Prep Rally: No. 1 Mater Dei vs. No. 3 Corona Centennial is a perfect start to football season

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. My name is Eric Sondheimer. High school football begins this week with zero week games. And there’s a big one, No. 1 Santa Ana Mater Dei playing at No. 3 Corona Centennial.

Let the season begin

It doesn’t get much better to start a high school football season in Southern California than matching No. 1 Santa Ana Mater Dei against No. 3 Corona Centennial on Friday night in Corona.

It’s the debut for new Mater Dei coach Frank McManus, who said during a phone interview, “From the first-year players who were freshmen to four-year starters, there’s been marked improvement in every player.”

That provides a clue that the talented Monarchs have been enjoying a productive spring, summer and fall. Centennial coach Matt Logan is the perfect person to provide the Monarchs with a test via his offensive schemes. Here’s more information about the Mater Dei vs. Centennial matchup.

Other intriguing opening matchups Friday: Chaminade at Oaks Christian, JSerra at Sierra Canyon, Orange Lutheran vs. Gardena Serra at Orange Coast College, Chaparral at San Clemente, Rancho Cucamonga at Murrieta Valley, Garfield at Cathedral, Granada Hills at Franklin, Banning vs. Dorsey at Rancho Cienega Park, Venice at Roosevelt.

Here’s the opening week Southern Section schedule.

Here’s the opening week City Section schedule.

Series concludes

Monday presents the final day of a nine-part series previewing the top high school football players in Southern California. It’s a profile of kicker Ryon Sayeri of Chaminade. He wants to break the state record for longest field goal, which stands at 64 yards. Here’s his profile.

If you have missed any part of the nine-part series, here’s the link to the complete series.

Top 25 rankings

The Times’ top 25 preseason football rankings are out, and the top three should come as no surprise with Mater Dei No. 1, St. John Bosco No. 2 and Corona Centennial No. 3.

After that, things gets interesting. It’s always debate and speculation which fourth team will break into the powerful trio of Mater Dei, St. John Bosco and Corona Centennial by the end of the season.

Here’s the link to complete rankings.

Edison cancels trip

Edison was all set for a nine-day trip to Maui to play two high school football games. Then came the tragic wildfires. The Chargers canceled their trip before they were scheduled to leave last Thursday.

Now the school is searching for games for week zero, week two and week five to make up for the two games lost on the schedule.

Long Beach Poly and Villa Park were able to open their season in different parts of Hawaii with victories.

On the big island, Poly defeated Konawaena 60-28. Darius Curry passed for three touchdowns. Quimari Shemwell returned two interceptions for touchdowns.

In Honolulu, Villa Park defeated Honolulu Damien 37-13. Carter Christie rushed for 185 yards in 16 carries.

Big and bigger

Samson Fatu has a tattoo that fills up an entire arm. At 6 feet 5, 265 pounds, the sophomore lineman from Sherman Oaks Notre Dame is big and strong and just beginning to throw around his body. And he’s got a father who can always show him how to be nasty.

Fatu’s father is WWE wrestler Rikishi, who was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2015.

Coliseum game

Dorsey and King/Drew, the top two football teams in the Coliseum League, have reached agreement to play at the Memorial Coliseum on Oct. 27.

Roosevelt and Garfield played at the Coliseum last season before more than 27,000. Those two teams are playing this season on Oct. 27 at East L.A. College.

Here’s the report on the Dorsey vs. King/Drew matchup.

El Segundo advances

Start the partying in El Segundo, because the city’s baseball team of 11- and 12-year-olds has qualified for the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa.

With Lucas Keldorf delivering a two-run double in the first inning to stake pitcher Louis Lappe with a three-run cushion, El Segundo secured a 3-1 victory over San Ramon in the West Regional championship game Friday night in San Bernardino.

Lappe struck out eight with one walk in 5 2/3 innings. When Lappe exceeded the 85-pitch count, Jaxon Kalish came on to get a fly out for the game’s final out.

El Segundo begins play Thursday in the World Series. Here’s the report.

Bryce James news

The second son of future Hall of Famer LeBron James has switched schools.

Bryce James, a junior who played basketball last season for Sierra Canyon, then enrolled during the summer at Campbell Hall, is now enrolled at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame.

Here’s the report on his transfer.

Mira Costa power

Charlie Feurbringer, the standout setter for Mira Costa’s girls’ volleyball team, missed out on playing with her teammates in the Ann Kang Invitational in Hawaii, but she had a good excuse.

She helped the U.S. Girls’ U19 national team win the gold with a 3-2 comeback win over Turkiye at the FIVB Girls U19 World Championships in Osijek, Croatia.

Mira Costa did well without her, winning the invitational championship by defeating Texas Cornerstone Christian 15-11 in the final set. There also was a semifinal win over Sierra Canyon.

Sophomore Audrey Flanagan was named most outstanding player in the tournament. Junior Taylor Deckert, committed to USC, was selected to the all-tournament team along with Chloe Hynes.

Notes . . .

Former Laker Derek Fisher has been hired as the new basketball coach at Crespi. Here’s the story.

Joshua Aguilera is the new basketball coach at West Covina. . . .

Dale Lopes is the new softball coach at Sunny Hills. . . .

Shortstop Nate Castellon of Calabasas has committed to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. . . .

Pitcher Nate Kugler of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame has committed to Dartmouth. Pitcher Erik Puodziunas earlier committed to Michigan. . . .

Guard Kayla Borgelt of Troy has transferred to Rosary. . . .

James Bass, a 6-foot-10 center from Central Point Christian Academy in Florida, has transferred to Campbell Hall. . . .

Safety Peyton Woodyard of St. John Bosco has changed its commitment from Georgia to Alabama. . . .

Cornerback Dakoda Fields of Gardena Serra has changed his commitment from USC to Oregon. . . .

Sophomore forward Maximo Adams, younger brother of former Narbonne star Marcus Adams, has left Narbonne and transferred to Gardena Serra. . . .

Nikolas Manders has been hired to be the boys’ lacrosse coach at Simi Valley. He’s a former lacrosse player from Chaminade. . . .

Cross-country standout Jayden Hernandez from Godinez has transferred to Dana Hills. . . .

Los Angeles will be able to have five home football games this season after the LAUSD confirmed it will bring in temporary bleachers. The Romans haven’t played any home games since the 2021 season because of bleacher issues. . . .

The Robinson brothers, Jason, Jayden and Skylar, all receivers, have left Santa Margarita and transferred to San Juan Hills. . . .

Ethan Spoon of Huntington Beach has committed to UC Irvine for water polo. . . .

Long Beach Poly has hired Martin Rodriguez as its baseball coach. . . . .

Terry Tucker is the new basketball coach at Norco. He previously coached at San Ysidro. . . .

Santa Margarita softball player Sydney Berg has committed to Colgate. . . .

Junior infielder Josh Proctor from La Canada has committed to UCLA. . . .

Jerica Williams has resigned after one season as girls’ basketball coach at Windward, opening up one of the most sought-after coaching jobs. More than 70 people applied for the position before Williams was hired. . . .

Receiver Kwazi Gilmer from Sierra Canyon has committed to UCLA. . . .

Surprise, surprise, you can go back. Cristina Garcia is returning as athletic director at Granada Hills after leaving more than a month ago to take a similar position at Birmingham. . . .

Softball player Saige Anderson of Huntington Beach has committed to UC Santa Barbara. . . .

Brooklyn Kostoff from Santa Margarita has committed to Azusa Pacific for women’s volleyball.

From the archives: Raymond Scott

A standout linebacker from Narbonne, Raymond Scott will be a senior at Fresno State. He spent four years at USC.

He was a key player at Narbonne when the Gauchos rose to the top of City Section football from 2015 through 2017.

Here’s a 2016 story on Scott’s rise as a linebacker.

Recommendations

From the Los Angeles Times, a story on former Long Beach Poly tight end Marcedes Lewis setting an NFL record playing in his 18th NFL season.

From the Los Angeles Times, a story from Bill Plaschke about the lost soccer players from the inner city.

From the San Diego Union-Tribune, the top football teams in San Diego, with Lincoln starting No. 1.

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