August 06, 2015, 05:00 AM By Nathan Mollat Daily Journal
August isn’t the dog days of summer for baseball only, it also applies to high school sports writers.
The first two, three weeks of August are always the slowest of the year for local sports reporters because there is — literally — nothing going on. Summer youth summer baseball season is all but wrapped up and the 2015-16 high school season is still a couple weeks from the start of fall practice.
The good news is: the fall sports season is only a couple weeks from the beginning of practice and we’re about a month before we start seeing some non-league games and matches beginning.
While all sports are important, football, obviously, takes center stage in the fall, so I started poking around various websites, checking out schedules and any available rosters for Peninsula Athletic League teams to see if I can glean any kind of interesting information about the upcoming season.
Here are some early-season nuggets on which to gnaw before the Daily Journal starts running its annual team previews beginning Aug. 25.
Sacred Heart Prep toughens non-league schedule. If there was one thing critics held against the Gators’ perfect 2014 season was their strength of schedule. A closer look at their schedule shows, however, they had much tougher games against their non-league opponents than they did against Bay Division competition.
While Leland and Riordan remain on the schedule this season, SHP has added Palma and Carmel, which were a combined 17-6 last season.
Palma (9-2 in 2014) is a very interesting game. The Chieftains are a team the Gators could meet in the playoffs — in either the Open Division or Division IV.
Sequoia going international. Since 2010, the Cherokees have gone on a long road trip to play one of their non-league games and 2015 is no different.
After visiting San Diego County twice (San Marcos High School, 2010; Valley Center 2014), Oregon (Klamath Falls, 2011), Idaho (Lewiston, 2012) and Utah (Cedar City, 2013), Sequoia will visit our neighbors to the north when they travel to Vancouver, British Columbia to face Vancouver Collegiate Sept. 25.
Sequoia is 4-1 on these road trips, the only blemish being a 34-7 loss to Cedar City in 2013.
Will King’s Academy really start a freshman at quarterback? The Knights, who are moving into the Ocean Division after winning the Lake title and going 9-2 overall in 2014, have on their roster Michael Johnson Jr., listed as a freshman signal caller.
A quick web search shows that Johnson Jr. has already made a name for himself on the national level, showing well at the Rivals Quarterback Challenge Regional Camp in March. He led the Knights’ junior-high squad to a perfect 9-0 record as an eighth-grader last season.
The only reason a freshman would be included on a varsity roster is if he was going to see significant playing time — i.e. starting.
If any freshman was going to be ready to play varsity in his first season, it would be Johnson Jr., who is listed at 6-2, 173 pounds. He definitely has the size to compete at the varsity level and by all accounts, has the potential to be a special one.
Aragon taking a step up. The Dons, which won the Ocean Division title last season and finished 9-2 overall, move back into the Bay Division for the first time since the 2012 season. They replace Menlo School, which moved into the Ocean for 2015.
Capuchino takes on all comers. Second-year coach Ben White has definitely upped the ante with the Mustangs’ non-league schedule, putting together one of toughest preseason slates in the PAL, considering the Mustangs play in the Lake Division.
Cap’s five non-Lake Division opponents went a combined 32-24 last season, including a 10-2 Burlingame squad and an 8-3 San Lorenzo Valley team. Hillsdale was 6-4 while South City and Soquel finished one game under .500 at 4-6.
Tough beginning, end for Hillsdale. The Knights will face three teams that went 9-2 last season. They wrap up non-league play against Christopher-Gilroy before facing defending Lake Division champion King’s Academy the following week in the Ocean Division opener. They end the season against rival Aragon.
Nathan Mollat can be reached by email: nathan@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: 344-5200, ext. 117. You can follow him on Twitter @CheckkThissOutt
August isn’t the dog days of summer for baseball only, it also applies to high school sports writers.
The first two, three weeks of August are always the slowest of the year for local sports reporters because there is — literally — nothing going on. Summer youth summer baseball season is all but wrapped up and the 2015-16 high school season is still a couple weeks from the start of fall practice.
The good news is: the fall sports season is only a couple weeks from the beginning of practice and we’re about a month before we start seeing some non-league games and matches beginning.
While all sports are important, football, obviously, takes center stage in the fall, so I started poking around various websites, checking out schedules and any available rosters for Peninsula Athletic League teams to see if I can glean any kind of interesting information about the upcoming season.
Here are some early-season nuggets on which to gnaw before the Daily Journal starts running its annual team previews beginning Aug. 25.
Sacred Heart Prep toughens non-league schedule. If there was one thing critics held against the Gators’ perfect 2014 season was their strength of schedule. A closer look at their schedule shows, however, they had much tougher games against their non-league opponents than they did against Bay Division competition.
While Leland and Riordan remain on the schedule this season, SHP has added Palma and Carmel, which were a combined 17-6 last season.
Palma (9-2 in 2014) is a very interesting game. The Chieftains are a team the Gators could meet in the playoffs — in either the Open Division or Division IV.
Sequoia going international. Since 2010, the Cherokees have gone on a long road trip to play one of their non-league games and 2015 is no different.
After visiting San Diego County twice (San Marcos High School, 2010; Valley Center 2014), Oregon (Klamath Falls, 2011), Idaho (Lewiston, 2012) and Utah (Cedar City, 2013), Sequoia will visit our neighbors to the north when they travel to Vancouver, British Columbia to face Vancouver Collegiate Sept. 25.
Sequoia is 4-1 on these road trips, the only blemish being a 34-7 loss to Cedar City in 2013.
Will King’s Academy really start a freshman at quarterback? The Knights, who are moving into the Ocean Division after winning the Lake title and going 9-2 overall in 2014, have on their roster Michael Johnson Jr., listed as a freshman signal caller.
A quick web search shows that Johnson Jr. has already made a name for himself on the national level, showing well at the Rivals Quarterback Challenge Regional Camp in March. He led the Knights’ junior-high squad to a perfect 9-0 record as an eighth-grader last season.
The only reason a freshman would be included on a varsity roster is if he was going to see significant playing time — i.e. starting.
If any freshman was going to be ready to play varsity in his first season, it would be Johnson Jr., who is listed at 6-2, 173 pounds. He definitely has the size to compete at the varsity level and by all accounts, has the potential to be a special one.
Aragon taking a step up. The Dons, which won the Ocean Division title last season and finished 9-2 overall, move back into the Bay Division for the first time since the 2012 season. They replace Menlo School, which moved into the Ocean for 2015.
Capuchino takes on all comers. Second-year coach Ben White has definitely upped the ante with the Mustangs’ non-league schedule, putting together one of toughest preseason slates in the PAL, considering the Mustangs play in the Lake Division.
Cap’s five non-Lake Division opponents went a combined 32-24 last season, including a 10-2 Burlingame squad and an 8-3 San Lorenzo Valley team. Hillsdale was 6-4 while South City and Soquel finished one game under .500 at 4-6.
Tough beginning, end for Hillsdale. The Knights will face three teams that went 9-2 last season. They wrap up non-league play against Christopher-Gilroy before facing defending Lake Division champion King’s Academy the following week in the Ocean Division opener. They end the season against rival Aragon.
Nathan Mollat can be reached by email: nathan@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: 344-5200, ext. 117. You can follow him on Twitter @CheckkThissOutt
