The first full weekend of high school football season in California kicks off tonight with nearly 400
games statewide.
Among the teams in action are national powers Mater Dei and St. John Bosco.
The Monarchs, No. 1 in both the MaxPreps Top 25 and the state rankings, takes on Corona Centennial. Mater Dei has won the last four meetings over the Huskies, including a 21-16 thriller in 2021 when the Monarchs went wire-to-wire and were named MaxPreps National Champions.
Mater Dei (Santa Ana), under first-year head coach Frank McManus, is fueled a star-studded offensive attack led by quarterback
Elijah Brown, running back Jordon Davis and anchored by linemen
Brandon Baker and
DeAndre Carter. The defensive is stout as well with lineman
Nasir Wyatt and DB
Zabien Brown.
The Huskies are led by quarterback four-star junior
Husan Longstreet, who transferred from Inglewood after leading the Sentinels to a 13-1 mark and Southern Section Division 2 championship appearance. He threw for 3,941 yards with 40 touchdowns last season. At running back for longtime Huskies coach Matt Logan is senior
Cornell Hatcher, who ran for nearly 1,300 yards and 21 scores.
No. 2
St. John Bosco (Bellflower), (No. 3 nationally), takes on Nevada foe Liberty at home before heading to the East Coast for a huge matchup with Florida power No. 9 St. Thomas Aquinas. Jason Negro begins his 14th season as the Braves head coach and has
gone 140-29, including last year's 13-1 season that culminated in a MaxPreps National Championship. Liberty is coming off an 8-4 season and a 56-14 loss to
Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas) in the 5A semifinals.
Here is a live look at the Top 25 teams in the MaxPreps
Computer Rankings and a link to the live MaxPreps scoreboard, which
includes all teams statewide.
