No. 1 Mater Dei begins its season against No. 12 Corona Centennial in one of the biggest games of the year.
For an opening night, this
slate of games will be as good as any for the rest of the
season. Eleven ranked teams are featured and four games include Top 25
matchups.
St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) travels to the West Coast to play De La Salle (Concord, Calif.) in our game of the week. The last
time these two played was in 2011 and
Joey Bosa led the Raiders to a
dominant 30-6 win.
The three other Top 25 games feature No. 1 Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) hosting No. 12 Corona
Centennial (Corona, Calif.), No. 2 St. Frances Academy (Baltimore) traveling to South Florida to face
No. 9 Miami Central (Miami) and No. 21 DeMatha (Hyattsville, Md.) heads to Southern California in a
big-time matchup vs. No. 3 St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.).
Teams from Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Utah, Nevada and Alabama are also featured this week.
MaxPreps Top 10 Games of the Week
Friday, 6:30 p.m. (All time local)
Top Players
Two
of the most prestigious high school football programs are featured in
our Game of the Week. Anytime De La Salle and St. Thomas Aquinas lock
horns it is special as both teams have won state titles seven times since
2007 and a win on ESPNU Friday night will be the perfect way to start
the season for either program.
Saturday, noon at Traz Powell Stadium (Miami)
Top Players
This
game is loaded with some of the best talent in the country and the
winner adds a big-time win on the resume. St. Frances Academy rolls
into this one riding a 23-game winning streak but the Rockets are always
tough to beat at home, so get your popcorn ready for this one.
Friday, 7:30 p.m. at Santa Ana Stadium (Santa Ana)
Top Players
The
Huskies have been waiting to run this one back for the past 280 days.
Mater Dei cruised to a dominant
48-14 win in the 2018 CIF Southern Section Division 1 semifinals and you know
a season-opening payback win would exorcise some demons and get 2019 started on the right foot for Corona Centennial.
Saturday, 6 p.m.
Top Players
There will be several DMV vs. Southern California matchups this
year and Bosco against DeMatha is first up. Both teams are loaded in the
trenches and that's where this game will be won. If the Braves can give
Uiagalelei time to throw expect him to put up big-time numbers. It
will be important for the Stags to establish a running game to keep
Bosco's explosive offense on the sidelines.
Saturday, 4 p.m. at Traz Powell Stadium
Top Players
This
is one of five games highlighted from the GEICO ESPN Kickoff Classic in
our Top 10 Games of the Week
and features two of the best programs in Florida. Josh Taylor took
over as interim head coach for Carol City earlier this month after
Benedict Hyppolite took a job as offensive coordinator at Florida Memorial University but don't
expect anything to change for the Chiefs. They'll be one of the best
teams in the Sunshine State again this season and face a big test on
Saturday night against the Bucks.
Friday, 7:30 p.m. at Traz Powell Stadium
Top Players
The
defending 5A state champs takes on the back-to-back 6A state champs. The Chiefs won their first state title last year and Max Edwards led the Bulls to their second consecutive
state crown after starting the season 3-5. They return a bunch of talent
and expect them to contend for a third straight state championship and
open up against one of the most explosive offenses in Florida.
Friday, 7 p.m.
Top Players
If
it wasn't going to be hard enough to win in Vegas for the back-to-back
4A state champs they will most likely be without 5-star Sewell.
The Gaels started the 2018 season 1-3 but reeled off 10 straight wins to
end the year and expect them ride that momentum into this season behind
Bowens and Odunze.
Friday, 6 p.m.
Top Players
Everyone
was looking forward to this matchup to begin 2018 but Mother Nature had other ideas. It was cancelled because of bad weather but
luckily they meet on Friday on ESPN2. Both teams
were featured in our
top team for each state article heading into the 2019 season and expect this to be one of the best games of the weekend.
Thursday, 8:30 p.m.
Top Players
The Blue Devils enter the season as one of the most talented football teams in the
country but have to prove it on the field this year after going 5-6 in
2018. They get a big test to open the year against the Wolves, a team that has
gone 41-3 over the last three seasons and won two state titles. This is
one of nine games featured from the Corky Kell Classic and you can see
all the action live on the NFHS Network from Thursday until Saturday.
Friday, 7 p.m.
Top Players
The
top two teams in Alabama face off to show who is No. 1 to start the
year. The Red Devils won the 7A state title last season ending Hoover's two
year title run. Both teams have to replace a lot of talented players but
still bring back a lot of big-time players led by Ashford and Williams.
Watch Live on the NFHS Network