Here are the ten burning questions for high school football.
1. Will high school football players take a knee this week? – When former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem to protest police brutality and racial inequality last year, other athletes followed suit, including high school football players.
It wasn’t a large number, but after President Donald Trump tweeted over the weekend that NFL players or other professional athletes should be fired or suspended for kneeling during the national anthem, it re-ignited the debate over whether using the national anthem is the best way to protest social injustice or protest Trump himself.
NFL teams reacted in different ways with some players kneeling and most choosing to lock arms in a show of unity and solidarity, so it will be interesting to watch how high school football players and teams react on Friday.
There will certainly be players that follow suit and protest in some way, whether kneeling or locking arms, particularly schools with large African-American populations. But how widespread will those protests be? How organized will they be? You’ll have to wait until Friday to find out.
2. How will Muir handle the national anthem? The Mustangs play Crescenta Valley at Glendale High and coach Antyone Sims said it’s possible that some players will decide to take a knee, but also noted that it hasn’t been discussed as a team yet.
“When all this happened last year, we took a knee as a team (during the national anthem) because one of our former players’ step father was killed in an episode with the police,” Sims said. “That was a decision we made as team.
“We haven’t talked about what, if anything we will do Friday or how some of our players want to react to it. But just realize we honor the soldiers that fight for our country. It’s not a disrespect to those men and women. The flag represents many different things to different people. It’s personal, and there are different circumstances for everyone.”
3. How is Blair doing in eight-man football? – Because of low participation, Blair pulled out of the Rio Hondo League and nearly suspended its season, but opted to drop to eight-man football instead to keep its program going. The Vikings are still struggling, losing to Sherman Oaks CES 44-12 last week to drop to 0-3.
But more importantly, the Vikings are playing and having the chance to put on pads on Friday night’s like everyone else. The Vikings host Windward on Thursday at Muir.
4. Who is better, Arcadia or Arroyo? We ask because both are in Division 11. Undefeated Arroyo (5-0) won Division 12 last year and is trying to do the same in D11, ranked second in this week’s poll. Arcadia (2-2) moved to No. 4 after beating Muir in last week’s Pacific League opener.
The Apaches’ two losses were to upper-division foes Hart and Cathedral, two teams that would have done the same to Arroyo. Arcadia’s big wins are over La Salle and Muir. Arroyo’s big wins are over Covina and Schurr. It’s close, but the edge probably goes to Arroyo and its experience in big games.
5. Which team has been the biggest surprise? Unfortunately that goes to Bishop Amat and its 0-4 start. In fact, if Amat doesn’t beat Loyola (4-1) in Friday’s Mission League opener, it will have dropped five straight for the first time since 2002.
Nobody expected the Lancers to be world beaters, but after going 7-4 and finishing second in the Mission Last year with a lot of prominent players returning, you expected them to take another step forward. There is still time to recover, but not sure the Lancers have shown enough to just flip the switch because league is here.
6. Will Bishop Amat QB Blake Archuleta start against Loyola? Will likely be a game-time decision. When last seen, Archuleta was wearing a brace over his right shoulder after suffering an injury in the first quarter of a 31-7 loss to Rancho Cucamonga. He has been able to rest following the bye week, but Amat has been hush-hush about his status. If he can’t go, sophomore Aiden Sanchez will likely get the nod.
7. What’s next for La Mirada? The Matadores’ 0-4 start was supposed to end once the Suburban League started because there were no more Mater Dei’s or Orange Lutheran’s to deal with. But Mayfair pushed the Matadores’ winless streak to five with a 20-6 win to open league. So, who knows when a team that was in the Division 3 championship game just a year ago will get its first win in 2017.
8. Why are so many football teams off this week? Most schools in five and six-team leagues take their bye this week to get ready for league. Charter Oak, La Serna, La Habra and Damien are among the many that play a 0 week game in order to have this Friday off to get ready for league.
9. Did South Hills gain confidence in 37-14 loss to Charter Oak? It appears so. The Chargers are ranked No. 1 in Division 3, but South Hills led 14-13 before giving up a safety and touchdown with 14 seconds left in the half to fall behind 23-14 at the break. “We gave up a special teams TD and two pick-sixes,” Huskies coach Matt Bechtel said. “That’s three TDs you take off the board and even with all the mistakes we made on offense, we were in the game.”
The results bode well for South Hills’ (3-1) chances in Division 7, where it is ranked No. 9. And it will know more about itself following Friday’s game against Mira Costa (1-3) at the District Field.
10. Why did St. Francis drop in rankings after win? – It’s always baffling when teams drop for no apparent reason. The Golden Knights were ranked No. 5 in Division 3 last week, beat Saugus 49-20 to improve to 4-0, then was dropped to No. 6 in this week’s poll.
Doesn’t make a lot of sense, other than pollsters aren’t sold yet on a Knights team that has looked more impressive each week.
