Fryer tackles Week 7

D.J. Shoemate is getting pretty good at this running back thing.

In his second game headquartered in the Servite backfield, Shoemate rushed for 242 yards and three touchdowns Friday in the Friars’ 28-13 victory over Orange Lutheran at Cal State Fullerton. Last week, he rushed for 184 yards in the Friars’ victory over Santa Margarita.

There should be no doubts now that Shoemate is recovered from the foot injuries that kept him out of all but one of Servite’s games last season. And you can bet the coaching staff at USC, to whom Shoemate has committed, is pretty happy about these past two weeks, too.

Mater Dei quarterback Matt Barkley has been the leading candidate for offensive player of the year, but Shoemate is making a run at it lately.

In a bigger competition, Mater Dei and Servite are tied for first in the Trinity League.

The Jeopardy Orange County Football answer is: Nov. 9 at Angel Stadium. “What is the date and site of the Servite-Mater Dei game, Alex?”

A lot of people want to see both teams go into that one undefeated in league. Servite has JSerra and St. John Bosco between now and that game. Mater Dei, which cruised to a 34-7 victory over Santa Margarita on Friday, has St. John Bosco and Orange Lutheran to play before the Servite game.

Speaking of rivalries … Esperanza and Los Alamitos are tied for first in the Sunset League. They play each other Nov. 2. Between now and then, Esperanza plays Edison and Los Al plays Newport Harbor.

Esperanza beat Newport Harbor, 28-7, Friday. Los Alamitos had another grind-it-out victory, this one a 13-3 triumph over Fountain Valley. The usually high-scoring Griffins have scored 26 points over two Sunset League games.

El Dorado has sure put its hands tightly on the reins in the Century League. The Golden Hawks beat Canyon, 42-6. Canyon went into the game averaging 43 points a game. El Dorado is allowing only seven a game, and is in sole possession of first place.

As expected, the Empire League is a crazy league. Valencia beat Pacifica by one point on Thursday, one week after Pacifica beat Cypress by one point. Valencia and Kennedy, which beat Cypress by 10 points Thursday, are tied for first.

La Habra is tied for first place in the Freeway League, with Fullerton. Those two play each other next Friday, at Fullerton.

Troy beat Buena Park, 41-7 - without star running back Derrick Coleman. Coleman was not injured. A Troy staff member told the Register that Coleman was held out so he could rest.

Savanna’s speed beat Anaheim, 35-21, Thursday, with Stephen Jones and Dominique Williams running all over Glover Stadium. Savanna is a fun team to watch. Orange League-leader Savanna had a half-game lead over Western going into Saturday, when Western plays Santa Ana Valley.

Speaking of half-game leads … five teams are separated by a half-game in the South Coast League, thanks to two ties, the Capistrano Valley-Dana Hills scoreless tie last week, and the Mission Viejo-San Clemente 31-31 tie this week. The South Coast League constitution does not call for overtime, but we can expect a change in that constitution between now and September of 2008.

We can expect change in the Orange County top 10 next week, too. Servite will take over the No. 2 position held by Orange Lutheran.

Ah, but there are some interesting top-10 questions. Will Mission Viejo remain at No. 5 after its tie with unranked San Clemente? Will Newport Harbor, after its loss to Esperanza, stay in the top 10? Does Santa Margarita drop from No. 7 after losing to Mater Dei?

And will there be a new team in the top 10? La Habra, at 7-0, will get some votes. Tesoro, which is 4-3, might get some consideration, too.

Contact the writer: sfryer@ocregister.com