St. Francis found the paint early and often against La Mirada on Thursday.

La Serna 38, Westlake 35 — The Lancers blew a big lead (35-14) but scored late to beat Pac-5 Division Westlake for the second consecutive season. Wowza! Looks like Frankie Football and crew are gonna be a force in the Southeast Division playoffs AGAIN.

St. Francis 49, La Mirada 20 — Things go from bad to worse for the Matadores as they are now 0-4!!! Color me shocked as I thought St. Francis was a doable opponent for La Mirada. Instead, Knights QB Ty Gangi went off and Jimmy Bonds’ boys are now 3-0 … that Monrovia showdown cannot come fast enough. PHOTO GALLERY

Gladstone 28, El Monte 14 — First win of the Citos Marinez era at Gladstone. El Monte takes a step back after taking a step forward last week.

Baldwin Park 48, Ganesha 26 — The Braves are the turnaround story of the season. Now 4-0 under second-year coach Chris Williams.

#Scoby3000

Monrovia running back has played in two games, carried 30 times and has 429 yards. Spread that out over the course of a 10-game season and Scoby goes for 2,140 yards. But let’s say Monrovia plays 15 games this year … a safe estimate given their division and what happened last year. Then it’s entirely possible he goes for 3,000 yards.

Several factors are involved, though …

— Will Wildcats Ryan Maddox keep feeding Scoby the ball in blowouts? Thirty carries in two games so far ain’t much … so probably not.
— Will Darione Jones’ return from injury cut into Scoby’s carries? He benefits now … but maybe later he won’t.
— Will Scoby stay healthy? All of this crazy talk depends upon Scoby staying healthy and running back is a vulnerable position.
— Will Monrovia play 13,14,15 games? The longer the season goes, the better Scoby3000 looks.
— Will South Hills and St. Francis put the clamps on Scoby? Those two teams could all by themselves eliminate the chance at 3,000.

The luster might be off of Charter Oak-Amat in terms of records, but come on, it’s still CO-Amat! Big Lou vs. Colonel Steve. Public vs. Private. Championship Program vs. Flagship Program.

And Big Lou Farrar knows his team can’t be making mistakes like they did in the first two weeks against Amat, which figures to throw a much tighter performance on Friday than what fans saw vs. Rancho. Nonetheless, Big Lou knows Amat is no joke. And that it all begins with QB Koa Haynes for Amat.

“They have an outstanding quarterback,” Farrar said. “He’s just a great all-around kid, not just a quarterback. We’ve known the kid for a while, too. And he’s just a great kid.

“They’re a very good football team. I mean, they’ve got the best kids around playing for them. They can be very selective and we take the best kids that come our way. That’s basically the difference.”

Northview football is BACK!

1. Bishop Amat (2-1) — Own worst enemy in loss to Rancho.
2. La Habra (3-0) — Not No. 1 because opponents’ records is 1-8.
3. Chino Hills (2-1) — Tesoro opens door for huge season.
4. Monrovia (2-0) — Whipped Arcadia, should do the same to SD.
5. St. Francis (2-0) — Huge test coming vs. hungry La Mirada.
6. Los Altos (3-0) — Wondering how Conqs will do in rugged Hacienda.
7. Glendora (2-0) — Rallied to beat Bonita. Look out now …
8. La Serna (2-1) — Narrow loss to Los Osos is only blemish.
9. Bonita (2-1) — Played Glendora tough. This team is still for real.
10. South Hills (2-1) — Back to being the Kings of Cameron.
11. Santa Fe (3-0) — The forgotten Del Rio/Southeast contender.
12. West Covina (2-1) — Another Sierra beckons in Chino Hills.
13. Whittier Chr. (3-0) — Handed Whittier its first “0”.
14. Charter Oak (0-2) — Two losses by a combined 9 points.
15. Ayala (2-1) — Only blemish is competitive Monrovia loss.
16. Diamond Ranch (2-1) — A blown 16-pt lead away from 3-0.
17. Diamond Bar (2-1) — Simply ran away from San Dimas.
18. Muir (1-1) — Hanging hat on decent showing vs. Alemany.
19. Northview (3-0) — Tough run defense, tough run game. Nice.
20. Arroyo (2-1) — Handed La Puente a reality check.
21. La Salle (2-1) — Two easy wins since Cathedral loss.
21. Rio Hondo Prep (2-1) — Bounced back in style vs. Big Bear.
22. Damien (1-1) — Not sure how Palm Desert was/wasn’t.
23. Pomona (3-0) — Yet another x-factor in Valle Vista.
24. Baldwin Park (3-0) — The turnaround story of the season.
25. La Mirada (0-3) — Hanging by a thread at this point.