A long offseason of early-morning weightlifting and a summer of grinding through practices has come and gone, and the shine of Friday Night Lights has taken their place.
Four of the five local 11-man high school football teams will begin their march towards the CIF-SS postseason this Friday with non-league contests in Week 0.
Santa Barbara High and San Marcos will begin their campaigns on their home turf against Camarillo High and Dana Hills High, respectively.
Meanwhile, both Bishop Diego and Dos Pueblos will be heading north for their openers, with the Cardinals facing off against Paso Robles High and the Chargers clashing with Santa Ynez High.
Here is a quick preview and prediction for this week’s games. Last season, my game picks went 38-8.
Camarillo @ Santa Barbara High, 7 p.m.
The Dons, who missed out on the playoffs last year, enter this season with an experienced squad, returning several key starters on both sides of the ball.
Junior quarterback Griffin Arnold will lead an offense full of electric playmakers, including juniors Nate Meister and Cade Mault. Meanwhile, juniors Reid Miller and Henry Crafton will anchor a strong defensive unit with a new scheme.
Read Santa Barbara High’s full season preview here.
Camarillo also returns its starting quarterback from last season, but it will have to fill a major hole at the running back position as Shane Feller, who rushed for over 1,000 yards and 13 touchdowns last year, graduated.
The Scorpions will likely have to reinvent their offense, and that could take a few games early in the season to fine-tune before settling into a groove.
The Dons have won this matchup in each of the past two seasons, and I expect them to continue that trend by starting this year on a high note at home.
The Pick: Santa Barbara High
Dana Hills @ San Marcos, 7 p.m.
The Royals will begin the Isaiah Veal era on Friday night, as he steps into the head coaching role of a program that has made the CIF-SS postseason in back-to-back seasons.
San Marcos will lean on new faces on the field as well, as returning QB Hayden Feleay is one of a select few Royals with significant game experience. The team is embracing a new identity as well, utilizing a high-paced offense and intensity on the defensive end.
Read San Marcos’ full season preview here.
Dana Hills will make the trip up to Warkentin Stadium fresh off a CIF-SS Div. 3 Quarterfinal appearance last year, boasting 20 wins over the past two seasons.
Quarterback Carter Anderson is coming off a sophomore year in which he threw for 2,556 yards and 33 touchdowns, and now senior Jack Norman will step into the lead receiving role after pulling in 859 receiving yards and 12 scores last year.
While the Royals will have plenty of excitement behind them heading into the season, Dana Hills and its high-flying offense will likely have the advantage in all facets on Friday night.
The Pick: Dana Hills
Bishop Diego @ Paso Robles, 7:30 p.m.
The Cardinals graduated several key skill position players from last year’s squad that went 8-3, but they remain as strong as ever in the trenches on both sides of the ball.
Bishop Diego will rely heavily on its offensive and defensive line units, while sophomore quarterback Kaleo Satale will step in as the QB1, and playmakers like junior Sam Boeddeker and senior Remi Boykin are set to see increased roles.
Read Bishop Diego’s full season preview here.
Paso Robles has struggled in recent years, finishing with a sub-.500 record every year since 2022, despite reaching the playoffs last season with a 2-2 league mark.
Blayne Lowry returns as the Bearcat starting quarterback after throwing 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions last year, while the team’s two leading rushers graduated in the spring.
There’s always a bit of unknown when a CIF-Southern Section team squares off with a squad from the Central Section, but I think the Cardinals can control the clock with the run game and pull out the road win.
The Pick: Bishop Diego
Dos Pueblos @ Santa Ynez, 7 p.m.
The Chargers enter the season as a bit of a wild card following a 2025 season in which they missed out on the playoffs by just one game.
Junior Grady Felix will be the starting quarterback after starting half of last year’s matchups, and Dos Pueblos will look to several student-athletes around the field without much varsity experience to make an impact.
Read Dos Pueblos’ full season preview here.
Santa Ynez will have a new look as well this year, with last year’s Sunset League MVP quarterback Jude Pritchard, leading receiver Mason Skidmore and top running back Ayden Finley all graduating in the spring.
The Pirates, similar to the Chargers, will have to turn to a new crop of players without much varsity game experience to make an immediate impact.
This could be a close matchup between two teams searching for a new identity this season, but I’ll go with home-field advantage as the tiebreaker and lean towards the Pirates, who have won this matchup in each of the last two years.
The Pick: Santa Ynez
