Los Angeles Loyola pulls off 31-20 upset over Mission Hills Alemany

As it turns out, former college assistants can coach high school football.

Chuck Petersen (Air Force) has Orange Lutheran at 6-0. Jeff Woodruff (Texas El Paso) has Westlake Village Oaks Christian at 6-1. And Marvin Sanders (USC) orchestrated the biggest upset of Friday night, guiding Los Angeles Loyola to a 31-20 victory over Mission Hills Alemany.

“I’ve been having fun since I took over,” said Sanders, who was fired by Lane Kiffin as defensive backs coach last season at USC, then was the surprise hire at Loyola to replace Mike Christensen.

A season-opening loss to Studio City Harvard-Westlake by the Cubs (4-3) now looks like a fluke. Loyola has turned loose running back Nico Evans, who has scored 13 touchdowns in the last three games.

“If there’s any better running back around, I’d like to see him, because I’d take our guy any day,” Sanders said.

Evans has benefited from Sanders’ hiring former USC running backs coach Kennedy Polamalu, whose son, Trey, is Loyola’s quarterback.

“I’ve improved so much because of Coach Polamalu,” Evans said. “He’s taught me so many things.”

As for Loyola, Evans said, “We’ve been getting much better week after week. We’ve made so much improvement.”

Sophomore QBs

Who said sophomore quarterbacks can’t handle pressure?

Matt Fink of Glendora and Angel Matute of Rancho Cucamonga are the starting quarterbacks for 6-0 teams.

Fink had touchdown passes of 85 and 71 yards in a 24-21 victory over Upland. Matute had a touchdown pass in Rancho Cucamonga’s 37-18 victory over Etiwanda. They play against each other on Friday night in a Baseline League showdown at Los Osos.

Burbank record

The school single-game rushing record for Burbank was 246 yards, set in 1952. Junior James Williams shattered the mark on Friday night, rushing for 263 yards in a 48-47 overtime loss to Crescenta Valley.

Running wild

Running back Tre Watson of Corona Centennial isn’t feeling satisfied. He set a school record with 466 yards rushing against Ventura St. Bonaventure, and in his latest performance, he gained 382 yards and scored three touchdowns in a 43-25 victory over Norco. He has rushed for 1,568 yards and 22 touchdowns in six games.

Scoring machine

After scoring 75 points against Crenshaw, top-ranked Bellflower St. John Bosco put up 56 points against Santa Margarita, the most points allowed by a Harry Welch-coached team in his four years at Santa Margarita.

Quarterback Josh Rosen rushed for 60 yards and scored four touchdowns and passed for 245 yards and one touchdown. Sean McGrew rushed for 139 yards and two touchdowns.

St. John Bosco faces unbeaten Orange Lutheran on Friday.

Life after NFL

Future Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre is 7-0 as the quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator at Oak Grove High in Hattiesburg, Miss.

eric.sondheimer@latimes.com