The first year was scrapped due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the second half of the two-year re-leaguing cycle for CIF-Southern Section high school football in the Northern Area is in place for this coming season. A new cycle begins next fall.
What does that mean? For the schools of the Channel and Pacific View leagues, it means a merger to form a 12-team association for the 2021 season that kicks off Friday.
The association will be split into two six-team leagues that were formed based on past results and strength of schedule. Administrators from the Northern Area schools used a power-points criteria adopted by the CIF-SS, Cal Preps power rankings and league performance in 2018 and 2019.
After everything was sorted out, the six schools that will make up the Channel League are Dos Pueblos, Santa Barbara, Lompoc, Pacifica, Oxnard and Rio Mesa high schools.
The Pacific View League includes San Marcos, Santa Ynez, Cabrillo, Buena, Ventura and Channel Islands high schools.
Both leagues figure to be highly competititve.
The division won’t end crosstown rivalry clashes like Santa Barbara-San Marcos, Dos Pueblos-San Marcos, Lompoc-Santa Ynez and Lompoc-Cabrillo. All those games remain on the schedule but they’ll be nonleague contests.
First-year Dos Pueblos coach A.J. Pateras, who previously coached at Cabrillo and served as the defensive coordinator at Ventura, is very familiar with all the programs in the Channel-Pacific View Association.
“Our league is tough,” he told Noozhawk. “We play one state champion (Pacifica), two CIF runners-up (Oxnard and Santa Barbara), a CIF semifinalist (Rio Mesa) and a multitime CIF champion (Lompoc).
“Each week will be tough and demanding, and we look forward to the opportunity to play against such great programs. It will be a good test of where we are as a program as each week will be like a playoff game.”
Longtime Lompoc football coach Andrew Jones didn’t hide his displeasure with the new alignment.
“It’s going to be a difficult year for us,” he said. “It’s going to be a huge challenge for us to go up against schools that are much bigger than us.
“When league reps came up with this league, they didn’t follow CIF’s criteria. Competitive equity, school size and transportation are all supposed to be treated equally. They only took into consideration competitive equity. Therefore, we will have to travel to several schools that are much bigger than us in school size.”
The Braves, who have a strong team this season with Division 1 commits Sheldon Canley Jr. and Deville “Djoker” Dickerson and three-year starting quarterback Cavin Ross, make back-to-back trips to Oxnard to play Rio Mesa (Oct. 8) and Pacifica (Oct. 15). They host Oxnard on Oct. 22.
Santa Ynez coach Josh McClurg said his program will play three teams for the first time in the new league.
“So, in that aspect it will be challenging,” he said. “But change is also a good thing.”
More change is coming in 2022 as Santa Ynez, Lompoc and Cabrillo are expected to leave for the CIF Central Section, joining the Santa Maria area schools — Pioneer Valley, Righetti and Santa Maria highs — and schools from San Luis Obispo County.
Ralph Molina, who takes over at San Marcos after serving as defensive coordinator at Santa Barbara High, embraces the change to the Pacific View League this fall.
“Our league runs through Ventura,” he said. “They will be favored to win the league. Santa Ynez has a lot of their linemen back. Buena, Channel Islands and Cabrillo will be even.
“I like our chances in this league. We have the talent to compete for the league championship. Our goals are simple, win a league championship and get in the CIF Playoffs.”
Bishop Diego remains in the rugged Camino League for football with Camarillo, Moorpark and Newbury Park. The Cardinals defeated Camarillo and Newbury Park during their 5-0 spring season.
“All the teams in our league are well-established and well-coached programs that will benefit from the experience of the spring season,” coach Tom Crawford said.
“Camarillo, Moorpark and Newbury Park always have numbers and talent, so we’re expecting a tight league race.”
It’s status quo for Carpinteria as the Citrus Coast League membership remains unchanged for fall 2021.
Some of the more intriguing nonleague matchups this season include Molina making his San Marcos coaching debut at home against Morro Bay on Aug. 20; Bishop Diego hosting Oxnard in its home opener on the new turf at SBCC on Aug. 27 and then playing a perennially strong Garces Memorial program from Bakersfield on Sept. 3 at SBCC.
Pateras coaches his first game for DP at Nordhoff on Aug. 27; Lompoc visits traditional nonleague rival Arroyo Grande on Sept. 10; the nonleague San Marcos-Santa Barbara “Big Game” at the renovated Peabody Stadium on Sept. 10; the nonleague Dos Pueblos at San Marcos rivalry game on Sept. 24; and Bishop Diego hosting a St. Bonaventure team that’s been bolstered with highly touted transfers, tight end Cody Hoffman (Channel Islands) and running back Delon Thompson (Newbury Park) on Oct. 1.
Of course, all games and dates are subject to change due to the recent rise on coronavirus cases. Bishop Diego had its Week Zero game at Righetti canceled due to a positive COVID-19 test in the Righetti program.
Weekly Prep Football Schedule
Friday, Aug. 20
Saugus at Santa Barbara, 7 p.m.
Morro Bay at San Marcos, 7 p.m.
Santa Ynez at Nipomo, 7 p.m.
Paso Robles at Lompoc, 7 p.m.
Cabrillo at Nordhoff, 7 p.m.
Friday, Aug. 27
Santa Barbara at Thousand Oaks, 7 p.m.
San Marcos at Santa Maria, 7 p.m.
Dos Pueblos at Nordhoff, 7 p.m.
Oxnard at Bishop Diego (at SBCC), 7 p.m.
Carpinteria at Morro Bay, 7 p.m.
Fillmore at Santa Ynez, 7 p.m.
Lompoc at Righetti, 7 p.m.
Nipomo at Cabrillo, 7 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 3
Righetti at Santa Barbara, 7 p.m.
Ventura at Dos Pueblos, 7 p.m.
Garces Memorial at Bishop Diego (SBCC), 7 p.m.
St. Monica at Carpinteria, 7 p.m.
Nordhoff at Santa Ynez, 7 p.m.
Cabrillo at Lompoc, 7 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 10
San Marcos at Santa Barbara, 7 p.m.
Dos Pueblos at Buena, 7 p.m.
Bishop Diego at Redondo Union, 7 p.m.
Channel Islands at Carpinteria, 7 p.m.
Santa Maria at Santa Ynez, 7 p.m.
Lompoc at Arroyo Grande, 7 p.m.
Royal at Cabrillo, 7 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 17
Santa Barbara at Ventura, 7 p.m.
Nordhoff at San Marcos, 7 p.m.
Royal at Dos Pueblos, 7 p.m.
Carpinteria at Brentwood, 6 p.m.
Lompoc at Santa Ynez, 7 p.m.
Santa Maria at Cabrillo, 7 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 24
Dos Pueblos at San Marcos, 7 p.m.
Mission Prep at Carpinteria, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 25
Galena, Nevada at Bishop Diego (SBCC), 2 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 30
Santa Barbara at Lompoc, 7 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 1
Ventura at San Marcos, 7 p.m.
Pacifica at Dos Pueblos, 7 p.m.
St. Bonaventure at Bishop Diego, 7 p.m.
Viewpoint at Carpinteria, 7 p.m.
Santa Ynez at Cabrillo, 7 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 8
Pacifica at Santa Barbara, 7 p.m.
San Marcos at Channel Islands, 7 p.m.
Dos Pueblos at Oxnard, 7 p.m.
Rancho Christian at Bishop Diego, 7 p.m.
Carpinteria at Fillmore, 7 p.m.
Santa Ynez at Buena, 7 p.m.
Lompoc at Rio Mesa, 7 p.m.
Cabrillo at Ventura, 7 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 15
Oxnard at Santa Barbara, 7 p.m.
Buena at San Marcos, 7 p.m.
Rio Mesa at Dos Pueblos, 7 p.m.
Nordhoff at Carpinteria, 7 p.m.
Ventura at Santa Ynez, 7 p.m.
Lompoc at Pacifica, 7 p.m.
Channel Islands at Cabrillo, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 16
Newbury Park at Bishop Diego, (SBCC), 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 22
Santa Barbara at Dos Pueblos, 7 p.m.
Cabrillo at San Marcos, 7 p.m.
Bishop Diego at Moorpark, 7 p.m.
Carpinteria at Hueneme, 7 p.m.
Santa Ynez at Channel Islands, 7 p.m.
Oxnard at Lompoc, 7 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 29
Santa Barbara at Rio Mesa, 7 p.m.
San Marcos at Santa Ynez, 7 p.m.
Dos Pueblos at Lompoc, 7 p.m.
Bishop Diego at Camarillo, 7 p.m.
Santa Paula at Carpinteria, 7 p.m.
Cabrillo at Buena, 7 p.m.
— Noozhawk sports editor Barry Punzal can be reached at bpunzal@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk Sports on Twitter: @NoozhawkSports. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.