GAME OF THE WEEK
NO. 1 MATER DEI (0-0) VS. CENTENNIAL (0-0)
Where, when: Centennial High, Friday, 7 p.m.
Analysis: It’s the Mater Dei head coaching debut for Frank McManus, a longtime assistant coach at the school. He has replaced Bruce Rollinson, whose 34 seasons included many CIF Southern Section championships plus a few state and national titles. McManus inherited what is probably among the best rosters in the team’s history. Elijah Brown enters his fourth season as the team’s starting quarterback, armed with a 29-1 record as the starter and a Stanford scholarship. He will work with a huge and powerful offensive line that includes Brandon Baker and DeAndre Carter, and will hand the ball off to Jordon Davison who is considered one of the top junior running backs in the nation. Centennial (11-1 last season) is No. 3 in the CalHiSports.com state rankings, behind No. 1 St. John Bosco and No. 2 Mater Dei. The Huskies have a great veteran coach, Matt Logan, and a terrific quarterback, Husan Longstreet, who passed for 3,941 yards and 41 touchdowns last year as a sophomore at Inglewood. Centennial is deep in talent, but this Mater Dei team appears unstoppable … as long as the players are emotionally engaged.
Winner: Mater Dei
NO. 5 JSERRA (0-0) VS. SIERRA CANYON (0-0)
Where, when: Sierra Canyon High, Friday, 7 p.m.
Analysis: The Lions (6-6 last season) and first-year coach Victor Santa Cruz travel to Chatsworth for their season opener. Their quarterback is Arizona State-committed Michael Tollefson. The junior exhibited slices of excellence the past two seasons at San Juan Hills and also made the sort of mistakes that are expected of an underclassman playing the most difficult position to master in team sports. Look for him to have a fine season starting with this game. JSerra’s strength could be its defense that is led by Luke Webb, a junior who was All-Orange County first-team in 2022. Sierra Canyon (10-5 last season) have ace running back Dane Dunn,…
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