It’s an early-season match-up between sister schools across the West Valley. In this week’s edition of Best in the West, we look at district matchups in Deer Valley, Peoria and Tolleson districts.
A District Rivalry Renewed
The two oldest schools in the Deer Valley Unified School District square off, each at 1-0 to open the season. Having last played in 2022, the Deer Valley Skyhawks and Barry Goldwater Bulldogs meet on the gridiron for the 31sh time in program history.
Barry Goldwater opened the season with an 18-14 victory over Raymond S. Kellis, attempting only nine passes for 120 yards. The Bulldogs were led in the ground game by junior Antonio Williams, who carried 10 times for 66 yards, scoring a touchdown and converting a two-point attempt. Senior receiver Cale Drank caught seven of the team’s eight completed passes for 109 yards and a touchdown.
Score Update: Goldwater 18 – Kellis 14. Final. Hard Fought Battle! Let’s Go! #charactermatters #goldbulldogs pic.twitter.com/5liHPVjyQQ
— Barry Goldwater Athletics DVUSD (@Goldwater_Ath) August 30, 2025
The DVHS defense will have to slow down the ground game and looks to do so behind junior linebacker Bryson Keith and senior defensive lineman Brian Story. Keith led the defense against Peoria in week one with 12 total tackles while Story tallied ten tackles, including five solo tackles. The stars of the show, however, came from special teams. Junior kicker Austan Chaves led both teams in scoring with 11 points via three field goals and two PATs while senior Coleston Paxton led the team in all-purpose yards courtesy of his 113 punt return yards. The Skyhawk offense spread the love with six different players logging at least one carry and seven players catching at least one pass.
Deer Valley resides in the 4A Conference and came up three spots short of the postseason despite a 9-1 record. Barry Goldwater won the 5A Northwest Valley region title last year and earned the last spot in the 5A tournament but fell short to ALA – Gilbert North, 49-21, in the opening round. A rivalry victory for either team could help propel them to a postseason berth in 2025 after both teams had promising seasons one year ago.
This mornings Pep Rally to get ready for tonight’s game! Hope to see you out tonight! pic.twitter.com/OioeaLTCiL
— Deer Valley Skyhawks (@DVHSSkyhawks) August 29, 2025
Deer Valley owns the all-time record in the rivalry, 21-9, but lost its most recent matchup in the 2022 opening week to BGHS, 49-7.
Bounce Back Week
A pair of Peoria Unified School District foes face off in week two after losing their opening week games by a combined seven points. The Peoria Panthers are in the midst of a three-game road trip to open 2025 and visit Glendale to battle the Raymond S. Kellis Cougars.
Kellis Cougars Football Camp 2025 pic.twitter.com/aiQX8RM5Sa
— Cougars Football (@KellisFootball) July 21, 2025
RSK is under new head coach Chris Miranda with hopes of building on last year’s 9-1 record and the program’s first-ever state tournament victory. At the time of this notebook, Kellis had not uploaded stats from Friday’s 18-14 loss to Barry Goldwater to MaxPreps, but had held the Bulldogs to under 300 total yards and recovered a fumble.
Even in a 23-20 loss to Deer Valley in week one, the senior duo of quarterback Dominic Kramer and running back Javon Bell showcased just how talented this offense can be. Bell racked up 165 yards on 26 carries for a touchdown while Kramer completed 19 of his 27 passes for 160 yards and three touchdowns. The duo has long been the backbone of the Peoria offense and will have an opportunity to bring Peoria back to the postseason after coming up four spots short in 2024, though the team still won the 4A Skyline Region title. Junior linebacker Devonte Hendrix was solid on defense and tied with three other Panthers with six total tackles but also picked up a sack.
Another great summer football camp at Cal Lutheran University
Thank you @AY_BILT pic.twitter.com/RzcSMBaMre
— Peoria Panthers FB (@PeoriaPantherFB) July 26, 2025
This will be just the seventh game between these Peoria sister schools. PHS owns the all-time record at 4-2 but fell in last year’s week-two matchup against Kellis 28-7.
Sister Schools Vie to Go 2-0
A pair of Tolleson Union High Schools start the season at 1-0 and only one can remain undefeated as Sierra Linda visits Copper Canyon.
The SLHS Bulldogs won their season opener against Carl Hayden 27-20 behind a pair of touchdowns from senior receiver Jordan Quijada. Defensively, sophomore Air’Ricq Walker collected an interception while senior linebacker Alejandro Valenzuela led both teams with a dozen tackles.
Copper Canyon opened its year with a dominant win over a young Somerton program, 48-0. The run game had the spotlight as two running backs eclipsed 100 yards. Senior Mark Enriquez carried just seven times for 118 yards and three touchdowns, while fellow senior Jeremiah Adams Curry had eight touches for 104 yards and a touchdown. Senior defensive lineman Javier Castro earned a safety and also picked up a sack with ten total tackles.
Copper Canyon had a fantastic day hosting the youth football camp presented by Game Day Youth camps with Michael Wilson and Starling Thomas. pic.twitter.com/Zfbf3lAb8S
— Rodger Schenks (@coachschenks) June 14, 2025
Copper Canyon owns the all-time record at 4-1 and dominated the team’s last meeting, 74-0, in 2017. The Aztecs have more wins against Sierra Linda than they do against any other team in program history.
Be sure to head out and support your local teams this Friday night. Also, keep an eye on Sports360AZ for all of our high school football content, including the Fiesta Bowl High School Showdown on CW 7, Bleacher Talk, Zone Read, Recruiting Roundup, and more.
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The post Best in the West 2025: Sept. 5 Spotlights first appeared on Sports360AZ.
