When it comes to the best high school football leagues in the country, year-in and year-out, the Trinity League in Southern California is usually ranked #1 or #2 in the nation. 2016 will be no different with both Mater Dei and St. John Bosco, looking like they could be Top 10 teams in the nation as we continue to work on our preseason rankings with our algorithm.
Our preseason Top 25 will be released on August 1st, but in the meantime, High School Football America is putting together a comprehensive list of SoCal high school football schedules during the month of July.
Today, you can check-out the schedules for all six Trinity League schools, by clicking on the links below.
St. John Bosco, which has won four straight titles, enters the season with the toughest non-league schedule, at least on-paper with our algorithm. Bosco, which finished ranked #8 in our national rankings last season, opens on-the-road against Cincinnati-power St. Xavier. That game will be part of the ESPN GEICO High School Football Classic, which will air on ESPN on August 27th. After that, the Braves return to Southern California to take-on 2015 California Division III-AA champ La Mirada in an away game on September 2nd.
For the second straight year, St. John Bosco, which is the only Trinity League school with an on-campus football field, will be forced to play all of its home games away from home while its field receives a facelift that began in 2015. That means the Braves Week 3 home game against Nevada’s Bishop Gorman will be played in Long Beach at Veterans Stadium.
Bosco’s other two non-league games are against Crespi and St. Mary’s from Stockton.
What’s interesting is that, in addition to St. John Bosco, La Mirada will play two other Trinity League schools this season. LM head coach Mike Moschetti, who believes in tough non-league competition, has scheduled the Matadores to play Orange Lutheran, Bosco and Mater Dei on back-to-back-to-back weeks.
Mater Dei has the second toughest non-league preseason schedule with match-ups against Bishop Amat, Mayfair, La Mirada, Upland and Edison.
Orange Lutheran checks-in with the third toughest schedule, according to our proprietary algorithm that we’ve been using to create our rankings since 2013. The Lancers open at home with La Mirada in Week 1 and Crespi in Week 2, before taking to the road for Corona Centennial on September 9th. Last year, Corona Centennial finished #5 in our national rankings.
OLu’s other non-league games are against Norco and Mullen, which is usually one of the top teams in Colorado.
JSerra has really improved its non-league schedule this year. After the Lions, who have the fourth toughest schedule in the preseason, open with Sacramento Charter, they have non-league match-ups with Alemany, Bishop Amat, Vista Murrieta and Los Alamitos.
Right behind JSerra is Santa Margarita. The Eagles open with defending CIF Division I-AA champ Mission Viejo followed by Loyola, Alemany, Westlake and King from Riverside.
Servite, which played one of the toughest schedules in the nation last season, enters the season with a little bit easier schedule, according to our algorithm. The Friars open with Fountain Valley, followed by Bishop Amat, a home game against national power De La Salle, Villa Park and Garfield from Los Angeles.
Finally, and not putting the cart-before-the-horse, for those of you that believe that the Trinity League is a two horse race between Bosco and Mater Dei, circle October 21st on your calendar when the two will square-off at Falcon Field at Cerritos College.
