Realignment juggles schedules
by Jason Stone

ANTHEM – Boulder Creek’s football team will begin the 2007 season with its first‑ever region game.

The Arizona Interscholastic Association’s unofficial 5A Conference schedule for the ’07‑’08 has the Jaguars opening the season Aug. 24 at Valley Vista, a new school in Surprise that will be playing its first varsity game.

The AIA will officially finalize schedules this summer.

The Jaguars, who went 3‑7 as an independent last season, will have a bye Oct. 12 after their seventh game. The team, which is playing in the Northwest Region, is now coached by former Goldwater coach Dan Friedman. His former team will likely open the season Aug. 31 at home against Yuma.

Friedman’s first game against his former team will be played in Anthem in the next‑to‑final game of the season Oct. 26.

Other Northwest Region teams next year include Deer Valley, Kingman and Willow Canyon. The final day of the regular season is Nov. 2.

The AIA has not released an official 4A schedule, either, but eight of the games Cactus Shadows will play in have been revealed. The defending 4A‑Division II state champions make the move up to Division I, where they will finish the season on the road Nov. 2 at perennial power Chaparral.

Among non‑region teams on the schedule is Cactus, another annual 4A contender. The Falcons will host the Cobras Sept. 7.

The first day of practice for fall sports is Monday, Aug. 6. Teams such as Boulder Creek–opening their seasons a week earlier on Aug. 24–will be allowed to begin practice on July 30.