Opening Week
The first week of high school football in the Southland set the tone for the season, with top-ranked teams showing strength and several new coaches making their debuts. Both the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register provided comprehensive coverage of the weekend's results, with rankings updated for the new week.
Top Results in the Southland
In a matchup of top-25 teams, Corona Centennial, ranked No. 1 in the Southland, defeated Servite 41-21. Servite's loss came in Rick Garretson's first game as head coach, as reported by the Register. St. John Bosco, ranked No. 2, fell to Las Vegas Bishop Gorman 38-28, according to the Los Angeles Times. Sierra Canyon (No. 3) beat JSerra 42-21, while Santa Margarita, ranked fourth in the Times' poll, and Orange Lutheran (No. 5) lost a tight game to Miami Central 23-22, which also marked Ray Fenton's debut as Orange Lutheran's head coach, per the Register.
Among other top teams, Mission Viejo (No. 6) routed Chaparral 55-17, and Mater Dei (No. 7) handled American Fork, Utah, 31-11. San Clemente, the No. 8 team, defeated Tustin 17-0, while Rancho Cucamonga (No. 9) beat Murrieta Valley 28-14. Chaparral, at No. 10, lost to Mission Viejo in the same result, and Huntington Beach Edison, ranked 11th, did not play this week.
The Times' top 25 also includes notable wins for Crean Lutheran (31-6 over Loyola), Chaminade (18-0 over Oaks Christian), Palos Verdes (17-14 over Gardena Serra), Carson (35-31 over San Diego Lincoln), and Damien (36-17 over San Bernardino Aquinas). Oxnard Pacifica beat Del Sol 52-6, Bishop Amat shut out St. Paul 55-0, Corona del Mar defeated Lakewood 48-3, and Yorba Linda improved with a 34-21 win over Laguna Beach. Westlake edged Newbury Park 32-26 in three overtimes, and St. Bonaventure shut out Paraclete 28-6, as noted in the Times' report.
Orange County Rankings: Santa Margarita on Top
The Orange County rankings, published by the Santa Ana Orange County Register, keep Santa Margarita at No. 1 after a sterling open: the Eagles shut out Orlando's Jones 27-0. Coach Carson Palmer's son, junior Fletch Palmer, started at quarterback and threw for 242 yards and two touchdowns. Freshman linebacker Ayden Stee had seven solo tackles and three sacks, according to the Register.
Mater Dei remained No. 2, with sophomore running back Asir Nembhard rushing for 117 total and two touchdowns in the Monarchs' 31-11 win over American Fork. Mission Viejo held No. 3 thanks to a 55-17 rout of Chaparral, with senior receiver Luke Karby catching eight passes for 121 yards and two touchdowns. Jordan Hicks also scored on both an interception return and a punt return, per the Register.
Orange Lutheran, coming off a 23-22 loss, sits at No. 4 (66 poll points) in Ray Fenton's first game as head coach; Chris Flores had seven receptions. Servite is No. 5 (62) after the 41-21 loss to Centennial; Benjamin Harris caught eight passes, and Jordyn Wells rushed for 125 yards including a 55-yard touchdown run. The Register notes that Centennial is ranked No. 3 in CaliSports.com's state rankings.
Crean Lutheran sits at No. 6 tie at 59 poll points, after rolling to a 31-6 win over Loyola. The Saints scored on their first five possessions; senior quarterback Caden Jones passed for 285 yards and two touchdowns, while Ty Johnson had 10 catches for a 123 yards and a touchdown, per the Register.
Other Movers and Stat Lines
San Clemente's 17-0 win over Tustin bounced them up a spot, according to the Register; the Tritons' Jaxson Rex returned an interception 97 yards for a score and also ran for a touchdown. In the same report, Corona del Mar beat Lakewood 48-3 as Nolan Scott had six catches for 97 yards and a touchdown to go with an interception.
JSerra fell to Sierra Canyon 42-21 in Hardy Nickerson's first game as coach. Jax White had seven receptions. In other results, the Register reports La Habra beat Upland 56-13, and Yorba Linda edged Laguna Beach 34-21. Edison did not play last week, but the Register noted that Edison had beaten Iolani 41-29 the previous week in Hawaii.
Climbed in the regional polls: Corona del Mar, Yorba Linda, and La Habra all saw improvement via the Register's poll points. Notably, Sierra Canyon is listed No. 5 in CaliSports' state rankings, according to the Register.
Perspectives
The rankings reflect two different but overlapping views of the Southland's top teams. The Los Angeles Times text focuses on the overall Southland top-25, with results formatted as a quick list and no further analysis. The Santa Ana Orange County Register takes a poll-based approach, assigning poll points, championing Santa Margarita as the top OC team, and offering deeper individual highlights in both coaching debuts and statistical performances.