Chargers are our 1st number 1

By OC Tribune Staff on August 31, 2021 • ( Leave a comment )

MALACHI BEY (28) runs for a big gain for Garden Grove in its 48-0 win over Artesia last week. Blocking at right is Issac Barajas (9). Grove plays Santa Ana on Friday (Orange County Tribune photo).

It’s Week Two for high school football and everybody’s got at least one game in. The fans are back in the stands and it’s fall – sort of – instead of spring.

Two of the teams in The Tribune’s coverage area are 2-0. They are Pacifica (no surprise) and Magnolia (a bit of a surprise). The only 0-2 team is Marina.

What’s new this year is that there will be no weekly football “polls” by division, because playoff divisions won’t be assigned until the end of the regular season, based on results. Think of it a little like the British soccer system of “relegation” where you can move up and down depending on how you do on the field/pitch.

The ratings will be determined by the stats compiled by calsports.com. Factored in will be strength of opponent, previous record, “trend,” etc. We’re not super strong on the math of it, but that’s the new normal. It’s an attempt to create a more objective analysis rather relying on the opinions of prep sports writers.

Based on that system, our first High Five has Edison on top, followed by Orange, Huntington Beach, Pacifica and Western. On the bubble are Garden Grove, Marina and Rancho Alamitos.

Fletcher, Bey step in spotlight, along with …

Two of the more exciting players in the early going in our coverage area are senior Troy Fletcher of Edison and Malachi Bey of Garden Grove. Fletcher ran for five touchdowns in the Chargers’ 35-13 win over Clovis North. Bey ran for three touchdowns and 177 yards for the Argonauts as they blanked Artesia 48-0. He’s a junior.

But there are other outstanding performers emerging as well. Garden Grove’s senior quarterback Vany Rodriguez passed for three touchdowns against Artesia, completing 11 of 16 passes and getting intercepted once.

A standout on defense for Edison is senior Peyton Gregory, who’s had 14 solo tackles in two games (17 total), one sack and an interception.

Continuing to star for Pacifica is junior Darius Cowens, a two-way threat for the Mariners. Against Linfield Christian last week he completed 6-of-8 passes for 46 yards and ran for 95 yards and three touchdowns. Also shining for the Mariners was Eduardo “Jun” Ramos, a junior who carried for 166 yards on just five carries and scored twice.

For Huntington Beach High, junior A.J. Vandermade has emerged as a top receiver with 12 catches for 227 yards and one score. Western QB Anthony Luna (a sophomore) is showing great potential for the Pioneers with 481 yards passing and four TDs in two games.

Week Two’s local football schedule

Top matchups this week:

Orange Lutheran (2-0) at Edison (1-1) at LeBard Stadium, Orange Coast College. The county’s sixth- and ninth-ranked teams in a pre-league clash on Friday. QB Logan Gonzalez leads the Lancers’ attack with a strong aerial game. He’s passed for 325 yards so far and five touchdowns. Desmin Jackson has 229 yards rushing and receiving with two touchdowns for OL.
Los Amigos (1-0) at Westminster (1-0) at Boswell Stadium on Friday. In this pre-league game the Lions are going to work to forget last season’s 1-4 record. In the opener, WHS was led by junior QB Will Bingham, who passed for 295 yards and a touchdown. Jackson Golden rushed for 124 yards and a touchdown. The Lobos are also seeking to forget about last season’s 0-3 mark, helped by their 20-0 win over Ocean View in their first game of this season.

Below is a schedule of games planned for this weekend. As always, days, locations and teams are subject to change without notice. All games are set to begin at 7 p.m.

Thursday