Oaks Christian & Bellevue (WA) Headline Mission Viejo Kickoff Classic

by Jeff Fisher
California High School Football Huddle

The 2011 Mission Viejo Football Classic, with six games in two days, will get football off to a flying start in Orange County.

Headlining the event will be a showdown Saturday night between nationally-ranked Oaks Christian and Washington-power Bellevue, winners of eight Class 3A state titles in the last ten years.

Oaks Christian enters the game ranked #21 by MaxPreps.com, Bellevue holds down the #22 spot.  It's the season opener for both teams.

Bellevue lost several starters from last year's team that captured the school's third straight state title, including their starting quarterback and its top rusher.  Oaks Christian needs to find a replacement at quarterback as well, but Ishmael Adams, who rushed for over 1,000 yards, is back.

Bellevue is no stranger to playing out-of-state powers, having played De La Salle (Concord, CA), Long Beach Poly (CA) and Katy (Texas) over the the last decade.

Oaks Christian is building a national reputation, having sent several players into the NFL over the last decade, including Jimmy Claussen of the Carolina Panthers.  Over the last ten years, OC has amassed a 136-14.

Aside from the eight teams from California, Utah has the second most teams in the Mission Viejo Classic with Bingham, Alta and Timpview traveling to SoCal.

Mission Viejo opens its season ranked #11 by USA Today faces Centennial of Bakersfield tonight.

Here's a look at the rest of this weekend's schedule in Mission Viejo:

Friday, September 2nd
Cypress vs. Garces
Centennial-Bakersfield vs. Mission Viejo

Saturday, September 3rd
Bakersfield vs. Timpview (UT)
Crenshaw vs. Alta (UT)
Orange Lutheran vs. Bingham (UT)
Oaks Christian vs. Bellevue (WA)

California High School Football Scores - Week 1

California High School Football Scores
Thursday, September 1, 2011

Blair 25, Fulton 14
Beyer 52,  Pacheco  0
Bonita 40, San Dimas 20
Brea Olinda 45, Placentia Valencia 13
Champion Christian 53,  Mercy  14
Clovis North 22,  Independence  0
Colony 30, South Hills 29
El Camino Real 48, North Hollywood 7
Ganesha 14, Montclair 10
Hanford West  32,  Roosevelt  15
Jefferson 30, Canoga Park 10
Los Angeles Marshall 50, Belmont 18
Mariposa County  21,  Summerville  15
Merced  31,  Clovis West  30
Monroe 26, Hollywood 20
Pasadena Poly 20, Brethren Christian 13
Rancho Cucamonga 52, Silverado 0
Redlands 21, Wekiva (FL) 7
Riverside Christian 23, Douglass 12
San Diego Jewish Academy 35, Milken 8
San Fernando 46, Sun Valley 8
Saugus 31, Burbank Burroughs 20
Servite 20, Oceanside 0
South Gate 24, Panorama 21
Trabuco Hills 28, Capistrano Valley 21
Van Nuys 50, Firebaugh 6
Villa Park 46, San Juan Hills 6

Pleasant Grove & Monterey Trail to Battle on ESPN

by Jeff Fisher
California High School Football Huddle

While national rankings don't guarantee an appearance on national television, it doesn't hurt.

Wednesday, ESPN announced that Pleasant Grove High School, ranked #8 in MaxPreps.com's Preseason Top 25 Early Contenders Poll, will face Monterey Trail on ESPN2 on August 27th.



Last year the Eagles bookended their season with wins over Monterey Trail.

Pleasant Grove, which finished 13-1, beat MT 20-12 in the season opener, and then beat them again 21-6 to win the CIF-Sac-Joaquin Section Division I title on December 4th.

To hear more about Pleasant Grove's #8 MaxPrep ranking, click here to listen to Steve Spiewak, MaxPreps.com's senior high school football writer, talk about the Eagles on the High School Football America radio show on July 21st.

Charlie Wedemeyer All-Star High School Football Game Set for July 20th

by Jeff Fisher
California High School Football Huddle



It's had many different names, but 37 years after begining, the Charlie Wedemeyer All-Star Football Game is still going strong in Santa Clara County.

The Silicon Valley Youth Classic's North-South rivarly resumes on July 20th at San Jose State's Spartan Stadium.  Matt Kiesle of Piedmont Hills is the head coach of the South squad; Karriem Stinson of Harker High is the leader of the North stars.

Since the start of the game in 1974, 3,000 players have taken part in the all-star game.  Several have gone on to the pros.  That list includes: Jeff Garcia of Gilroy, Jeff Toews of Del Mar, John Tuggle of Independence, Erik Howard and Randy Kirk of Bellarmine, Pat Tillman of Leland, Trent Edwards and Jared Allen of Los Gatos, Jeff Ulbrich of Live Oak, Tully Banta-Cain of Fremont, Carl Monroe of Overfelt, Rich Campbell of Santa Teresa, Tim Ryan of Oak Grove and Nathan Jackson of Pioneer.

Click here for the North Roster
Click here for the South Roster

The game currently bears the name of Charlie Wedemeyer, who lived 32-years after being diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's Disease.  Wedemeyer, who was the head football coach at Los Gatos High School at the time of his diagnosis, was involved in the game every year until his death in 2010.