Most teams have suffered two-game losing streaks in their history many times, but perennial Chandler powerhouse Hamilton High did so this past Friday night for only the second time in what is its 15th season.

Hamilton's 17-14 loss to Mountain Pointe made it back-to-back losses counting last year's Division I title loss to Desert Vista. The only other time Hamilton dropped two straight games came in its final game of 2002 and its first game in 2003. Both those losses were to Mesa Mountain View. On the plus side of that two-game losing streak, Hamilton went on to win the first of its six state titles in 2003. Hamilton heads out of the country this week to try and snap the skid in Dublin, Ireland against Notre Dame High (Sherman Oaks, Calif.)

New coaches from the East Valley  who opened up their tenures with victories this weekend were Florence's Steve McKane (defeating Santa Cruz); Westwood's Spencer Stowers (Dobson) and Skyline's Angelo Paffumi (Kingman). 

A pair of huge year-to-year turnarounds took place with Westwood's 30-19 win over Dobson. The year before Dobson topped Westwood, 42-20. Tempe High, which lost in 2011 to rival McClintock by a 47-14 count, came back with a 32-28 win. Those wins by Westwood and Tempe, respectively, equaled their win total (1) of 2011.

A side note to Hamilton's loss in terms of the state's marquee programs of late and last year, the Huskies weren't the only elite program to go down in Week 1. Last year's Division II champ Chaparral bowed to Salpointe, 27-20.  Last year's D-II runner-up, Cienega, bowed to Sabino, 31-14. Saguaro, the Division III kingpin, fell to Paradise Valley, 32-29. None of those teams lost its opener last season. Cactus, the D-III runner-up coasted past Moon Valley (62-0) and defending D-I champ Desert Vista stayed perfect and ran its winning streak to nine with a 47-13 win over Mesa High.

With Mountain Pointe upsetting Hamilton, Desert Vista has a week off to prepare for a more-anticipated-than- usual Ahwatukee Bowl on Sept. 7 when Mountain Pointe and Desert Vista meet at Desert Vista. Mountain Pointe faces Mesa High on Aug. 31 leading up to that matchup.