For the first time this season, and the first time in Grand Canyon section media football poll inaugural history, there is a new #1 team as the Prescott High School Badgers take over the top spot from their rival Bradshaw Mountain High School Bears after upsetting the Bears on the road Friday, October 5th. Six panel members voted Prescott High School as the #1 team, while five panelists kept Bradshaw Mountain High School as the top team after the defeat.
It’s been a rollercoaster of a season for Prescott High School in the media poll, being ranked as low as #4 in four previous media polls and as high as #1 this week. Meanwhile, Bradshaw Mountain High School held the #1 spot every single week this season even going back to the preseason poll.
In the victory, Prescott High School also took control of the first place spot in the section standings. The winner of the eight sections in the 4A conference is guaranteed a playoff spot. The final eight teams are left up to at-large qualifiers based on ranking.
While Bradshaw Mountain High School fell from the top in the Grand Canyon section media poll rankings, the Bears are still ranked as the top Grand Canyon section team in the 4A conference rankings. Following the loss, Bradshaw Mountain High School dropped two ranks from #2 to #4.
The defeat didn’t affect Bradshaw Mountain High School too much in the 4A conference rankings, however, the victory for Prescott High School was huge in the rankings as it vaulted them from #17 all the way up to #11. Since the first 4A conference rankings were released in week seven, the Badgers have moved up nine spots.
In addition to determining playoff teams for non-section winning teams, the rankings also decide playoff seeding.
Going back to the media poll, Mingus dropped from #2 to #3 during a bye week due to a shakeup at the top of the media poll.
The rest of the media poll didn’t have any movement as Coconino and Flagstaff were both victorious, while Lee Williams and Mohave both lost as all four teams keep their respective week eight rankings heading into week nine.
WEEK EIGHT GRAND CANYON SECTION RESULTS
Prescott 26, Bradshaw Mountain 21
Mohave 7, Coconino 52
Lee Williams 0, Flagstaff 39
Bye Week: Mingus
GRAND CANYON MEDIA FOOTBALL POLL FOR WEEK NINE
| Rank | Team | 1st Place Votes | Record | Section Record | Points | Last Week Ranking |
| 1st | Prescott | 6 | 5-2 | 3-0 | 71 | 3 |
| 2nd | Bradshaw Mountain | 5 | 7-1 | 3-1 | 71 | 1 |
| 3rd | Mingus | 0 | 5-2 | 2-1 | 54 | 2 |
| 4th | Coconino | 0 | 5-2 | 2-2 | 45 | 4 |
| 5th | Flagstaff | 0 | 3-4 | 2-2 | 34 | 5 |
| 6th | Lee Williams | 0 | 2-5 | 0-3 | 18 | 6 |
| 7th | Mohave | 0 | 2-5 | 0-3 | 15 | 7 |
WEEK NINE AIA 4A CONFERENCE RANKINGS FOR GRAND CANYON SECTION TEAMS
| Rank (out of 47) | Last Week | Team | Rating | Average Opp. Rating |
| #4 | #2 | Bradshaw Mountain | 8.9309 | 0.7813 |
| #11 | #17 | Prescott | 6.9359 | 2.0601 |
| #16 | #15 | Coconino | 4.8724 | -0.3755 |
| #18 | #16 | Mingus | 4.3786 | 0.1045 |
| #27 | #31 | Flagstaff | -1.0865 | 0.5713 |
| #36 | #35 | Lee Williams | -5.0287 | -0.6749 |
| #38 | #38 | Mohave | -5.1812 | -0.9722 |
WEEK NINE GRAND CANYON SECTION SCHEDULE
#4 Bradshaw Mountain (7-1, 3-1) @ #18 Mingus (5-2, 2-1)
#11 Prescott (5-2, 3-0) @ #38 Mohave (2-5, 0-3)
#16 Coconino (5-2, 2-2) @ #36 Lee Williams (2-5, 0-3)
#27 Flagstaff (3-4, 2-2) @ #6 Seton Catholic (6-1)
ABOUT THE POLL
Sports journalists from across the Grand Canyon region – including SignalsAZ.com- came together to produce the inaugural Grand Canyon Media Football Poll.
The panel is made up of Dave Zorn from KAFF, The Daily Courier’s Brian M. Bergner Jr. and Doug Cook, Michael Hartman and Lance Hartzler of the Arizona Daily Sun, Verde Independent’s James Kelley, Beau Bearden of the Kingman Daily Miner, KYCA’s John Rust, Matt Showalter from KKLD, James Towney from Today’s News-Herald and Torrence Dunham of SignalsAZ.com.
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