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
CENTENNIAL (1-0) VS. NO. 3 SANTA MARGARITA (0-1)
Where, when: Trabuco Hills High, Thursday, 7:30 p.m.
Analysis: The Eagles try again for that first win for their new coach Carson Palmer, who was a star quarterback at Santa Margarita, won the Heisman Trophy at USC and had a long and distinguished career in the NFL. Last week they lost a tough one to Mission Viejo 7-3 in their opener. Penalties were a problem for Santa Margarita, especially a holding call that erased an Eagles touchdown. They take on another highly-ranked opponent in this one. The HSratings.com website that the CIF Southern Section will use to place teams in divisions for the playoffs has Centennial at No. 4 in its California rankings; Mission Viejo is No. 5 and Santa Margarita is No. 7. Centennial rolled to a dominating 42-14 win over Servite last week in Corona. Senior quarterback Dominick Catalano threw for 298 yards and three touchdowns and Centennial rushed for 246 yards, giving the Huskies nearly 550 yards of total offense. Santa Margarita senior quarterback Trace Johnson completed 20 of 29 passes against Mission Viejo. Seven of those completions went to USC commit Trent Mosley, who had 152 receiving yards. Santa Margarita is going to get better and get Palmer that first win soon. This Centennial team, though, looks too good for that to happen this week.
Winner: Centennial
Video: Steve Fryer and Dan Albano make their Week 1 football predictions
NO. 9 YORBA LINDA (1-0) VS. NO. 7 EDISON (1-0)
Where, when: Huntington Beach High, Thursday, 7 p.m.
Analysis: This is a rematch of one of the wilder games of the 2024 season. Yorba Linda scored a touchdown and kicked the crucial extra point with five seconds remaining for a 22-21 win at Yorba Linda High. Edison might still hold some bitterness about a couple of late-game issues, including two penalties and more time remaining on the clock than Chargers coaches expected. Yorba Linda opened this season with a 41-0 win over Mayfair at SoFi Stadium. Jack Lopez returned an interception 50 yards for a touchdown and Thomas Knutson scored on a 55-yard punt return. Edison traveled last week to beat Clovis West 20-13. Chargers linebacker Jude Gonterman had 15 tackles and a sack. Edison won’t make the errors Mayfair made last week, and the Chargers defense will shine.
Winner: Edison
NO. 15 VILLA PARK (1-0) VS. NO. 15 WESTERN (1-0)
Where, when: Western High, Friday, 7 p.m.
Analysis: Villa Park beat Carson 26-22 last week. Spartans senior Vinny La Gatta scored on a quarterback sneak with 42 seconds left to provide the winning points. He rushed for 102 yards. Western also won a close game, 34-31 over Los Angeles Salesian. Pioneers junior quarterback Chance Thomas has offers from Arizona, Hawaii, North Carolina and a few others, and he will get more if he continues to play like he did last week when he passed for 232 yards and three touchdowns. Senior running back Skylar Lendsey rushed for 111 yards and a touchdown. Villa Park has a young team, with several sophomore starters including a few on defense. The Spartan sophs are good athletes, but might not be ready to match up with Western’s size and speed. The two teams are tied at No. 15 in this week’s Orange County Top 25.
Winner: Western
NO. 18 HUNTINGTON BEACH (1-0) VS. NO. 22 TRABUCO HILLS (0-0)
Where, when: Trabuco Hills High, Friday, 7 p.m.
Analysis: Huntington Beach beat Orange 35-18 last week. The Oilers offense took a couple of series to get going. But once they unleashed junior quarterback Brady Edmunds, the first downs and the points started to come. Edmunds, committed to Ohio State, threw for 213 yards and three touchdowns, two of them to Colorado State commit Troy Foster. He also had a TD pass to Steel Kurtz (six receptions) who also served as a kicker, punter and safety (he had four tackles). This is the season opener for Trabuco Hills, which brings back senior quarterback Tristan Zale who threw for 2,908 yards and 30 touchdowns last season. Huntington Beach has an advantage, having played a game under the lights to figure out what works.
Winner: Huntington Beach
MURRIETA VALLEY (1-0) VS. NO. 5 SERVITE (0-1)
Where, when: Mt. San Antonio College, Friday, 7 p.m.
Analysis: Everything that could go wrong for Servite did go wrong last week in a 42-14 road loss to Centennial. Servite has a tradition of matching the physicality of any opponent, but that was missing against Centennial. Servite rushed for only 75 yards on 23 attempts, and the Friars’ defensive front was pushed around. Murrieta Valley is No. 12 in the state rankings by HSratings.com. Servite has speed in abundance at the skill positions, but still might be figuring out how to make that speed work.
Winner: Murrieta Valley
Fryer on Football last week: 5-0