Editor’s note: Fryer’s column wrapping up the Friday night football games will be a regular part of the Register’s high school football coverage this season.
The difference between Trinity League football teams and everyone else was evident this week, the first week of high school football in Southern California.
The Trinity League’s six teams combined to score 243 points as the league went 6-0. They gave up 56 points.
The average score of the six games was 41-9.
An illuminating example that compared the Trinty League to everyone else was JSerra’s 49-7 win Friday over Corona del Mar. The teams are close in the Orange County top 25 – JSerra is ranked No. 4 and Corona del Mar is No. 6. They were not close on the field.
JSerra, armed with several transfers who played significant minutes Friday, started slowly offensively. The Lions defense, sporting a terrific line led by San Diego State-committed Shawn Nielsen, held things together until JSerra’s offense got going in the second quarter. JSerra had a 35-7 lead at halftime.
Those transfers included senior quarterback Caden Bell, who previously was at Servite and threw two touchdown passes Friday, and junior running back Chris Street, a Mater Dei Monarch last year, who rushed for 111 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries.
Transfers are as numerous in Trinity League football as expensive cars in the JSerra parking lot.
JSerra senior offensive lineman Jack Harlow, son of Lions coach Pat Harlow, said the offense’s slow start had nothing to do with all of the new faces in the lineup.
“Everyone who came in fit in right away,” Jack Harlow said. “So it’s not necessarily like we’re learning how to work together. It’s just figuring out our assignments. Lots of the new guys have been here since second semester of last school year so we’re all close and we all know each other well.”
JSerra plays at Calabasas, No. 19 in CalHiSports.com’s California top 50, next Friday. They might go into that one shorthanded – receiver/defensive back Tarik Luckett, perhaps the best player on the field Friday, was limping when the Lions headed for the locker room at halftime and did not play much in the second half.
Also in Week 0:
• People wonder if Mater Dei will be as good this year as the Monarchs were last year. In their 2017 season opener, Mater Dei beat Bishop Amat by 24 points 31-7. In Friday’s 2018 season opener, the Monarchs beat Bishop Amat by 28 points 42-14.
• Mater Dei might have been shorthanded Friday. Reports were received at midweek that some Monarchs would sit out the Bishop Amat game. Mater Dei athletic administration did not respond to a request to verify that would occur Friday (a non-response about the status of student-athletes is common), and Mater Dei coach Bruce Rollinson, never shy about sitting out any player for any reason, replied “no comment” afterward when asked by reporters about player availability for the Amat game.
• It figured that Tesoro would be better this year, thanks to a talented and deep group that was outstanding in the lower levels the past couple of years and now is matriculating to varsity. We thought it would be a couple of weeks before the Titans would coalesce. Wrong. The Titans beat Edison 17-6.
• He is going to Cal on a baseball scholarship, but Capistrano Valley’s Nathan Manning is a splendid quarterback, too. Manning completed 20 of 29 passes for 340 yards and a touchdown as the Cougars handled Tustin 42-7.
• And Tustin did throw the ball plenty, just like Tillers coach Myron Miller promised. Romario Alvarez put up 22 throws. He completed eight, and that’s OK because nobody should expect Philip Rivers-like numbers quite yet.
• From what we saw on Twitter, Capistrano Valley again has a great student section. JSerra’s student section was large and active, too.
• With Corona del Mar having moved on to the Sunset League, the Pacific Coast League is far more competitively balanced than it was the past several years as Corona del Mar dominated the league. Woodbridge on Friday showed it will be a Pacific Coast contender with a 35-14 win over Cypress. Cypress was playing without standout running back Isaac Hurtado, but that’s still a strong victory for Woodbridge.
• Huntington Beach could be one of the more-improved teams in Orange County football. The Oilers beat Canyon easily 41-15. Senior running back Arick McLawyer, who ran for 127 yards and two touchdowns, is going to be among the county’s leading rushers.
• Portola got its first varsity football win in its first varsity football game. The Bulldogs beat the Fairmont Huskies 39-20. These indeed are the dog days of summer.
