‘New’ season starts tonight

Fountain Valley coach John Shipp calls it the start of a new season. In many ways, this weekend’s prep football schedule is just that for the local teams.

The 2008 campaign may have begun eight weeks ago in late August, but this week it begins anew with the opening of league play. This is the time of the season where teams battle it out for league championships and jockey for position in league standings, all fighting toward a common goal: to make it to that next — and final — “new” season, the CIF playoffs.

“Everyone has a fresh start and every team has high hopes entering league play,” said Shipp, who has guided Fountain Valley to a 4-1 nonleague record and has the Barons on the brink of beginning Sunset League play tonight against Esperanza. “We think we can make a real strong run in league. I think our talent level is on par with the other schools in our league, but it’s just a matter of us getting over that hump.

“We’ve done well in nonleague play the past few years, but that didn’t translate to success in league. We need to go that extra mile to be successful this time around.”

The Fountain Valley-Esperanza game is just one of three Sunset openers on tap this week. Also tonight, Marina takes on undefeated Los Alamitos and on Friday, Edison hosts Newport Harbor.

Friday also features a Sea View League opener between Huntington Beach and Foothill, a Golden West League opener for Ocean View and Segerstrom and Los Amigos and La Quinta going against each other in a Garden Grove League opener. Also Friday, Brethren Christian hosts Hamilton in nonleague play.

  TONIGHT

Fountain Valley (4-1) vs. Esperanza (4-1) at Valencia High, 7 p.m.: After struggling to score points in its first two games, Esperanza has come on strong offensively the last two weeks.

The Aztecs have averaged 50 points in their last two games and scored 49 last week in a 49-6 rout of Centennial of Compton. Senior running back Jared Moore rushed for four touchdowns in the win.

Fountain Valley was idle last week. Barons Coach John Shipp said that both inside linebacker Matt McWilliams (high ankle sprain) and strong safety/receiver Hayden Toney (collar bone) will be back in the lineup tonight after a three-game absence.

The Barons, though, still are without starting quarterback Steven Santana, who broke his collar bone in the Tesoro game on Sept. 12.

“When you lose a three-year starter like Steven, it’s tough,” Shipp said.

Marina (2-3) vs. Los Alamitos (5-0) at Gahr High, 7 p.m.: Marina begins its Sunset League campaign against a Los Alamitos team that is considered one of the favorites for the 2008 crown.

The Vikings won twice in nonleague play, but could have won any of its other three games had it not been for turnovers. They committed five in a season-opening, close loss to Capo Valley, had two turn into touchdowns that helped Westminster rally for victory and last Friday turned the ball over three times at Western.

“The biggest thing that cost us in those three losses were turnovers,” he said.

“We definitely need to correct that if we want to be in this league race.

Last week, Marina came up a yard short on a last-minute two-point conversion attempt that left the Vikings with a 14-13 loss to Western.

Los Alamitos, ranked fourth in the Pac-5 Division, ran its record to 5-0 last week by handing Los Angeles City Section power Narbonne its first defeat, 41-28.

  FRIDAY

Newport Harbor (4-1) vs. Edison (4-1) at Orange Coast College, 7 p.m.: Edison hopes the momentum it gathered from an Oct. 3 win over Mater Dei carries over into Sunset League play that has the Chargers going up against a formidable Newport Harbor team right off the bat.

The Sailors are 4-1 and have only lost to Long Beach Poly, the top-ranked team in the CIF Pac-5 Division. Last week they pummeled Mira Costa, 42-14.

Edison, No. 6 in the Pac-5 Division rankings, has had two weeks to prepare for Newport Harbor and Chargers Coach Dave White said an idle week has helped the Chargers heal.

“We’ve been beat up and sick, so getting a break between games has turned out to be a good thing,” he said. “I really think that there’s as much parity in the one-through-five spots in this league as I’ve seen.

“I think the team that plays the most consistent and stays healthy, is going to win league.”

Edison has shared the past two Sunset titles with Esperanza.

Since Newport Harbor rejoined the league two years ago, Edison has outscored the Sailors, 84-6, in two meetings.

Foothill (4-1) vs. Huntington Beach (2-3) at Newport Harbor High, 7 p.m.: Huntington came up just short of earning a playoff berth last year and the Oilers begin their new bid for the postseason against a Foothill team that was runner-up to last year’s league title.

Since a season-opening loss to Dana Hills, Foothill has won four consecutive games. The most recent win was a 35-10 triumph over rival El Modena two weeks ago.

Foothill is ranked third in the CIF Southwest Division poll.

Huntington heads into league with two wins, but last week the Oilers fell, 24-7, at Gardena.

Ocean View (3-2) at Segerstrom (3-2), 7 p.m.: Ocean View begins its bid for a Golden West League title against a Segerstrom team that has won two straight.

Ocean View collected win No. 3 last week by beating Estancia, 27-8, in its homecoming game.

Kyle Walker led the Ocean View attack with 228 yards on the ground and a touchdown. He also scored on a 90-yard kickoff return. Segerstrom, which was idle last week, has scored more than 40 points three times this year, most recently in a 40-12 win over Calvary Chapel (Santa Ana) on Oct. 3.

Jaguars quarterback Brian Murrietta has completed 58% of his passes and has eight touchdown passes with just one interception.

The Jaguars are ranked sixth this week in the Southern Division poll.

Ocean View also owns a win over Calvary Chapel, as the Seahawks edged the Eagles, 15-14, in a season opener on Sept. 11.

“We’re happy to end our nonleague schedule with a win and excited to start league,” Ocean View Coach Harold Eggers said.

“I’ve seen some positive things in these first few weeks. Now, the season starts all over again and I hope we continue to show improvement every week.”

La Quinta (2-3) vs. Los Amigos (1-4) at Bolsa Grande High, 7 p.m.: Since being blitzed in its first three games of the season, La Quinta begins Garden Grove League play on a two-game win streak. The most recent victory came last week when the Aztecs went on the defensive to beat Santa Ana, 27-14.

Los Amigos, whose only win came at the expense of Santa Ana two weeks ago, stumbles into league play with just one win. The Lobos last week were defeated, 34-20, by Northwood. Ricky Vu managed to get his fifth 100 yards-plus rushing game of the year by turning in a 143 yards, including a touchdown run. Quarterback Jose Gonzalez threw touchdown passes to Fidel Mendoza and Francisco Pulido.

Vu has rushed for 715 yards in five games.

Hamilton (0-5) at Brethren Christian (0-5) 7 p.m.): Barring a tie score, one of these teams will get that elusive first victory of the season when the Bobcats and Warriors face off in nonleague play.

Hamilton dropped its fifth game Friday, losing, 45-0, to Horizon of San Diego. In five games, the Bobcats have scored 31 points and have been shutout in two games. Defensively, they are giving up an average of 38 points per game.

Brethren Christian is coming off a 28-12 loss at Western Christian.