Honor Bowl This Weekend
Cathedral opens up the annual showcase that honors the military. The Honor Bowl has expanded to three days with Cathedral taking on 4-time defending small school open division state champion Central Catholic (Modesto, CA) tonight at 7:30 pm.
The Honor Bowl was played at Oceanside the past two years but has moved to Mission Viejo in Orange County, presumably to attract bigger crowds.
Helix Charter will play NoCal power Clayton Valley Charter (Concord, CA) on Saturday at 4:00 pm.
The Honor Bowl consists of six games that include teams from Florida and New Jersey with the final game on Saturday featuring Centennial (Corona, CA) vs. IMG Academy (Bradenton, FL) at 7:30 pm.
All of the games will be streamed by the NFHS Network.com and FoxSports West.
Morrison Night at La Jolla’s Newly Renovated Stadium
Friday night will be the Morrison’s night at La Jolla. Yes, the Vikings play their first game at their newly renovated stadium which includes a new press box, locker rooms, concession stand and track.
But Matt Morrison is beginning his first year as head coach of any program and younger brother Scott Morrison will be covering the game for KUSI’s Prep Pigskin Report (PPR) as a field producer which is also his first year at the PPR.
What are the chances that former Parker coach John Morrison, who is the father of Matt and Scott, is at La Jolla for the 6:30 pm kickoff?
It Doesn’t Get Any Easier for Eastlake
Eastlake suffered a 38-0 loss vs. # 5 Rancho Bernardo last Friday but there is no time to lick their wounds because the Titans head to Orange County to play El Toro (Lake Forest, CA) on Friday night.
Then Eastlake hosts # 2 Helix Charter in week three and heads to # 7 Madison for week four before hosting # 1 St. Augustine on week five.
The Titans will have faced four of the top seven teams in San Diego while also traveling to face Orange County’s El Toro in the first five weeks of the season.
The Spartans of Chula Vista will host an Eastlake squad that might be 0-5 but the Titans then might be the best 0-5 team in America.
A Little Toasty for Scripps Ranch
The Falcons play at Palm Springs on Friday night which will have a high of about 105 degrees.
The kickoff temperature at Palm Springs should be about 95 degrees but it’s a dry heat with only about 20% humidity.
The kickoff temperature in San Diego (along the coast) Friday night will be in the low seventies but with 70% humidity.
Rivalry Watch: West Hills at Santana
West Hills plays at Santana for the Mayor’s Cup (Santee) on Friday at 7 pm. Certainly in the recent past the Wolf Pack have been hoisting the trophy more than the purple clad squad.
Last year the Wolf Pack narrowly won 45-42.
Not All Games Last Four Quarters
Serra and Lincoln look to finish their first game after their matchup last Friday at Lincoln was stopped early following a fourth quarter scuffle, Lincoln won last week 27-0.
Going the Distance
In terms of teams that are within San Diego County the distance between Army-Navy and Mountain Empire is one of the longest and that distance will be traversed Friday by the Warriors for their 6:30 pm game at the Red Hawks.
A Step Down?
Orange Glen gets their first taste of the Coastal League when they face La Jolla Country Day at home on Friday night.
The Torrey’s quarterback, Braxton Burmeister, is a major D1 prospect who is headed to Arizona.
With a talented La Jolla Country Day supporting cast that features linebacker Ryan LaRiccia on defense the Patriots may not think the Coastal League is much of a step down from the Valley League.
8-Man Watch: Avalon at Julian on Friday at 2 pm
The Lancers are the lone high school on Santa Catalina Island and there are only 210 students at the island high school.
Avalon won the CIF-Southern Section 8-Man Division I championship last year for the very first time while going undefeated but the Lancers head coach stepped down during the off season.
Avalon is an hour plus boat ride from Catalina to Dana Point and then add on 2-3 hours on the road which means that the Lancers may not attend many classes on Friday.
Julian opened the season last week at Warner with a 60-0 win.
Intersectional Games Last Week
San Diego was an even 8-8 with the inclusion of 8-man games.
Mission Hills winning at Crenshaw 21-20 was the biggest win while Utah’s # 1 team Timpview (Provo, UT) left La Mesa with a 28-21 win over Helix Charter.
La Jolla Country Day fell to private school power ‘Iolani (Honolulu, HI) 27-19 in the 53rd Annual Father Bray Memorial Classic in Honolulu.