Football: It’s time for some reflecting on summer performances
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Since the end of May through this past weekend, I’ve been making visits around the Southland trying to identify and evaluate teams and players for the fall football season. Among the conclusions:
It’s going to be difficult to come up with a consensus No. 1 team for Southern California. I’d say Westlake Village Westlake, Mission Viejo, Lakewood and Long Beach Poly are in the mix to start No. 1. But to finish No. 1 is the goal, and that means you need to add Anaheim Servite, Corona Centennial, Temecula Chaparral, Los Alamitos, Santa Ana Mater Dei and Ventura St. Bonaventure.
While Los Angeles Crenshaw should win the City Section Division I championship, the Cougars will start out not close to the dominant team they were a year ago. There’s no standout yet at receiver, they need to find more depth at running back and let’s see how De’Anthony Thomas holds up for 14 weeks.
Receiver is clearly the strongest position in the Southland. Running backs and defensive backs are not as strong as years past. There’s lots of good defensive linemen.
With so many new coaches at once top programs, it’s going to be interesting to see which school breaks out immediately among Encino Crespi, Los Angeles Loyola, Bellflower St. John Bosco, Santa Margarita and Carson.
The kicking game will continue to gain in importance, especially because there’s a number of outstanding kickers and punters ready to make an impact.
As important as some college recruiters think combines and camps are, the bottom line to me is how a player performs with his team, not the 40-yard time or how high his vertical leap is. That’s why the passing competitions are so valuable in seeing who can come through in a pressure situation, make a clutch catch or get back up after a bad play.
The best seven-on-seven team this summer has been Westlake. Whether the Warriors will be able to make it through the Marmonte League gauntlet of Thousand Oaks, St. Bonaventure, Oaks Christian and Moorpark unbeaten will be the challenge. Lakewood and Long Beach Poly are on another collision course in the Moore League.
Until a team can beat Servite, the Friars have to be the Trinity League favorite. Mater Dei must show improved defense and a better running game to be a Pac-5 title contender.
The Serra League is wide open. Loyola just might pull off a surprise if running back Jared Baker and the Cubs’ offensive line are as good as some people say.
As for how well Oaks Christian will do, that’s a big guess whether the Lions will have enough depth on the offensive and defensive lines to survive the weekly grind they’re about to experience.
Gardena Serra is loaded with talent, but we’ll never find out if the Cavaliers could really play with a top Pac-5 team because their schedule is lacking. They should cruise to a state Division II title.
-- Eric Sondheimer