A preview and prediction for each of the top football games in Orange County this week The teams are listed by their ranking in the Orange County Top 25.
GAME OF THE WEEK
NO. 7 LOS ALAMITOS (4-3 overall, 0-0 league) VS. NO. 11 EDISON (5-2, 0-0)
Where, when: Huntington Beach High, Friday, 7 p.m.
Analysis: The four-team Alpha League finally gets into league play. It’s the No. 1 football league that came out of the radical releauging that preceded this school year. Los Alamitos and Edison are coming off of their bye weeks. Los Alamitos’ most notable wins are over Narbonne, the team that nobody in its Marine League wants to play, and Clovis North of Fresno, both of which were away games for the Griffins. Their losses were to very good teams like Lincoln of San Diego, Serra of Gardena and Mililani of Hawaii which are a combined 17-5. Los Alamitos averages 439 yards of offense a game. Junior running backs Lenny Ibarra and Jerod Terry have teamed up to give the Griffins a potent ground game. Senior linebacker Jackson Raguse and senior safety Taeden Rogers continue to tally tackles. Edison was 0-2 after back-to-back one-point losses to Clovis West of Fresno and Yorba Linda. The Chargers have since won five in a row. Senior running back Julius Gillick is third in the county in rushing at 1,269 yards and is averaging 10 yards a carry. Senior linebacker Matt Lopez has a team-high 30 solo tackles. This looks like a battle of running games. Which team’s defense is going to be better at stopping the other team’s running attack?
Winner: Los Alamitos
NO. 2 MISSION VIEJO (7-0, 0-0) VS. NO. 9 SAN CLEMENTE (4-3, 0-0)
Where, when: San Clemente High, Friday, 7 p.m.
Analysis: It’s the Alpha League opener for both teams. This is a great rivalry, intact from the defunct South Coast League. San Clemente beat Mission Viejo last season to win the league championship. The Tritons reward was getting placed in the CIF Southern Section’s elite eight-team Division 1 in which they lost to St. John Bosco 35-10. Mission Viejo slid into Division 2 and won that division’s championship followed by a state championship. Mission Viejo is No. 3 in the Calpreps CIF-SS ratings that will be used to place teams into CIF-SS playoff divisions. The Diablos, with an offense averaging 419 yards and 45 points a game, are No. 9 in the Maxpreps national rankings. Their two-man quarterback system of junior Luke Fahey and senior Drai Trudeau is working extremely well and their statistics are crazily similar. Both have thrown 78 passes. Trudeau has 927 passing yards, Fahey has 907. Mission Viejo senior defensive end Jaden Williams has 30 sacks (that “0” after the “3” is not a typo). San Clemente’s three losses are to teams that are a cumulative 18-3. Unlike Mission Viejo, San Clemente played last week and got a 51-0 win over Coronado of Nevada. Tritons senior quarterback Dawson Martinez has completed 70 percent of his passes for 189 yards a game. San Clemente’s strength is its defense that has standout seniors Max Bollard and Max Kontiranta in the backfield and Kaden Raymond at linebacker. As good as that defensive unit is, it will have trouble keeping Mission Viejo out of the end zone.
Winner: Mission Viejo
La Habra quarterback DJ Mitchell (1) reacts after running the ball during a football game at Huntington Beach High School in Huntington Beach on Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. La Habra defeated Huntington Beach 37-35. (Photo by Rebecca Villagracia, Contributing Photographer)
NO. 14 CREAN LUTHERAN (6-1, 2-0) VS. NO. 16 LA HABRA (6-1, 2-0)
Where, when: La Habra High, Friday, 7 p.m.
Analysis: These teams are tied for first place in the new Epsilon League. From the looks of it, the winner of this game will be the league champion when the regular season ends Nov. 1. Crean Lutheran’s only loss was to county No. 7 San Juan Hills 23-9. Crean’s most-impressive win was over Foothill 38-20 in an Epsilon game. Caden Jones, a sophomore, was the Saints starting quarterback through mid-September, but a banged-up knee has kept him out of action with a return to play perhaps as soon as next week. Freshman Dylan D’Epifanio has stepped in and has performed well. D’Epifanio completed 22 of 33 passes for 259 yards and two touchdowns in Crean’s 35-6 win over El Dorado last week. Saints senior linebacker Carter Jones is averaging 11 tackles a game. La Habra has won six in a row since a season-opening 26-23 loss at Upland. The Highlanders are going with a two-quarterback offense. Senior Kenneth Saucedo has passed for 266 yards and four touchdowns and is La Harba’s second-leading rusher at 529 yards. Sophomore DJ Mitchell has passed for 605 yards and eight touchdowns and has rushed for 443 yards and three touchdowns. The Highlanders’ quick and aggressive defense includes senior defensive end Ulavai Fetuli who has six sacks. Look for Fetuli and company to be on the attack again, disrupting the Crean Lutheran offense all night while Saucedo and Mitchell keep the first downs coming.
Winner: La Habra
ST. JOHN BOSCO (7-0, 2-0) VS. NO. 4 SERVITE (6-1, 1-1)
Where, when: SoFi Stadium, Friday, 7 p.m.
Analysis: This Trinity League game, a Servite home game at the spectacular home of the Rams and the Chargers, is billed as the “Brotherhood Bowl.” It was the late-great coach George Allen who coined the phrase “the future is now” and that phrase now describes the youngish St. John Bosco football team. Bosco’s starting quarterback Matai Fuiava this week transferred all the way to Kahuku in Hawaii. That makes freshman Koa Malau’ulu the Braves starter. What we’ve seen of Malau’ulu has been impressive. He completed 20 of 22 passes in the second half, finishing with 272 yards and four touchdowns in Bosco’s 28-24 win over Orange Lutheran two weeks ago. Servite has played in recent weeks without Michigan State-committed senior quarterback Leo Hannan. Hannan might have progressed enough from a leg injury to play against St. John Bosco. If not, sophomore Colin O’Connor again starts at quarterback for the Friars. Servite has leaned heavily on the run in recent weeks. That worked fine when Servite beat JSerra 20-7 two weeks ago but was insufficient against Mater Dei in last week’s 28-6 loss. Servite has the skill and personality to score the upset. Logically, though, St. John Bosco’s talent wins out.
Winner: St. John Bosco
Santa Margarita quarterback John Gazzaniga (#1) barely gets off an incomplete pass with pressure from St. John Bosco linebacker Ahmeer Williamson on Friday, Oct. 11, 2024, in Trinity League action at St. John Bosco in Bellflower. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)
NO. 5 SANTA MARGARITA (3-4, 0-2) VS. NO. 3 ORANGE LUTHERAN (5-2, 1-1)
Where, when: Orange Coast College, Friday, 7 p.m.
Analysis: Santa Margarita has been double-slammed by the loss of its coach, Anthony Rouzier, who is on administrative leave while the school looks into an undisclosed issue or two within its football program, and with receiver Trent Mosley, the Eagles’ best offensive player, being out with an injury. Mosley is doubtful for this Trinity League game. Santa Margarita has lost three in a row including a 13-0 loss to St. John Bosco last week when the Eagles totaled only 187 yards of offense. Orange Lutheran’s first league game was a heartbreaking 28-24 loss to St. John Bosco, a game in which the Lancers had a 24-21 lead late in the fourth quarter. They rebounded impressively with last week’s 23-17 win over JSerra. Orange Lutheran senior running back Steve Chavez rushed for 105 yards and a touchdown and quarterback TJ Lateef threw two touchdown passes against the Lions. This Trinity League game looks like it has two teams going different directions.
Winner: Orange Lutheran
Fryer on Football last week: 3-2
Season to date: 30-11
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