It’s a whole new world this season for local prep football

By OC Tribune Staff on July 12, 2024 • ( Leave a comment )

RANCHO ALAMITOS has won or tied six straight Garden Grove League titles; now the Vaqs (white uniforms) will be in the new Sigma League; Santiago (purple) will play in the Tango League (Orange County Tribune photo).

By Arthur David/Orange County Tribune

July may seem to be a bit early for thinking about high school football, but now that the season starts in August instead of September, the first kickoff is just over the horizon.

Here are some notes about the outlook for the 2024 prep football season for West Orange County:

A Whole New World

The old leagues have been swept away – for football at least – as new “alphabet” conferences have been created by the CIF-SS in the interests of competitive equity.

League names – with two exceptions – are based on the Greek letters of the alphabet, as in Alpha League, Bravo League …. etc.

These leagues are based on team performance for the previous two years. They’ll be in place for two more (2024, 2025) and then the dice will be rolled again.

A Powerful County Indeed

MaxPrep.com covers high school sports nationally and its ranking of the Top 25 teams in California include seven teams.

They are: Mater Dei (fourth), Mission Viejo (fifth), Servite (eighth), Santa Margarita (11th), Orange Lutheran (13th), JSerra (22nd) and Edison (25th).

It’s interesting to notice that five of those seven are private schools.

Those Wacky Leagues

The previous “neighborhood” or “traditional” leagues give way for the next two seasons.

Here are the leagues involving West Orange County teams.

Delta: Western, Capistrano Valley, Trabuco Hills, El Modena, Cypress and Tustin.

Epsilon: Huntington Beach: Laguna Hills, El Dorado, La Habra, Foothill and Crean Lutheran.

Foxtrot: Laguna Beach, Northwood, Orange, Fountain Valley, Aliso Niguel and Dana Hills.

Kappa: St. Margaret’s, Segerstrom, Westminster, Brea Olinda, Esperanza and Garden Grove.

Lambda: Beckman, Fullerton, Marina, Sunny Hills, Valencia and Kennedy.

Omicron: Pacifica, University, Portola, Woodbidge, Buena Park and Katella.

Sigma: Estancia, Rancho Alamitos, Santa Ana Valley, Calvary Chapel, Los Amigos and Ocean View.

Tango: Santiago, Costa Mesa, Bolsa Grande, La Quinta, Anaheim and Loara.

Zeta: Saddleback, Godinez, Savanna, Magnolia and Century.

Some interesting openers

The teams can start practicing on July 29. The season starts with Week Zero on Aug. 22-24. Here are some openers of interest. Matchups subject to change without notice,