PREVIEWS AND PREDICTIONS: CIFSS FOOTBALL WEEK 7 EDITION

Week 7 of the CIF Southern Section season is the first full league weekend on the JPWest Media slate, and it runs from a Thursday night Alpha League trip into Yorba Linda to a Friday night Delta League collision of unbeatens in Dana Point. The Oilers and the Dolphins are the Game of the Week on Spectrum SportsNet. Edison is back at Cap Sheue Field. Corona del Mar is home at Davidson Field still unbeaten.

#7 Mission Viejo (5-1, 1-0) @ Yorba Linda (0-6, 0-1) Thursday, Oct. 8, 7 PM — Nathan Shapell Memorial Stadium (Yorba Linda High School, Yorba Linda, CA) Photographer: Joey Gray

PREVIEW: The record next to Yorba Linda does not describe the team that has actually taken the field. The Mustangs forfeited four wins — Laguna Beach, El Dorado, Esperanza, and Long Beach Poly — after CIF-SS violations involving eligibility verification and administrative oversight, then lost their Alpha League opener 28-0 at San Clemente. On the field they were a one-score loss at Huntington Beach (29-25) before the forfeits landed. Thursday’s box against San Clemente was quieter: 185 total yards, 8 of 15 passing, and a lost fumble. Senior quarterback Noah Trujillo threw for 64 yards. Sophomore quarterback Andrew Churney added 39 and lost a fumble. Senior receiver Vince Aguilar caught 40 yards. Sophomore Taj LaGraffe, listed at outside linebacker and running back, had seven tackles and a sack. Junior Braden Walker added eight tackles.

Mission Viejo does not need the forfeit story to be the better team in this one. The Diablos are 5-1 and 1-0 in the Alpha League after a 42-14 league-opening win over Edison. The only loss is 35-21 at Folsom. Sophomore quarterback Brett Burnor has been the trigger, with 16 touchdown passes. Senior running back Carson Vandermade is averaging better than 80 rushing yards a game, and senior receiver Luke Karby is the top target, ahead of senior Jack Junker. Sophomore Wyatt Boardman is the change-of-pace back. This is Mission Viejo’s first true road game of the year. Shapell is a hard place to walk into, but the Diablos have already answered a physical Alpha test.

PREDICTION: JP’s Pick: Burnor and Vandermade get the Diablos out in front before the Mustangs’ on-field résumé can make it a game. Mission Viejo 38, Yorba Linda 14.

Newport Harbor (4-2, 1-0) @ Tesoro (1-5, 0-1)

Friday, Oct. 9, 7 PM — Tesoro High School (Las Flores, CA) Photographer: Joey Gray

PREVIEW: Newport Harbor opened Epsilon League play the way a contender is supposed to. The Sailors put up 537 yards, held Foothill to 96, and won 48-7. Senior quarterback Jordan Spigarelli threw for 261 yards and two touchdowns in that game, and he is at 1,381 yards and 13 scores on the season. Senior receiver Shane McKibbin had 140 receiving yards and a score. Senior Ryan Palmer caught two touchdowns. Senior Jackson Stremick, remains the back the Sailors can hand it to when Spigarelli wants the box lightened.

Tesoro is 1-5, not the 2-3 that was on the early sheet, after a 23-10 loss at Aliso Niguel. The Titans were not shut down. They ran for 220 yards and finished with 394 total. Junior Emmett Owens carried 22 times for 134 yards. Junior quarterback Brody Bevan was 5 of 6 for 90 yards and scored the rushing touchdown. Sophomore quarterback Jayden Hansen added 84 through the air. Junior Sam Kennedy caught two passes for 54 yards. Senior Owen Stirrat had four catches for 55. Senior Caden Dahl had seven tackles and three tackles for loss. Senior Shady Yowkeem hit the extra point and a 26-yard field goal. The problem has been finishing. One win all year, and the Sailors just hung 48 on a league opponent.

PREDICTION: JP’s Pick: Spigarelli keeps the Epsilon opener rolling and Owens does not get enough help. Newport Harbor 41, Tesoro 17.

JPWest Media Game of the Week: #16 Huntington Beach (6-0, 1-0) @ #20 Dana Hills (6-0, 1-0) Friday, Oct. 9, 7 PM — Dana Hills High School (Dana Point, CA) Photographer: Jeremy Westerbeck | Reporter: Justin Rosette | Watch: Spectrum Sportsnet / NFHS Network

PREVIEW: This is the Delta League game the county has been pointing at. Two unbeatens. One league loss available. A Friday night in Dana Point on Spectrum Sportsnet.

Huntington Beach is 6-0 because the fourth quarter keeps belonging to Brady Edmunds. Against El Modena at Cap Sheue Field, the Oilers trailed 21-17 with under three minutes left, then drove 84 yards in a 20-play march that ate 10:03. Edmunds hit Dylin Bruce from five yards out with 11 seconds left. He finished 19 of 29 for 210 yards and two touchdowns. Skylar Robinson caught seven for 95. Bruce caught seven for 70 and the winner. Dallas Miller carried 18 times for 64 and scored the other Oilers touchdown on a six-yard catch. Nathan Santillan added a 10-yard rushing score. Malachi Newmaster hit a 25-yard field goal and was perfect on kicks. Xavier Atkinson and Evan Scruggs led a defense that bent and still got the ball back.

Dana Hills is 6-0 in a different font. The Dolphins went to Western and won 46-29, and three of the touchdowns were defensive — a fumble return by junior Noah Carter and pick-sixes from senior Stephen Reda and junior Esai Rivera. Junior quarterback Carter Anderson was 17 of 33 for 260 yards. Junior Enzo Gallo rushed for 75 and two scores. Senior Chase Rasmussen added 72 and a touchdown. Junior Mason Valles caught five for 117. Senior Jack Norman had three catches for 56 and an interception. Junior Luke Bailey added five catches for 66. Senior London Getz had 12 tackles and a sack. Sophomore Enzo Carpino was 5 for 5 on PATs and hit a 27-yard field goal. Tony Henney’s group has been scoring in bunches since a 66-7 September win over Esperanza.

The Oilers have the quarterback and the late-game proof. The Dolphins have the home field, the defensive explosives, and an offense that does not need a 20-play drive to put points up. Delta League tiebreakers start here.

PREDICTION: JP’s Pick: Edmunds gets the last one again, but Dana Hills makes him earn it. Huntington Beach 28, Dana Hills 24.

#14 San Juan Hills (5-1, 1-0) @ Edison (2-4, 0-1) Friday, Oct. 9, 7 PM — Cap Sheue Field (Huntington Beach High School, Huntington Beach, CA) Photographer: John Clingan

PREVIEW: Edison is home, and the Chargers need this one. The Alpha League opener at Mission Viejo went 42-14 the other way. Edison is 2-4 and 0-1. The defense competed — senior Dawson Steward had 11 tackles, senior Blaise Burwell had 10 and a pass breakup, and senior McKennon Pierce had an interception — but the Diablos still hung 42. Senior quarterback Sam Thomson and the offense have to find a cleaner night if Cap Sheue is going to be a problem for a ranked visitor. Junior Micah Rogers and sophomore Mavericks Hernandez were also in the tackle pile, and Hernandez blocked a punt.

San Juan Hills is the visitor with the heater. The Stallions are 5-1 and 1-0 after a 61-10 Alpha opener against Los Alamitos. Senior quarterback Eiler King was 24 of 29 for 473 yards and seven touchdowns. Senior Luke Frith caught eight for 197 and three scores. Junior Jackson Simoneaux is the change-of-pace back. Senior Cooper Chila and senior Chayden Cadam give King two more outside options, and junior Max Nuernberg is the return man who can flip a field. That is not a one-week blip. King has the Stallions playing like the team that was built to live in the Alpha League race with Mission Viejo and San Clemente. Edison’s secondary just spent a Friday chasing Mission Viejo. Friday it chases King.

PREDICTION: JP’s Pick: King has another multi-score night and the Chargers cannot trade touchdowns. San Juan Hills 42, Edison 20.

Tustin (4-2, 0-1) @ #12 Corona del Mar (6-0, 1-0) Friday, Oct. 9, 7 PM — Davidson Field (Corona del Mar High School, Newport Beach, CA) Photographer: Marco Beltran

PREVIEW: The Bravo League opener did not go the way the Tillers drew it up. Crean Lutheran came to Tustin and won 21-7. Caleb Bey Jr. rushed for 144 and three scores for the Saints. Tustin managed a fourth-quarter touchdown and left at 4-2, 0-1. The nonleague wins are still real. The league start is not.

Corona del Mar is 6-0 and already has a Bravo win in the bank, 24-10 at Villa Park. Junior quarterback John David Annett was 16 of 25 for 197 yards. Junior running back Trejan Nixon carried 12 times for 98 and a score and added a receiving touchdown. Senior Chase Kuchera had 14 carries for 48 and four catches. Junior Nolan Scott found the end zone on the ground and through the air, and junior JJ Haley caught three passes for 48 yards. Senior Cade Dickerson and senior Max Brengel each had 10 tackles. Junior Henry Birchard added nine. The Sea Kings have spent this season winning the games that are supposed to be arguments — Edison earlier in the year, Villa Park last week — without giving up a loss. Davidson Field in October is where that résumé usually gets longer.

PREDICTION: JP’s Pick: Nixon and the Sea Kings’ front seven turn the Bravo trip into a home win. Corona del Mar 31, Tustin 14.

UPSET WATCH

Yorba Linda vs. #7 Mission Viejo. The Mustangs are 0-6 only after four forfeits. The team that played Huntington Beach to 29-25 is still in that locker room. If Taj LaGraffe and the front get Brett Burnor off schedule early, Shapell can make a ranked road favorite uncomfortable.

#16 Huntington Beach at #20 Dana Hills. This is the coin-flip on the slate. Dana Hills has three defensive touchdowns in one league win and the home field. If Carter Anderson connects with Mason Valles the way he did at Western, the Oilers’ fourth-quarter magic has to show up on the road.

Tustin at #12 Corona del Mar. The Tillers were a fourth-quarter team against Crean Lutheran and could not climb out. If John David Annett’s intermediate game stalls the way Villa Park tried to stall it, Tustin has enough left from a 4-2 nonleague run to keep Davidson Field honest into the fourth.