Alemany knows this one will be tough

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Alemany Coach Dean Herrington isn’t disillusioned by what his team has been able to accomplish this season.

On the one hand, the last five weeks “have been like night and day” compared to last year, he said, adding that he’s definitely encouraged by the Warriors’ 4-1 record. On the other hand, he points out that Saugus is the “only upper-echelon opponent” they’ve played and everybody knows how that one went.

And Herrington also realizes Friday’s game against No.10 Crespi could be the toughest game they’ll play this season.

‘I was kind of hoping they’d beat Canyon,’ Herrington said, ‘so we might see a sloppy game out of them. But we know we’re definitely not going to get that now.’

Only Centennial has scored more than 20 points on the Celts’ defense and their offense, led by RBs Austin Shanks, E.J. Woods and QB Bryan Bennett, will be the toughest combination the Warriors have faced this season. Still, this game will give Alemany valuable experience once Mission League play begins in a couple weeks.

Herrington seems a little overly cautious about his team’s chances in league, but maybe that’s because Alemany is 4-28 in league games since 1999, with its last league victory coming against Harvard-Westlake in 2004. Despite this heavy history, I think this team is definitely capable of beating St. Francis and it wouldn’t be a shocker if it kept things interesting against St. Paul and Chaminade.

‘We’re getting better each week and that’s important,’ Herrington said. ‘Our quarterback [Patrick McKernan, pictured above] has played solid all year and I was pleased to see how we got the running game going last week.’

Unfortunately for them, Crespi is already a great team that has proven it can beat top-notch opponents.

‘Our gauntlet begins tomorrow,’ Herrington said. ‘Crespi is a really, really, really good football team.’

What: Alemany (4-1) vs. No. 10 Crespi (3-2)
When: 7:30 p.m.
Where: Pierce College
Prediction: Crespi 42, Alemany 10
Calpreps.com Prediction: Crespi 31, Alemany 8

(A special thanks to Brian MacGregor for the McKernan photo and Times’ stat wizard Eric Maddy for his info-gathering skills. Here’s some highlights of last week’s Canyon-Crespi game which the Cowboys won, 17-14)

- Austin Knoblauch