Weekly Football Previews: Crescenta Valley kicks off 2017 area football season in Florida
From 2014-16, the Crescenta Valley High football team had the same three-game nonleague slate each and every season.
For the last four seasons and 10 of the last 12, the Falcons played Verdugo Hills in nonleague action.
Other than a trek to Canyon Country Golden Valley, the longest trip the Falcons have had on their schedule season in and season out has been traveling to archrival Arcadia.
All of that changed in a big way this season.
Crescenta Valley will kick off the 2017 area football season with a zero week game — another change for the Falcons — on Thursday at 6 p.m. Pacific Standard Time (9 p.m. locally) against Florida’s Barron Collier at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. The game is part of the KSA Events Kickoff Classic.
The Falcons, led by All-Area junior quarterback Cole Doyle and All-Area senior offensive/defensive lineman Riley Center, are coming off a 9-2 season in which they won their second Pacific League title in three seasons.
Barron Collier is coming off a 5-6 season in which it, like CV, lost in the first round of the playoffs. Collier is led by senior running back Dana Brown (1,000 yards rushing and five touchdowns, according to Maxpreps.com) and junior defensive back Jayden Rolle (69 tackles, three interceptions).
Following its return from the Sunshine State to the Golden State, Crescenta Valley will have a bye week before playing Golden Valley.
Hoover at Campbell Hall, 6:30 p.m. Friday: The Tornadoes will open their season with a bit of an earlier start time-wise and a brand new opponent as coach Terrance Jones and quarterback Quran Bouldin make their Hoover High debuts.
Bouldin is a transfer from Alemany and succeeds Jonathan Rangel, who will move to receiver. Another key presence is likely to be Maurice Herrera, a versatile player who will line up at running back and receiver. Offensive lineman Azad Markosyan ia returning All-Area honoree from a team that went 4-6 last season with a 3-0 nonleague showing.
Campbell Hall went 7-3 last season, giving it a far better showing than the three opponents on Hoover’s nonleague slate last year, which went a combined 2-27. While Campbell Hall replaces Hacienda Heights Wilson in the Tornadoes’ season opener, Sotomayor and Glenn remain and will follow in week one and week three.
Fulton Prep at Flintridge Prep, 7 p.m. Friday: A return to the realm of eight-man football for this first time this century proved to be the right call and then some for the fortunes of Flintridge Prep football.
With first-year coach Russell White at the helm, the Rebels went 7-4 for their first winning season since 2012, earned their first playoff win since that same year and advanced to the CIF Southern Section Eight-Man Division I semifinals, the program’s furthest ascent since a 2002 CIF championship.
But the Rebels graduated four of five All-CIF and All-Area selections, with quarterback John Lytle as the lone returner.
Unlike most eight-man teams, the Rebels employ a pass-heavy offense as Lytle threw for more than 2,000 yards and 42 touchdowns in 11 games last season.
Another way in which Prep is different from most eight-man squads is its schedule.
While eight-man football often finds teams playing on Saturday afternoons, the Rebels will host the first of five home games, all of them on Friday nights at 7 p.m. So, if they’re as high-scoring as last season when they averaged 53 points per game, there will be some late nights under the portable lights at Flintridge Prep.
Returning receivers Nick Davis and Ramzi Beshir and offensive lineman Jonathan Au, all seniors, should also be key contributors.
Fulton is coming off a 0-10 season that began with a 57-6 defeat against Flintridge Prep.
Cantwell-Sacred Heart at Glendale, 7 p.m. Friday: On the heels of a 1-9 season, the Nitros begin anew with a familiar foe in Cantwell-Sacred Heart, which defeated Glendale, 21-13, to open the season last year.
Glendale opens the season hoping to put an end to an eight-game losing streak.
Cantwell Sacred-Heart posted a 3-7 mark a season ago.
The Nitros welcome back linebacker Chris Ibarra, an All-Area honoree who tallied 50 tackles and eight sacks.
Twitter: @TCNGrantGordon
