Weekly Football Previews: Long road ahead for Flintridge Prep
Flintridge Prep will clash with Orcutt Academy on Friday night after both teams began the season with hugely one-sided demolitions of their season-opening opponents.
But the Rebels and Spartans are unlikely to find their second game of the season as easy going when they face off Friday night at 7 at Santa Maria High.
Flintridge Prep (1-0) will take on its longest road trip of the season – roughly 320 miles round trip – and is likely to face one of its toughest regular season foes.
Orcutt, which went 5-5 last season and lost in the CIF Southern Section Eight-Man Division I first round, opened its season with a 59-0 trouncing of Price in which it owned a 30-0 advantage after the first quarter. A run-heavy squad, Orcutt had nine players carry the ball to combine for more than 200 yards and seven touchdowns.
Flintridge Prep, one of the more passer-friendly offenses in the eight-man ranks, opened with a 72-0 shellacking over Fulton at home. Returning All-Area quarterback John Lytle completed eight of nine passes for 150 yards and three touchdowns with an additional score on the ground. Balancing the offense, Tommy Porter and Alex Smith had two rushing touchdowns each and Porter added two punt returns for a score.
Mira Costa at St. Francis, Thursday, 7 p.m. : As customary, coach Jim Bonds’ Golden Knights will kick off the season in week one whereas many teams, including the remainder of the Angelus Leaguebegan their seasons in zero week.
St. Francis will also begin a normal 10-game schedule as it is the only team in La Cañada Flintridge with a 10-tilt regular season with Flintridge Prep, like most eight-man squads, playing only nine games and La Cañada playing just nine games for a second season in a row due to the Rio Hondo League’s Blair canceling its season.
All-Area returners Gabriel Grbavac (defensive lineman), Bobby Gazmarian (defensive back), Greg Dulcich (receiver/defensive back), Elijah Washington (running back/linebacker) and Matt Barriga (offensive/defensive lineman) highlight a talented and experience bunch at St. Francis that has high hopes and begins the season ranked seventh in CIF Southern Section Division III.
Following a 9-2 season in which St. Francis was ousted in the first round of the Division III tournament, plenty of inspiration remains for the returners.
They will begin their season against a fresh face in Mira Costa, which hasn’t faced St. Francis since a 2005 playoff game won by the Golden Knights.
The Mustangs, who are also opening up their season, are coming off a 7-4 season in which they too lost in the first round, only it was in Division VI, where they are ranked fifth.
St. Francis is vying for an even 10 consecutive victories in season openers.
Glendale vs. Mendez at Lincoln High, Thursday, 7 p.m.: It was a forgettable opening act for Glendale when it began the season at home against Cantwell-Sacred Heart with a 40-6 defeat.
It was the Nitros’ eighth straight defeat, but even as stinging as it might have been, upcoming opponent Mendez was dealt a larger loss when it opened its season with a 51-0 loss to Contreras.
The teams will be meeting for the first time.
Mendez, which went 3-7 last season, is a Los Angeles City Section school that is a second-year program.
Hoover vs. Sotomayor at Moyse Field canceled: On Monday, Hoover athletic director Jack Van Patten told the Glendale News-Press that the Hoover-Sotomayor game set for Friday had been canceled.
Sotomayor, citing a four-day holiday weekend, would not have administrators available for the game and would not have available busses. Therefore the game was canceled with no make-up to be scheduled, so Hoover’s schedule is down to nine games.
The Tornadoes, who opened the season in the zero week with a 25-12 loss to Campbell Hall, now have a lengthy two-week hiatus as they have a bye week scheduled for the upcoming week to precede their nonleague finale Sept. 15 at home against Glenn.
Hoover bested Sotomayor last season, 55-0, and has technically won all four of the teams’ meetings, though it lost one on the field that was later turned into a forfeit win due to the use of an ineligible Sotomayor player.
Crescenta Valley on bye week: One week and nearly 3,000 miles removed from beginning its season with a 34-31 victory against Barron Collier in Orlando, Fla., the Falcons will have a bye week while the rest of the Pacific League plays in week one action.
Crescenta Valley will also have a chance to scout Golden Valley, which travels to play Royal on Friday.
When the Falcons return to action, they’ll host the Grizzlies on Sept. 8 in a game that will feature CIF Southern Section Division VI heavyweights as the teams collected zero week wins and CV is ranked seventh in the division and Golden Valley is No. 3.
Twitter: @TCNGrantGordon
