with 73 tackles.

Northwest Christian is 10-1 on the year. The Crusaders won the 3A West Region and Snowflake is 10-2 and the Lobos finished second in the 3A Eats Region to Payson. The Longhorns beat Snowflake 34-22 on Oct. 11 to win the region but the team lost to ALA-QC 49-13 in the first round.

Snowflake Sr. QB Ethan Ramage has 1,411 yards passing with 12 TDs and SR. RB Brig Turley has 1,372 yards rushing with 23 TDs. Jr. FB Terren Green has 911 yards with 11 TDs and 146 tackles. Sr. Coy Swarts has 150 tackles and Payson Carden has 10 sacks.

Northwest Christian Sr. QB Easton Meier has 974 yards passing with 15 TDs and Sr. RB Austin Young has 1,691 yards rushing with 11 TDs. So. RB Grant Gibson has 18 TDs. Sr. WR Cameron Adams has 77 yards receiving with 12 TDs and Jr, Ben Strawn has eight sacks.