St. Francis football faces plenty of new foes in 2016

As the 2016-17 school year approaches, change is at the forefront for every Southern Section football team, or any athletic program for that matter, with CIF’s wholesale division realignment.

Plenty of teams will find themselves matched up with unfamiliar opponents come playoff time.

For St. Francis, though, there’s plenty of change in the first half of the season, as well.

The Golden Knights have different opponents in four of their five nonleague games, having lost 2015 foes Moorpark, Monrovia, Canyon Country Canyon and Calabasas, with 2016 replacements coming in the form of Pasadena, La Serna, Dorsey and Buena Park.

“We definitely have everything we look for to get us ready for league,” St. Francis Coach Jim Bonds said. “Not really just league, but beyond league is what we’re thinking.”

However, switching four games was not the plan, but merely how events played out when at least three teams were not interested in renewing their contracts, Bonds said.

“It’s kind of just the way it worked out,” Bonds said.

Along with the almost entirely revamped nonleague slate, another aspect of the schedule that stands out is that St. Francis will host four consecutive home games to end nonleague play and begin Angelus League competition before a three-game road trip ends the regular season. That’s one aspect of the schedule Bonds is not all that excited about.

“You try to control it as much as you can with the nonleague schedule … but all of a sudden you have four games in a row at home,” Bonds said.

St. Francis embarked upon a 9-4 season in 2015, advancing to the Southeast Division semifinals, where it lost to La Serna. The season began, however, with a 36-24 victory at home against West Covina. This time around, St. Francis will kick off its season at West Covina (4-6 last season) on Sept. 2 at 7 p.m.

Next up is a Thursday tilt for St. Francis’ home opener, as the Golden Knights welcome the Pacific League’s Pasadena (5-5), which is under new coach DeJuan Shamburger.

St. Francis’ nonleague schedule used to have Pacific League foes every season, whether it was Arcadia, Burroughs, Crescenta Valley or Pasadena, but 2016 will see the Golden Knights face a team from the league for the first time in nonleague play since defeating Arcadia, 49-10, to open the 2012 season.

It will be the first time St. Francis squares off with Pasadena since 2005, when the Golden Knights prevailed 35-10.

Following the Pasadena clash, St. Francis will take part in a game that will no doubt be highly anticipated and likely the biggest nonleague matchup the Golden Knights could have made. They will toe the line on Sept. 16 at California High at 7 p.m. against La Serna.

In each of the previous two seasons, La Serna (11-3) ended St. Francis’ year: first in the playoff quarterfinals in 2014 and then in last season’s semifinals. Thus, the Golden Knights are likely to have that date circled on the calendar. The Lancers went on to lose in the Southeast final to La Mirada.

“Yeah, you could definitely say that,” reigning All-Area linebacker Maxx Jakeway said. “Yeah, I’m definitely looking forward to that game.”

Following the collision with La Serna, St. Francis will open its four-game homestand against City Section opponent Dorsey (7-6), which was a City Section Division I semifinalist last season.

“Dorsey definitely has a speed element that we will see with Cathedral and into the playoffs,” Bonds said.

St. Francis then wraps up its nonleague run at home against Buena Park (10-3) on Sept. 30. The Coyotes are the third consecutive opponent for St. Francis that advanced to its division’s semifinals or further, as they moved on to the Southwest Division semifinals.

A home game on Oct. 7 against La Salle (4-6) will open the Angelus League season for St. Francis. The Lancers have finished in last place in each of the two seasons the Angelus League has existed in its current form and lost to the Golden Knights, 27-14, in last season’s regular season finale.

On Oct. 15, St. Francis will host its final home game of the four-game homestand against Salesian (5-5), which defeated the Golden Knights, 27-21, in double overtime a year ago.

Then comes two more huge games back to back.

First, St. Francis faces Harvard-Westlake at 7 p.m. on Oct. 21 on the road before a road game against Cathedral on Oct. 28 at 7 p.m.

The Golden Knights lost on a hail Mary to Harvard-Westlake (8-4) via a 27-21 margin last season before rebounding to turn around their season against Cathedral (11-2) with a 31-14 victory. The Wolverines and Phantoms finished the regular season tied for the Angelus League title.

Concluding its three-game road swing and the regular season on Nov. 4, St. Francis will travel to St. Paul (8-4) looking for its ninth straight win in the rivalry.