Only one local area football team remains in action this weekend with the Snowflake Lobos still alive in the 3A State Football Playoffs. Holbrook did not qualify for post-season play, while Winslow and Joseph City have recently been eliminated in their post-season quests.

On Friday night the third seeded Lobos will host the sixth seeded Sabino Sabercats. Sabino is coming in off their impressive 38-6 first round win over Blue Ridge last week, while the Lobos will also be playing with momentum after shutting out Fountain Hills 32-0 in the first round.

Snowflake sports an 9-1 record with their only loss coming against Benjamin Franklin back in week two of the season. Sabino is 9-2 with their two losses coming in the first two weeks of the season to Casa Grande, and Sahuaro, both larger 4A schools.

The Lobos are in the midst of an eight game winning streak while Sabino has run off nine in a row. The two do have a pair of common opponents this season. Both Snowflake and Sabino defeated Pusch Ridge by two touchdowns each. Sabino has beaten Blue Ridge twice now with last week’s first round win by a large margin. Snowflake also beat Blue Ridge although by just one score back in week six.

With the Lobos playing at home and the Sabercats having to play in a colder climate than they are accustomed to, along with a long bus ride, this might be enough for the Lobos to advance, although this could be a very close game.

The winner of the Snowflake game will face either No. 2 Yuma Catholic or No. 10 Safford. The Shamrocks are the heavy favorite to advance in that game. No. 1 Northwest Christian will take on No. 9 Benjamin Franklin in a rematch game from earlier in the year. The Crusaders prevailed in that game by eight points and the top seed is expected to advance again.

No. 5 Valley Christian’s match up with the No. 4 Sand Devils in Page is another rematch game. In their first meeting in week five of the season, Page won 22-15. Since that time both teams have played well, although Valley Christian has had a tougher schedule. Despite this game being played in Page this could be a small upset by the Trojans.

All four quarterfinal round games will be played at the site of the higher seeded schools.