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
FOLSOM (2-0) VS. NO. 2 MISSION VIEJO (2-0)
Where, when: Mission Viejo High, Friday, 7 p.m.
Analysis: Folsom is No. 9 in the California rankings at HSratings.com, the website the CIF Southern Section will use to place teams in the CIF-SS playoff divisions. Mission Viejo is No. 4 in those rankings. The CalHiSports.com state rankings have Mission Viejo at No. 3 and Folsom at No. 4. This is not the first formidable Folsom football team. The Bulldogs have won five CIF State championships, most recently in 2013. They scored two touchdowns in the final two minutes last week for a 56-42 win against San Mateo Serra, a Northern California power. This is a matchup of standout quarterbacks. Folsom’s BYU-committed senior Ryder Lyons (6-4, 205) threw for 389 yards and four touchdowns against Serra. Ohio State-committed senior Luke Fahey (6-2, 205) threw for 375 yards and three touchdowns in Mission Viejo’s 58-14 win over St. Paul last week. Mission Viejo beat Santa Margarita 7-3 in Week 0, a win that looked bigger after Santa Margarita beat Centennial last week. All-County receiver Vance Spafford did not play against St. Paul. Mission Viejo coach Chad Johnson said Spafford, who missed much of summer football because of illness, should be good to go against Folsom. Even if Spafford is unavailable or limited, the Diablos would have plenty of high-quality pass catchers like Jack Junker and Luke Karby. The key to a Mission Viejo victory will be putting pressure on Lyons and locking down the Folsom receivers. The Diablos have what it takes for that.
Winner: Mission Viejo
NO. 15 WESTERN (2-0) VS. NO. 19 HUNTINGTON BEACH (1-1)
Where, when: Huntington Beach High, Thursday, 7 p.m.
Analysis: Western must like close games. The Pioneers opened the season with a 34-31 win over Salesian. Last week, junior quarterback Chance Thomas threw a touchdown pass to Maxwell Young with 39 seconds left to beat Villa Park 27-20. Huntington Beach last week did the opposite – the Oilers gave up a touchdown with 39 seconds left to lose to Trabuco Hills 20-19. Junior quarterback Brady Edmunds, who is committed to Ohio State, threw for 179 yards and three touchdowns in the loss. Senior Troy Foster had eight receptions for 106 yards and two touchdowns. Oilers receiver Dylin Bruce had eight catches including a touchdown and Nathan Villanueva rushed for 120 yards. Western’s Skylar Lendsey rushed for 96 yards and Thomas rushed for 85 yards against Villa Park. Western’s defense made several big plays in the win over Villa Park. Ernest Nunley had three of the Pioneers’ four interceptions. Huntington Beach will take good care of the football and won’t fall prey to Western’s big-play power.
Winner: Huntington Beach
NO. 19 CAPISTRANO VALLEY (2-0) VS. NO. 11 CREAN LUTHERAN (2-0)
Where, when: Crean Lutheran High, Friday, 7 p.m.
Analysis: This game has an interesting angle: Crean Lutheran coach Rick Curtis is the father of Capistrano Valley coach Sean Curtis. Capistrano Valley has beaten Barstow 41-21 and Arizona’s Campo Verde 26-16. Capistrano Valley had 10 sacks, five by Damon Epstein and three by Jake Beisel. Crean Lutheran has two lopsided wins, 30-14 over Colorado’s Mullen and 42-10 over St. Pius X-St. Matthias. Crean quarterback Caden Jones passed for 313 yards and two touchdowns in the win last week. Bryce Coleman had seven receptions for 203 yards and a touchdown. Javon Nash had 10 solo tackles for the Saints. Dad’s team is better than his son’s team.
Winner: Crean Lutheran
NO. 10 LOS ALAMITOS (3-0) VS. SERRA (2-0)
Where, when: Serra High, Friday, 7 p.m.
Analysis: Serra is No. 14 in the HSratings.com California rankings that have Los Alamitos at No. 16. CalHiSports.com has Serra at No. 12 and Los Alamitos at No. 21. Serra has two shutout wins, 26-0 over Palos Verdes and 37-0 over Hamilton of the CIF Los Angeles City Section. The Cavaliers have 413 rushing yards over the two games and those are well-distributed yards, with only one back in double figures (Devohn Moutra, 118 yards). Los Alamitos has been excellent at stopping the run, having allowed only 101 rushing yards over its three wins. Senior linebacker Lenny Ibarra has a team-high 25 tackles, 12 of those solo tackles. Serra might have too much team speed for Los Alamitos to handle.
Winner: Serra
NO. 4 ORANGE LUTHERAN (2-0) VS. BASHA (1-0)
Where, when: Basha High, Friday, 7 p.m.
Analysis: Orange Lutheran rallied from an 18-point, third-quarter deficit to beat Rancho Cucamonga 27-24 last week. Lancers quarterback Reagan Toki threw three of his four touchdown passes in the third quarter. The Orange Lutheran defense powered the rally. A sack by Markus Fakatou followed by an interception by Jackson Perez led to one Lancers touchdown. Auma Jennings delivered two fourth-quarter sacks. Basha, of Chandler, Ariz., will be Orange Lutheran’s biggest challenge thus far. The game is the Lancers’ second out-of-state trip in three weeks, having played in Florida in Week 0. That’s a lot to ask of high school athletes. This looks like a special team for Orange Lutheran, a team that can handle all of this, especially on defense.
Winner: Orange Lutheran
Fryer last week: 1-4
Fryer for the season: 6-4