Sabino Outlasts Paradise Honors in a 68-46 Shootout for the 3A Title
Mountain Pointe High School, Ahwatukee — December 2023
Defense was optional in the 2023 3A state championship. Sabino outlasted Paradise Honors 68-46 in a game that saw both offenses find the end zone seemingly at will, combining for 114 points in one of the most prolific scoring affairs in recent Arizona high school football championship history.
Sabino's 22-point margin of victory came despite Paradise Honors putting up 46 points of its own, a total that would have been more than enough to win most championship games played that weekend. Instead, the Sabercats simply matched — and exceeded — everything Paradise Honors threw at them, riding a high-powered offense of their own to the title.
Games like this one are rare even by high school football's often free-scoring standards, and the 2023 3A final immediately entered the conversation as one of the most entertaining championship games in recent memory, regardless of classification.
For Sabino, the win delivered a state championship built on offensive firepower rather than defensive dominance — proof that in Arizona high school football, there's more than one way to win a title.