Weekly Football Previews: St. Francis clashes with La Serna again
There’s no shortage of intriguing action on this week’s high school football docket.
Flintridge Prep will return to the field after an unforseen two-week hiatus with an afternoon game on its home campus after years of hosting games at the likes of Duarte High, Occidental College and La Cañada High.
La Cañada is taking on old rival Crescenta Valley looking for a win 10 years in the making.
But perhaps the game’s most high profile matchup will see St. Francis travel to face La Serna on Friday at 7 p.m. in a showdown that figures to ofter plenty of emmotion for the Golden Knights.
St. Francis and La Serna are certainly no strangers to one another, as the teams have met in the playoffs each of the past two seasons.
La Serna came away with victories in both meetings, including a 24-10 win in a CIF Southern Section Southeast Division semifinal contest at St. Francis last season.
“We’ll try to figure it out this time,” said St. Francis Coach Jim Bonds, whose team earned a 35-0 nonleague home win against Pasadena on Thursday. “We know we’ll be going up against a good program who is in our division and this game could have playoff implications.
“It’s going to be a good test for our offense We know their defense will be good and their offense can be tricky. They put a lot of pressure on us last year. We know we’ll have to be able to execute on both sides of the ball to have a chance.”
La Serna (2-1) rallied for a 32-28 nonleague road win versus Mira Costa on Friday. The Lancers scored the final 19 points of the game to complete the comeback.
La Serna started the season with a loss against Carlsbad La Costa Canyon before regrouping to turn back Lakewood.
Hillcrest Christian at Flintridge Prep, 3 p.m. Friday: The return to eight-man football and the era of Russell White as coach began in phenomenal fashion when the Rebels won at Fulton, 53-6.
But then came an unscheduled bye when Westmark dropped out of a game slated for Sept. 2, so the Rebels (1-0) have had two weeks off after their first game in week zero.
Hillcrest Christian is also coming off a bye week preceeded by a pair of one-sided wins as it opened the year on Aug. 26 with a 74-0 win against Cornerstone Christian and then a 74-48 victory at Desert Chapel on Sept. 2.
With a win, Flintridge Prep would be off to a 2-0 start for the first time since 2007.
Crescenta Valley vs. La Cañada at Glendale High, 7 p.m. Friday: Ten years have now passed since the last time the Spartans defeated the Falcons.
Crescenta Valley has won nine straight in the rivarly, with a 35-3 win over La Cañada last season. The last five Falcons wins in the rivarly have come via a minimum of 21 points.
Alas, Crescenta Valley (1-1) is coming off a 21-7 loss at Golden Valley, while La Cañada (2-1) is coming off a 35-13 victory over Glendale.