Western wide receiver Brandon Olvera had no catches in the Pioneers’ 70-3 nonleague football loss to Buena Park last week.
Western made no pass attempts in the game.
Olvera still was a star this week in Orange County football.
When the Pioneers gathered for practice Monday to start preparing for their Empire League opener against Tustin, Olvera had something to say.
“The real season starts this week,” he told his teammates. “We don’t care what happened last week. This week, we’re going to come together and we’re going to make the playoffs.”
Western coach Dan Davidson said Olvera, a 5-foot-8, 150-pound senior who also plays defensive back, rallied the guys Tuesday and Wednesday, too.
With his maturity, spirit and commitment, Olvera shines in Orange County football as brightly as the best players on the best teams.
“He’s been a great leader every day,” Davidson said. “We’re blessed to have him.”
Taking a look around Orange County high school sports:
• The Angels are done playing baseball so Angel Stadium is available. Still, the Mater Dei-Servite football game next Friday will be played at Cerritos College, Servite’s home field.
• The number of CIF-Southern Section student-athletes who transferred in September is higher than the number of transfers in September of last year in every transfer category – transfers who made the change of residence to be eligible immediately at their new school, and transfers who did not move but instead observed the 30-day sit-out period to become eligible.
• The data: 545 approved change-of-residence transfers this past September in the nearly 600-school Southern Section compared to 329 in September of last year; and 433 transfers who followed the sit-out procedure last month compared to 275 the same month last year.
• The interpretation here: The number of delusional parents who think that the changing of high schools will get their children college athletic scholarships probably is growing.
• There is a $5 parking fee at St. John Bosco for tonight’s Mater Dei-Bosco game. Tickets might be available for sale at both schools until early afternoon. Call the schools about availability before visiting them.
• A tailgating space can be purchased for Mater Dei-Bosco for a $100 fee. That Trinity League is interesting.
• All six Trinity League football teams are in the CalHiSports.com state top 25: No. 1 St. John Bosco; No. 3 Mater Dei; No. 8 Servite; No. 9 JSerra; No. 12 Orange Lutheran; and No. 17 Santa Margarita.
• Mater Dei fullback/defensive end Malik McMorris, All-County first team last year, is the Sports Illustrated high school athlete of the month.
• St. John Bosco and Mater Dei are 1-2 in the Division 1 South Bowl Game rankings. St. Margaret’s is No. 3 in the South Division 4. Corona del Mar is No. 4 in Division 2, which has San Clemente at No. 7. San Clemente was No. 1 in the division before losing to Tesoro last week.
• Corona del Mar, San Clemente and Santa Margarita have teams ranked in the county top 10 in five fall sports, the most top-10 appearances of any county schools. The school with the most teams at No. 1 is Mater Dei, with three (football, golf and boys water polo).
• A minor upset in girls tennis Wednesday: Dana Hills, No. 7 in the county rankings, beat No. 5 Tesoro, 11-7. Dana Hills’ doubles teams were especially strong.
• For updates on what’s happening in county football on game nights, follow me at twitter.com/stevefryer. OCVarsity.com remains a great way to track results, game stories and videos for coverage of county football and all of the fall sports.
Contact the writer: sfryer@ocregister.com
