Deer Valley football’s seniors want to complete the circle this season — after watching the 2021 Skyhawks make the 4A playoffs and the 2022 team plummet to 0-10, they want to get back to the Sweet 16.
It will not be easy. While 23 of the 31 6A teams made either the Open Division or 6A brackets, and 17 of 46 5A teams made it, less than a third of the huge 4A conference made the playoffs.
Unlike in 2021, when Cactus and American Leadership Academy-Queen Creek made the Open Division, allowing Deer Valley to grab the No. 15 seed in 4A, the ranking system assigns bonus points for wins against 6A and 5A opponents.
