(All kickoffs are at 7:00 p.m. unless otherwise indicated)
Friday August 20
South El Monte at Alhambra (Keppel HS)
The two teams combined have played one game since 2019. While South El Monte’s Spring season was shut down completely due to COVID-19 Alhambra played just one game, a 21-20 loss to Whittier Christian. Michael Gonzalez will start at quarterback for the Moors and has had a good summer. On paper it’s a pick ’em game. Moors win a close one.
Alhambra 21 South El Monte 17
Bonita at La Serna (California)
Maybe the best game of Zero Week. La Serna is coming off a great Spring going a perfect 5-0. Receiver Jake George is poised to have a big season. Bonita always plays a tough schedule and always competes. Daniel Andrade, brother of former Bonita quarterback JP Andrade, is now behind center for the Bearcats. La Serna gets out of the gate with a win.
La Serna 28 Bonita 24
California at Schurr
Cal is coming off a 4-1 Spring and has had a great summer. The Spartans only managed to get in two league games due to restrictions. The Condors look ready for a big year. Cal gets the W.
California 34 Schurr 20
Northview at La Puente
A chance for Northview to get out of the gate quickly. La Puente is coming off an 0-3 Spring giving up over 100 points in the process. Vikings roll.
Northview 41 La Puente 7
Whittier at San Dimas
Good test for San Dimas early. Whittier can compete at times, even with the big boys. However San Dimas has too much for Whittier in this one. The Saints were good in the Spring. They’re even better now. San Dimas wins big.
San Dimas 35 Whittier 13
West Covina at Monrovia
Monrovia has had a nice summer and has a ton of skill players. Quarterback Noah Rodriguez is now in his second year in Chris Williams’ system and only getting better. Carlos Hernandez, along with George at La Serna, is one of the top receivers in the area. Mike Maggiore, in his second year since returning as head coach, is in the process of bringing the program back at West Covina. Good test for the Bulldogs to see where they’re at but they won’t be able to stay with the Wildcats in this one. Monrovia opens the season with a win.
Monrovia 35 West Covina 17
Village Christian at La Salle
Village Christian has had a solid summer and looks ready to have a strong season under Richard Broussard. La Salle quarterback Richie Munoz has been starting since his freshman year and is now a junior. Head Coach Ben Buys has said he continues to improve every year. Village Christian won’t go down easy but La Salle will emerge with the victory.
La Salle 27 Village Christian 10
Garfield at Montebello
Montebello is happy to get back on the field after just two games in the Spring. Garfield went 1-3 in the Spring in a tough schedule. Both teams may have trouble getting the offense going as they try to find a groove. Two years ago Garfield beat Montebello 27-6 on the Oilers home field to open the season. The Bulldogs get it done again in a close one.
Garfield 21 Montebello 14
Hey Peterson you came close to missing all of them.
At the Alhambra -South El Monte game about 30 minutes before kickoff , peoe starting to trickle in , had a mask didn’t say if we needed one or not most of the people I see so far have one on .Just happy for football to be back , GO MOORS !
Mt.View vs. San Gabriel @ MVHS Fans are allowed in with a temperature check and a mask.
Don’t get me wrong; the infrastructure work that’s going on around Moor Field is a good thing, but it came at a bad time for us. The repaving is virtually completed on several of the neighborhood streets, but three of the four streets bordering our facility are still torn up or cluttered with heavy equipment.
@ Bumpy: Alhambra went against the modern trend and had a natural grass field installed. The sod came in planks and hasn’t fully settled yet. As for the job being done on the cheap, I haven’t seen the price tag, so I can’t give you an answer there.
The moral I can find for this story is that if you’re getting major renovation work done, make sure they get off to an early start on it.
It might be a moot point anyway since the City of Alhambra tore up at least a couple of the adjacent streets just a few days before our opening game.
I’ve not heard of an artificial playing surface needing time to become “smooth.” Was this a job done on the cheap?
This Friday’s game between Alhambra and South El Monte will be played at Mark Keppel High School because the newly-installed grass surface at Moor Field is not sufficiently smooth yet. In addition, the City of Alhambra just this week completely tore up two of the adjacent streets (San Marino Avenue and Shorb Street) in order to repave them.
AHS will get back to Moor Field sometime this season….we’ll keep everyone posted.
From T. Peterson: Thanks Ron. Noted.
California at Shurr: The 1st annual Rat Bowl.
I agree will all your predictions.
The deal is, you drive 30-50 miles to one of these games (because MVS whetted your appetite for HS football), only to be told that only two family members of each player may enter the stadium, and those need to be triple-masked, vaccine current, and head-to-toe gowned. Yeah, football’s back!
Game*
Isn’t south hills in the sgv?
You forgot to mention
Friday’s gene between south hills and diamond ranch
What are the Covid requirements to watch a Southern Section football game?