OCVARSITY PREDICTS
1. Villa Park: The Spartans should have one of the county’s best defenses, returning eight starters. Offensively, they’re loaded at the skill positions, which will help ease the transition for new starting quarterback Anthony Navarro.
2. Foothill: The Knights will be difficult to handle in the trenches on both sides of the ball. Their defense will be a strong suit again this season, but do they have the offensive firepower to match Villa Park?
3. Yorba Linda: It will be interesting to see how the Mustangs fare down the stretch in what should be a physically demanding Crestview League. If quarterback Jake Gigliotti can sustain the success he had last season, Yorba Linda will compete for a playoff spot.
4. Esperanza: An old school, blue-collar type of football team. The Aztecs like to run the football and pride themselves on playing hard-nose defense. Their starting receiving duo, however, has a total of zero catches at the varsity level.
COACHES’ POLL
1. Villa Park, 22 (2)
2. Foothill, 19 (1)
3. Yorba Linda, 16
4. Esperanza, (1) 15
How the poll works: The league’s coaches do the voting. First-place votes (shown in parentheses) are worth 4 points, second-place are 3, etc.
IMPACT PLAYERS
Jake Gigliotti, Yorba Linda, QB: He earned Empire League MVP honors last season as a junior. He passed for 1,200 yards and rushed for 400 in the Mustangs’ triple-option attack.
Xavier Hernandez, Villa Park, LB: Coach Dusan Ancich considers the senior captain one of the top linebackers in the county. A relentless motor and natural instincts make Hernandez a potential All-County player.
Logan Wetherholt, Foothill, DE: The 6-foot-3, 225-pound edge rusher was a first-team Century League selection a year ago. The senior is capable of living in opposing backfields. He compiled 51/2 sacks and 7 tackles for loss in 2013.
Conner McKeen, Esperanza, RB: The senior is one of the few players returning on offense for the Aztecs. Look for McKeen to put up numbers behind a big offensive line.
MUST-SEE GAMES
Villa Park vs. Mater Dei, at Santa Ana Stadium, Sept. 5: This will be a great measuring stick game for the Spartans to see how they match up against one of the most talented teams in the state.
Orange Lutheran vs. Yorba Linda, at Yorba Linda High, Sept. 12: The Mustangs will challenge themselves early in the preseason by hosting the Trinity League contenders. With both teams running a version of the option attack, this could make for an interesting matchup.
Foothill vs. Villa Park, at El Modena High, Oct. 24: The winner of this game went on to win the last three Century League championships. Crestview League hierarchy will be on the line this go-round.
Esperanza vs. Yorba Linda, at Yorba Linda High, Oct. 24: These two neighborhood foes not only share a field, but they also compete for the same batch of prospective student-athletes. Now that they’re in the same league, this could become one of the county’s best rivalries.
Yorba Linda vs. Foothill, at Tustin High, Oct. 31: If Villa Park locks up the league title as many expect, this could be a battle for the coveted No. 2 spot in league.
MORE FOOTBALL — OCVARSITY KICKOFF’14: O.C.’S BEST FAN GUIDE:
Everything you need to know about the high school football scene for 2014.
Contact the writer: kconnolly@ocregister.com
