Snowflake, Yuma Catholic Football Among Those Moved Into The 4A Conference

Snowflake and Yuma Catholic high school football programs are among the programs who were elevated into the 4A Conference Friday by the Arizona Interscholastic Association. The Lobos have won the past two 3A state championships in football, beating Yuma Catholic this year 10-3. Region placements weren’t released Friday, but Snowflake would likely move into the Grand Canyon Region. Snowflake was supposed to host Coconino this past season, but a second COVID positive of the season for Coconino cancelled the game. The Lobos picked up Peoria as a replacement game and went on to beat the Panthers 50-0 at Peoria. The bulk of Snowflake’s producers will graduate this year, but the Lobos have a balanced program and figure to be a strong team for years to come. The Grand Canyon Region played with six teams this past year, after Mohave dropped to 3A in football. The region is made up of Flagstaff, Coconino, Prescott, Bradshaw Mountain, Lee Williams and Mingus for football. Leaving the 4A to go up to the 5A conference are Cactus, American Leadership Academy Queen Creek and Mesquite, among others. American Leadership Academy Gilbert also moves up from the 3A to 4A, while Alhambra and Maryvale are among those moving down from 5A to 4A. The AIA put in its reclassification rules in 2020, stating a program can move up a conference after succeeding in a lower conference. The same goes for schools who struggle in a conference. Those schools can be moved down. Schools have until January 5th to appeal their placement. A final decision will be made on January 18th.