…. I know, I know, football dominates this blog like it does every
other blog, but every now and then it needs a break, however brief it
might be, in the action.

Here’s a Daily News preseason Top 5 for boys water polo:
1. Montebello
2. La Serna
3. Whittier
4. El Rancho
5. Take your pick from La Habra, California or Santa Fe.

Hope somebody is listening.
And cares.
Enough to share.
.

Schedule
Football
Thursday’s games
Montclair vs. La Serna, at California HS, 7 p.m.
La Habra at Westminster, 7 p.m.
Friday’s games
Montebello at El Rancho, 7 p.m.
St. Paul at Cantwell Sacred Heart, 7 p.m.
Whittier at South El Monte, 7 p.m.
Paramount at La Mirada, 7 p.m.
Hacienda Height Wilson at Schurr, 7 p.m.
Bassett at California, 7 p.m.
Pioneer vs. Gladstone, at Citrus College, 7 p.m.
Santa Fe at Huntington Park, 7 p.m.
Saturday’s games
St. Margaret’s vs. Whittier Christian, at Whittier College, 7 p.m.

The week’s big game?
For sheer rivalries sake, how about Montebello at El Rancho, or St. Paul at Cantwell Secred Heart (and it’s newly sodded field)?
Or maybe Saturday night’s game at Whittier College between St. Margaret’s, the Northeast Division’s defending champion and ranked No. 1 in this week’s poll, vs. Whittier Christian, ranked No. 4 in a big jump from No. 8 last week?
It was St. Margaret’s that ended the Heralds’ fine season a week short of their goal by handing them a 35-21 setback in the Northeast Division semifinals a year ago.
The rest of the area teams in this week’s CIF polls:
La Habra, No. 2 in the Southeast Diviison
La Serna, No. 3 (Southeast)
Cantwell Sacred Heart, No. 3 (Mid-Valley)
California, No. 4 (Southeast)
Santa Fe, No. 6 (Southeast)
St. Paul, No. 6 (Western)
Schurr, No. 8 (Southeast)
Pioneer (No. 9 (Southeast)

Nine out of 13 area schools ranked among the Top 10 teams in their respective divisions.
Not too shabby!

After suffering some surprising losses in Week 1, a couple of area teams
made impressive turnarounds this week.
And others made turnarounds not so impressive:

Santa Fe 28, Peninsula 22
Chiefs defense tough in second half, Turner’s two TDs spark offense

St. Paul 17, Redondo Union 16
Defense provides time for offense to rally from 16-0 down, Haynes has 148 yards.

La Serna 28, Norwalk 12
QB Ben Burke 6-8-164-3TDs, Rudy Jordan 19-107 as Lancers improve 2-0

Pioneer 29, South El Monte 14
Matt Botello 105 yards and a touchdown to go with a 33-yard scoring reception.

California 33, El Monte 6
Jasper Meza 101 yards (10.1 ypc) and 2 TDs, Blake Barragan 72-yard scoring punt return.

Charter Oak 27, La Mirada 0
Matadores can’t win if they can’t score.

La Habra 31, South Hills 6
Defense, special teams sparkle as Highlanders play like Division contenders.

Cantwell 40, Bassett 6
Cardinals tuning up for meeting with St. Paul next week.

Bell Gardens 27, El Rancho 16
Dons can’t hold third quarter lead, despite Hernandez’s 11-21-159-1TD passing.

Rowland 32, Montebello 26
Oilers waste quarterback Eli Mendibles’ 61-yard touchdown run.

Downey 42, Schurr 23
Spartans’ early advantage erased when Vikings score on four consecutive possessions.

Tonight’s schedule:
Whittier vs. Verbum Dei, at Compton Centennial HS, 7 p.m.
Whittier Christian vs. LA Baptist, at Alemany HS, 7 p.m.

From left, La Serna High School (Whittier) DLs Oscar Orosco, Able Ramirez, Joe Cannon, Louie Lozano and Zeid Nesheiwat. (SGVN/Staff Photo by Raul Roa/SPORTS)

I know, I know, it’s still early.

It still deserves a mention.

Seven games into the season, the Del Rio League is 6-1.

And the leader is Pioneer (2-0).

And the one loss is six-time defending DRL champion Santa Fe’s.

Three of the six league members are ranked among the top 1-0 in this week’s CIF Southern Section, Southeast Division (VII) poll: La Serna (3), California (4) and Santa Fe (7).

Two others, Pioneer and Whittier, received votes.

All this is big because the Del Rio League doesn’t get alot of support among the voters, in any sport for that matter. This is especially true when it comes playoff time and the brackets are set up.

Last week, the DRL guys outscored their opponents, 156-91, perhaps not the most impressive ratio, but still, that’s an average of 26-15 per game. And that’s more than just decent in anybody’s league.

In this week’s CIF-SS polls, eight of the area’s 13 teams are ranked among the top 10 teams in their respective divisions. In addition to La Serna, California and Santa Fe, they are: Schurr (No. 2, Southwest/VII), Cantwell (No. 3, Mid-Valley/XI), La Habra (No. 5, Southeast/VII), St. Paul (No. 7, Western/III) and Whittier Christian (No. 8, Northeast/XIII).

In addition to Pioneer and Whittier, La Mirada (Southwest) also received votes. The only area teams left out of the polls were El Rancho, which won its opener over Cerritos, and Montebello, winless in two games.

Which area teams has the staying power to remain in the polls?