What we learned from the first round of the Arizona high school football playoffs

Sudden impacts. Big plays. Gritty performances. A look back at Friday night's first round high school football playoffs in Arizona:

Biggest takeaway

There is no parity in Arizona high school football, especially among the big schools and, for the most part, the smaller schools. The only glimmer of an upset among the big schools in the first round might have been found in 4A in No. 13 Chandler Seton Catholic's 54-49 win over No. 4 Peoria. No. 10 Mesa Red Mountain's win over No. 7 Queen Creek in 6A doesn't appear like an upset after Queen Creek lost quarterback Devin Larsen two weeks ago to a shoulder injury. Seton was 7-1 at one point, before losing its last two games, which caused the Sentinels to drop in the seeds. That 69-0 loss to five-time defending state champion Scottsdale Saguaro two weeks ago gave coach Mike Chiurco's group a reality check, a good look at what it takes to be ready for big games. All the preseason favorites -- Chandler (6A), Peoria Centennial (5A) and Saguaro (4A) -- rolled in their first-round games as expected. Maybe Chandler will get a game in the next round against Phoenix Mountain Pointe. Centennial should roll over Vail Cienega again in the next round. Saguaro should have no trouble next against Glendale Cactus. Thatcher will dominate everybody on its way to the 2A final. Maybe Eagar Round Valley will show more resistance in the final as its gets healthy. If it's not a Northwest Christian-Yuma Catholic final in 3A, that will be a surprise.

SECOND ROUND:Arizona high school football AIA playoff schedule

Best comeback

Whiteriver Alchesay senior running back Tyreck Cosay returned to the field after missing four weeks with a partially torn medial collateral ligament in his knee. He tried to will his team to a first-round 2A win, but the Falcons fell short to Benson 46-42. Cosay was remarkable, surpassing 5,000 rushing yards in his stellar career. He ran for 164 yards on 29 carries, giving him 5,159 yards and 84 touchdowns in his varsity football career. Cosay tried to come back the week after he was injured but he was limping too badly. "For the next couple weeks, he started to attend physical therapy at the nearby Indian Hospital," coach Brandon Newcomb said. "I really didn’t think we would get him back this year. I was thinking he was getting ready for basketball season. Friday morning, he told me the doctor told him he can play. They were just concerned about his conditioning. We were just going to spot-play him, but, on his fifth carry, he reeled off a 63- yard run. He got caught at the goal line. Prior to that run, I would take him out and ask, 'How do you feel?' He always responded 'I’m OK.' After the 63-yard run, I asked him, and he said, 'That really felt good.' ''

SCORES:Arizona high school football first round

Best repeat performance

Scottsdale Christian slowed down Phoenix Christian in 2A after losing to the Cougars 63-21 and giving up 779 rushing yards a week ago. In the first-round meeting, Phoenix Christian got a greater challenge from SCA in a 35-21 win. But the Eagles weren't able to stop senior Malik Taylor again. After he ran for 444 yards and six TDs on 19 carries last week, Taylor ran for 384 yards and five TDs on 36 carries. He also ran in a 2-point conversion.

Best running story

Page Sand Devils are going to start making believers out of people at some point. They just dominated Tucson Pusch Ridge 48-2 in the first round of 3A. This is the same Pusch Ridge program that lost its only game last year to Queen Creek Casteel 35-28 in the 3A final. But this isn't the same Page program that got bounced by Show Low 56-6 two years ago and to Queen Creek Benjamin Franklin 35-14 in the first round the last two years. Page (10-1), led by second-year coach Mitchell Stephens, built its non-region schedule up and started the season with wins over Payson, Florence and Winslow. Following a 50-28 loss to Snowflake, the Sand Devils stunned Chandler Valley Christian 22-15, before rolling through the Navajo reservation schools. Page gets Valley Christian again in the next round and, behind 2,000-yard rusher Kele Meredith, is poised to show that win was no fluke.

Best versatility

Gilbert Highland senior Kohner Cullimore had another dominant all-around game in the No 5 Hawks' 45-7 rout of Laveen Cesar Chavez. The running back/safety/linebacker had 250 all-purpose yards that included three touchdowns, two rushing and a punt return. He had four pass deflections, 15 tackles, two for losses. Cullimore doesn't have a Division I scholarship offer, but if he keeps these performances up he's got a shot at the state Player of the Year honor.

Best transition

A year ago Trivium Prep won only one 8-man (1A) playoff game. In its move up  to 11-man, 2A football, the Estrella Foothills school, playing in its third season, is still unbeaten at 10-0 and getting ready for one of the state's legendary small-school coaches, St. Johns' Mike Morgan, in the state quarterfinals, after a 36-26 win over Red Mesa. David Marquez had five TDs, four rushing, and a 40-yard fumble recovery, in Trivium Prep's first-ever 11-man state playoff win. He ran for 204 yards on 22 carries. Coach Michael Spencer is making a strong statement to be up for the Coach of the Year honor. "We have had to have a few more players play both ways and finding depth for offensive and defensive linemen have been the biggest transition adjustments," Spencer said. "On the the other hand, it’s nice to have more athletes on the field to get the ball to. The larger field size has been nice for players to find room to run compared to 8-man field size."

Biggest challenge

Vail Cienega lost to Centennial 35-0 in early September. Seems like a long time ago but Centennial's defense has only gotten better since then. Cienega is up for the rematch in the 5A quarters. Coach Pat Nugent acknowledges his team will have to play a perfect game to have a chance. For that to happen, receiver/running back Terrell Hayward will have to find space to run. In a 49-28 win over Marana, Hayward ran for 306 yards on 23 carries and scored on runs of 96, 70 and 2 yards. "We now play the best team in the state and it won’t be easy but since we have seen them already this year our kids won’t be scared," Nugent said. "We will have to be perfect and hope they make mistakes. We look forward to the big challenge."

Biggest determination

Saguaro senior WR/RB Marquii Johnson may have done more for his opportunity than any player in Arizona. He only became eligible to play his first game in early October, after winning a court junction against the Arizona Interscholastic Association, which tried to stop him from playing because of the prior-contact bylaw on his transfer from Scottsdale Chaparral. Since playing, Johnson has gradually been worked into Saguaro's offense. Now he might be the main man, after his second straight strong performance. In a 49-0 rout of Goodyear Estrella Foothills, Johnson caught three passes for 143 yards and a TD and ran four times for 119 yards and a score. In the final regular-season game, a 49-0 win over Gilbert Mesquite, Johnson ran for 121 yards and a TD on just five carries. Any time now, Johnson could be picking up his first Division I college football offer.

Best bounce back

The wheels appeared to be falling off of Seton's season in the final two weeks. The 69-0 loss to Saguaro wasn't shocking. But then came a 37-21 loss to a San Tan Foothills Poston Butte team that had only won three games before then. Seton showed how to bounce back with  a 54-49 win over 9-1 Peoria in the first round of 4A. "We played an all-around team game,"  Chiurco said. "Our offense played as good as they have played all year, and our defense found a way to get a stop when we needed it. We also played very well on special teams with the exception of the kickoff team. Vince Wallace, Mike Van Bruwaene, Keyshon Upchurch, Jake Hansell and Colten Christiensen came up big for us on offense.  Vince (quarterback) played one of the best games he has played all year."

Around the state

- QB Nick Wallerstedt ran for 101 yards and four TDs and completed 7 of 13 for 147 yards and two more TDs in Mountain Pointe's 40-7 6A route of Phoenix Brophy Prep.

- Senior QB Jacob Conover was 12 of 17 for 236 yards and four TDs in top-seed Chandler's 64-14 rout of Anthem Boulder Creek. Jaheim Brown-Taylor, who ran the state's fastest 100 meters last track season, had his best game, running for 113 yards and two TDs on just four carries.

- Bijan Robinson ran for 143 yards and three TDs and sophomore David Cordero added 109 yards and a TD in top-seed (4A) Tucson Salpointe Catholic's 56-7 rout of No. 16 Apache Junction.

- Colby Humphrey ran for 153 yards and four TDs on 10 carries in No. 3 (6A) Phoenix Desert Vista's 40-14 rout of Scottsdale Chaparral.

- Goodyear Desert Edge freshman QB Adryan Lara won his first playoff game, passing for 243 yards and four TDs in a 49-10 4A rout of Sahuarita Walden Grove, setting up a 4A quarterfinal showdown with 10-1 Phoenix Greenway.

- Greenway QB Tyler Duncan passed for 193 yards and a TD and ran for 125 yards and a score in a 40-29 win over Prescott.

- No. 9 (4A) Cottonwood Mingus won its sixth consecutive game, edging out No. 8 Prescott Valley Bradshaw Mountain 21-17 on Alex Nelson's 1-yard scoring run in the final minute.

- No. 2 (6A) Phoenix Pinnacle overcame a 17-3 deficit against No. 15 Mesa Desert Ridge and won 38-17. Desert Ridge, its offense depleted, installed a triple option in three days for Pinnacle and started a JV fullback and a JV wing back.

- Queen Creek Benjamin Franklin is back to being the team everybody was raving about in the summer with the return of QB Danner Bowen, who was out since Week 2 with an injury. He ran for 147 yards, including a 57-yard TD, in a 35-6 3A win over Wickenburg. Wickenburg.

To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him at twitter.com/azc_obert.