The first round of the 4A playoffs resulted in no surprises. Every high seed prevailed with four of the top eight dominating -- Saguaro, Higley, Sunrise Mountain and Cactus. #4 Salpointe, #5 Marcos de Niza, #6 Catalina Foothills and #8 Peoria persevered through tough games.

A peek at Thursday (Nov. 10) quarterfinal matchups:

#8 Peoria (8-3 at  #1 Saguaro (11-0): Saguaro has defeated four quarterfinaists already -- Catalina Foothills, Marcos de Niza, Sunrise Mountain and Higley.  Another of the top eight gives the Sabercats a try, but don't expect the Panthers to pull it off. Peoria has lost handily to Marcos de Niza and Sunrise Mountain. They played Cactus better, but still fell short. Saguaro looks to contain Peoria quarterback Noah Dobson and running back Sonatane Zabala. Dobson threw for two TDs and ran for two in the Panthers win over Bradshaw Mountain. Peoria will have its hands full trying to slow RB Stone Matthews and quarterback Max Massingale. Matthews needed only four carries to net 103 yards and two TDs in a cameo appearance vs. Amphi. Massingale was 9-for-9 for 135 yards and three TDs in limited time vs. Amphi. First-round results: Peoria 29, Bradshaw Mountain 24; Saguaro 56, Amphitheater 7

#5 Marcos de Niza (8-3) at #4 Salpointe (9-2): Marcos and Salpointe were challenged, but survived the opening round. It appearsto be  a matchup of Marcos de Niza's offense vs. Salpointe's defense. Marcos is averaging 37 points a game. Salpointe is allowing 14 a game. Throw out  51 points that 5A top-seed Cienega put on Salpointe and the Lancers have allowed just 10 points a game. Salpointe is charged with defending Marcos senior quarterback  Nazareth Greer, who has passed for 3,400 yards and accounted for 30 TDs (24 passing, 6 rushing). Running back Zyayre Moss is a concern with 924 yards rushing. Salpointe relies on its rushing attack. Sophomore Mario Padilla is averaging 110 yards rushing per game. Salpoine won last week with just 183 yards of total offense. First-round results: Marcos de Niza 41, Buckeye 36; Salpointe 10, Canyon del Oro 6.

#6 Catalina Foothills (9-2) at # 3 Sunrise Mountain (10-1): Catalina Foothills two losses have been to Saguaro and Salpointe, games it combined to score seven points. The Falcons need senior quarterback Rhett Rodriguez to step up in this one. He's throwns 22 for TDs and only two interceptions, but has been held in check in both losses. Sunrise Mountain rides the arm of its quarterback Chase Cord, who is trying to finish a four-year career in style for the Mustangs. Cord opened postseason last week passing for 283 yards and four TDs against  Mingus. Cord has thrown for 2.396 yards and 34 TDs this year and 9,188 yards, 133 TDs in his career. Running back Garret Veldhuizen is a nice complement to Cord with 1003 yards rushing and 17 TDs (9 rushing and 8 receiving). First-round results: Catalina Foothills 35, Cactus Shadows 31; Sunrise Mountain 49, Mingus 6.

#7 Cactus (7-4) at  #2 Higley (10-1): This is the lone rematch of the conference quarterfinals this week. Both teams can score, but Cactus must play a better defensively to have a chance. Higley put up 43 points in the first half of its win over the Cobras three weeks ago. One difference in the rematch could be the availability of Higley quarterback Mason Crossland. Crossland suffered a concussion late in the first quarter last week. Crossland threw for 276 yards and three TDs in the first meeting. Crossland will be a game-time decision. Higley running back Draycen Hall covered for Crossland, rushing for 206 yards and scored four TDs last week in the win over St. Mary's.  Hall rushed for 155 yards vs. Cactus last time. Junior Jacob Rowland will start at QB if Crossland can''t play. Cactus favors the run  and did well last time vs. Higley. Junior RB Damaria Norris piled up 267 yards on 39 rushes and 2 TDs in the team's first encounter. Norris has rushed for 100 yards or more in all 11 games this season and is just shy of 2,000 for the season. He rushed for 210 yards and five TDs last week vs. Dysart. First-round results: Cactus 62, Dysart 17; Higley 44, St. Mary's 0.