Every local league had at least one school in action last week with the exception of the newly formed Crestview League, one of the two leagues that make up the eight-school Century Conference.
Comprised of Villa Park, Foothill, Esperanza and Yorba Linda, only Espernza missed the postseason in 2013.
“I think our league is really tough and it’s going to be a tight race,” said Villa Park coach Dusan Ancich. “There’s not a whole lot of room for error. Across the board, I’d say it’s the toughest league in the division top to bottom.”
Each of the Crestview teams has upped its nonleague slate in hopes of preparing itself for the league clashes that will come in Weeks 8, 9 and 10.
Foothill opens Friday night against a much-improved Tustin team in a highly anticipated rivalry game. Esperanza will host a rejuvenated Buena Park program on Sept. 19. And Yorba Linda will test itself against Trinity League power Orange Lutheran at home on Sept. 12.
“We all want to see where we stand as a program,” Ancich added.
Villa Park will get an opportunity to test itself Friday when it takes on No. 1 Mater Dei at Santa Ana Stadium in what figures to be one of the marquee matchups of Week 1.
“We had a bunch of guys out there scouting them on Saturday,” Ancich said. “They’re a sound football team, really physical.”
The Monarchs put on an impressive show in defeating Inland Empire power Centennial of Corona, 38-18, on Saturday night, limiting a team that scored 53 point a game in 2013 to a mere three touchdowns in the opener.
“I don’t know if it’s good or bad that they had a game and we didn’t,” Ancich explained. “That first game is always tough, no matter who it is you play.
“They’re obviously a well-known school in our county, but our guys have worked real hard and are looking forward to Friday. Everybody wants to play Mater Dei. Now we’ll get what we asked for.”
• After its win over Centennial on Saturday night, Mater Dei jumped into the No. 2 spot in the new SoCal Varsity Top 20 poll for this week. The Monarchs trail only St. John Bosco in the weekly poll that ranks the top teams in Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties.
Bosco received all six first-place votes in this week’s poll.
The new rankings come out every Monday afternoon and can be found at ocvarsity.com and socalvarsity.com.
• The Freeway League went a collective 5-1 in Week 0. The only team not to win its opener: seven-time defending league champs, La Habra.
All six squads scored more than 30 points to make the Freeway League the highest-scoring league for the opening week.
Sunny Hills quarterback Malcolm Dixon scored five touchdowns Friday. Buena Park wide receiver Jaylinn Hawkins scored four. And Fullerton running back Joshua Hill had three of his own.
• One team in need of some offense is Trabuco Hills. The Mustangs were blanked, 17-0, in their season opener against Rancho Cucamonga on Friday night. The absence of 6-foot-5 wide receiver Jacob Breeland to a knee injury didn’t help matters. The senior missed Week 0 with a knee injury he sustained in training camp.
Contact the writer: kconnolly@ocregister.com
