Thursday night lights, rivalry games highlight this week's Tucson football action

Believe it or not, we’re already in the fourth week of the high school football season.

Crazy, right?

To be fair, just a handful of teams were in action the opening weekend but everyone has played at least two games giving us a decent idea of what to expect this fall.

This week has no shortage of storylines as the stakes continue to increase. Here’s a look at five things to watch:

Thursday night lights

Mountain View will host Sunnyside in a rare Thursday-night game, putting both teams in the spotlight as the only show in town.

Fifth-year coach Clarence McRae and the Mountain Lions are coming off a 62-0 win against Rincon/University and have a chance to get some revenge against the Blue Devils after last year’s 46-20 loss at Sunnyside.

An even bigger reason to catch this game would be to see Mountain View’s star wide receiver Isaiah Lovett in action. Through two games, the 6-foot-4-inch, 185-pound senior has already hauled in 10 catches for 252 yards and four touchdowns.

Mendivil's homecoming

Third-year Amphitheater coach Jorge Mendivil started Empire’s program a decade ago and went on to spend seven seasons with the team.

Mendivil returns to his old stomping grounds on Friday night with his new team. He’s not quite sure what it’ll feel like standing on Empire’s visiting sideline for the first time and lining up against his former assistant, W.T. Jeffries.

Amphi (1-1) beat Cholla to open the season but fell just short against Flowing Wells last week, when a failed two-point conversion in the final minutes secured a 27-26 win for the Caballeros.

The Oro Valley Super Bowl

It doesn’t get much better than this one: Undefeated Ironwood Ridge and Canyon del Oro facing off in the Oro Valley Super Bowl.

CDO hosts I-Ridge with a chance to stay unbeaten and snap a five-game skid in the series, arguably Southern Arizona’s best active rivalry. The Dorados last beat the Nighthawks in 2010 but it’s been all I-Ridge since then, with just one game being decided by fewer than 18 points.

With a victory Friday, CDO would not only regain bragging rights in Oro Valley but it would also match its win total from a year ago.

An old-school rivalry

Speaking of rivalries, Salpointe Catholic hosts Tucson High in one of the city’s oldest on Friday night.

Salpointe (2-0) is coming off a bye week while the Badgers hope to rebound from their first loss of the season.

A win for Tucson High would be huge because they hasn’t beaten Salpointe since 1993. Since then, the Lancers have won 22 straight meetings.

Things stayed close last year, before Salpointe pulled away late for a 38-24 win. That was the closest margin of victory since a 20-17 win by the Lancers in 2009.

Desert View goes for 3-0

After going winless in 2014, Desert View opened the season 3-0 last fall. Now the Jaguars are one win from doing it again, for the second year in a row.

Desert View (2-0) hosts unbeaten Douglas on Friday night, with a chance to win its fourth straight game dating back to last season.

More importantly, a win would keep the Jaguars right in the thick of things in the 5A Sonoran region, with a showdown at Sahuaro looming.