Football: “Zero” minus eight weeks

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‘Zero week’ for the 2008 football season is just eight weeks away. But for several Southland teams, that’s just too long to wait, as eight teams will play season openers in August.

Edison (8-4 in 2007, Pac-5 quarterfinalist) will be the first Southland team to kick things off, opening Aug. 23 at Lahainaluna, on Maui’s leeward coast. The Lunas were 9-2 in 2007 and advanced to Hawaii’s Division II championship game before falling to Iolani.

The next weekend, seven Southland schools will be in action. The biggest and most anticipated matchup will take place in Miami, where Long Beach Poly faces Miami Northwestern. Northwestern (15-0) was the Florida 6A and mythical national champion last year (so says StudentSports.com) and has won 30 consecutive games. Poly (13-1, Pac-5 Champion) is expected to be a top contender for the top spot in this year’s preseason Fab 50. The Poly-Northwestern game is the last of three games in the Miami Sports Kickoff Classic.

Crespi and Dominguez are both headed for Cedar City and Southern Utah University to take part in the ‘Utah vs. The Nation’ event.
Dominguez (10-3, Western semifinalist) faces St. George Pine View and Crespi (11-3, Pac-5 runner-up) takes on Layton Northridge in the final two games of the quadruple-header.
Both Northridge and Pine View were among the top 10 teams in Utah last year. Northridge finished 8-3, losing in the first round of Utah’s 5A playoffs, and Pine View won its first 13 games before falling to Provo Timpview in the 4A state title game.

Elsewhere, Mission Viejo and St. John Bosco will head off to Hawaii. The Diablos (4-6-1 including a pair of forfeit losses) will face defending Maui champion Baldwin (9-2), while the Braves (3-6) head to Honolulu to take on Kamehameha (4-4-1)

A complete August schedule follows:

Saturday, Aug. 23
Edison at Lahaina (Hawaii) Lahainaluna, 9 p.m. PDT

Friday, Aug. 29
Fountain Valley at Henderson (Nev.) Foothill, 7 p.m.
Mission Viejo at Wailuku (Hawaii) Baldwin, 9 p.m. PDT
St. John Bosco at Honolulu (Hawaii) Kamehameha, 9 p.m. PDT

Saturday, Aug. 30
Las Vegas Faith Lutheran at Campbell Hall, 10 a.m.
Dominguez vs. St. George (Utah) Pine View at Southern Utah U. (Cedar City, Utah), 3 p.m. PDT
Long Beach Poly vs. Miami (Fla.) Northwestern at Miami-Dade North CC (Miami, Fla.), 4 p.m. PDT
Crespi vs. Layton (Utah) Northridge at Southern Utah U. (Cedar City, Utah), 7 p.m. PDT

-- Eric Maddy