It’s Narbonne and everyone else.
That’s what lots of coaches think about the upcoming City Section football season in Division I as practice officially begins on Monday.
“If anyone doesn’t believe they’re going to be in the championship game, then they must not be alive, really,” Garfield Coach Lorenzo Hernandez said of the Gauchos. “We hope to meet them in the Coliseum for the championship.”
It’s true that Narbonne is the strong favorite to win its fourth title in the last five seasons. Ten of 11 starters are back on offense and the defense is considered the strength of the team. The Gauchos showed how good their skill-position players were by winning the Edison seven on seven passing tournament in July against the likes of St. John Bosco and Santa Ana Mater Dei.
But forgotten is that several teams came close to knocking off Narbonne last season and also return lots of players, most notably Marine League rival San Pedro. It’s going to be one of the best teams in Coach Mike Walsh’s 25 seasons as head coach for the Pirates.
"I'm always excited," Walsh said. "I wake up in the morning with my cup of coffee and after I drink it, I'm excited."
Asked about his team, Walsh said, "I think they're capable of being very good."
San Pedro is always good when it has a veteran quarterback, and Jacob Miller will be in his third season as a starter. Antonio Frazier is back from a broken leg, and the standout defensive back-receiver can be counted on to cause all kinds of trouble when he and his teammates face Narbonne in the regular-season finale on Nov. 6 at San Pedro.
That game will surely be a sellout, and Walsh knows how to put a game plan together against the Gauchos.
Garfield made it to the Division I semifinals last season, losing to Narbonne, 14-10. The speedy Marquis Williams returns and the Bulldogs are adding players off a 9-1 freshman-sophomore team.
Crenshaw is poised to return to prominence after relying on lots of underclassmen last season. Quarterback Daiyan Henley showed his potential as a sophomore and defensive back Marquis Lawson has a UCLA scholarship offer.
Division I should produce a much more competitive 16-team playoff draw after revising its divisions. Moving up to Division I from Division II include Hamilton, Sylmar, South Gate, Eagle Rock and San Fernando.
Los Angeles won the Division III championship last season and moves up to Division II, where Chatsworth should provide plenty of competition with nine returning defensive starters and the development of quarterback Tyger Goslin.
In Division III, it should be wide open.
All three division champions from the City Section will qualify for CIF state championship bowl games in December under a new format that allows every section champion in the state to advance to a bowl game.
One of the most intriguing story lines will involve the Coliseum League, which has added Hawkins and Los Angeles to the league that includes Crenshaw and Dorsey. Los Angeles Coach Eric Scott is a Crenshaw grad and former Crenshaw assistant coach.
Hawkins has a group of highly regarded college prospects but is ineligible for any playoff berth for rule violations involving ineligible players. Also ineligible for the playoffs in Division II is University, which received sanctions for using an ineligible player last season.
Zero week games begin on Aug. 28.
Narbonne's opener is against Long Beach Poly on Thursday, Sept. 3, at Narbonne.
