High school football: Southern Section Friday scores, upsets and blowouts to open the season

Week 1 delivered everything fans love about High school football in the CIF Southern Section—punishing defenses, fourth-quarter heartburn, and scoreboards that wouldn’t stop blinking. A handful of programs announced themselves with statement wins, while others survived by a single point. Nonleague slates don’t decide championships, but they shape reputations and, in this section, feed into the rankings that determine postseason placement down the line. Friday’s results offered a first real look at who’s ahead of schedule, who’s still figuring it out, and which games will age well once league play hits.

The spread told the story. Corona del Mar outlasted Santa Barbara 28-27 in a thriller. Cypress did the same to Brea Olinda, 21-20. On the other end, Aquinas hammered Glendora 37-7, Arroyo Valley pitched a 38-0 shutout of Nuview Bridge, and Bishop Diego cruised 42-6 over West Ranch. Somewhere in the middle: Apple Valley’s 16-6 defensive grind past Highland and a high-wire 50-42 shootout that Claremont wrestled away from Diamond Bar.

Opening-night takeaways

Defense showed up early and loudly. Cathedral City blanked San Bernardino 6-0, an old-school slugfest where field position and patience mattered more than flash. Crescenta Valley edged Knight 13-9, a game that likely swung on one or two red-zone trips. Apple Valley’s 16-6 win over Highland fit the same blueprint—short fields, long drives, and tackles that thumped. A cluster of shutouts underlined that theme: Arroyo Valley 38-0 over Nuview Bridge, Bonita 37-0 over Diamond Ranch, and Century 41-0 over Santa Clara. First Fridays often favor defenses; timing on offense takes a week or two to catch up.

Then came the haymakers. Aquinas (37-7 over Glendora) and Bishop Diego (42-6 over West Ranch) didn’t just win, they separated. Crean Lutheran rolled St. Pius X–St. Matthias 42-9, and Crespi handled Golden Valley 41-16. Brentwood’s 38-7 rout of Hueneme added to the pile. Those kinds of margins suggest depth, clean special teams, and a lot of early-down success. Anaheim Canyon looked sharp too, beating Ayala 26-7, while Anaheim opened with a 34-13 win over Katella that should travel well into September.

And yes, there was chaos—the good kind. Corona del Mar’s 28-27 survival against Santa Barbara and Cypress’s 21-20 edge over Brea Olinda are the sort of one-score games that hinge on extra points, pooch kicks, or a gutsy fourth-down call. Camarillo’s 22-14 win over Rio Mesa wore the vibe of a neighborhood contest that turns on who gets the last stop. Colton’s 28-21 finish over Eisenhower qualified too—one of those nights where one possession becomes a mountain late. Claremont 50, Diamond Bar 42 was the wildest sprint of the night, the game you circle when you want fireworks.

The region-by-region picture added texture. In Orange County, Corona del Mar’s escape and Cypress’s one-point win showed polish under pressure, while Anaheim programs came out swinging. In the San Gabriel Valley, Bonita’s 37-0 shutout and Claremont’s shootout win drew attention for very different reasons. Ventura County got its own showcase as Camarillo put away Rio Mesa 22-14 and Buena outscored Canyon (Canyon Country) 44-30. Inland, Aquinas and Apple Valley both leaned on defense, and Colton closed the door late on Eisenhower. The contrast is the point—different styles, same stakes.

Early-season patterns aren’t gospel, but they’re not noise either. Big margins tend to track with line play and tackling form—things that hold up against better opponents. One-score results often reveal something else: sideline management, special-teams polish, and the ability to string first downs when everyone in the stadium knows you’re running it. Expect coaches this week to chase fewer penalties, cleaner snapping routines, and sharper two-minute offense. August and early September are when teams iron out those details before league play raises the floor.

Every score from Friday

Finals across the Southern Section nonleague schedule:

• Anaheim 34, Katella 13
• Anaheim Canyon 26, Ayala 7
• Apple Valley 16, Highland 6
• Aquinas 37, Glendora 7
• Arroyo Valley 38, Nuview Bridge 0
• Bishop Diego 42, West Ranch 6
• Bonita 37, Diamond Ranch 0
• Bell Gardens 14, El Rancho 7
• Brentwood 38, Hueneme 7
• Buena 44, Canyon (Canyon Country) 30
• Camarillo 22, Rio Mesa 14
• Cathedral City 6, San Bernardino 0
• Century 41, Santa Clara 0
• Cerritos 35, Gahr 7
• Claremont 50, Diamond Bar 42
• Colton 28, Eisenhower 21
• Corona del Mar 28, Santa Barbara 27
• Crean Lutheran 42, St. Pius X–St. Matthias 9
• Crespi 41, Golden Valley 16
• Crescenta Valley 13, Knight 9
• Cypress 21, Brea Olinda 20

For fans tracking trends, a few buckets make sense:

• One-score or down-to-the-wire: Corona del Mar–Santa Barbara (28-27), Cypress–Brea Olinda (21-20), Colton–Eisenhower (28-21), Crescenta Valley–Knight (13-9), Camarillo–Rio Mesa (22-14), Bell Gardens–El Rancho (14-7).
• Shutouts and defensive clamps: Arroyo Valley–Nuview Bridge (38-0), Bonita–Diamond Ranch (37-0), Century–Santa Clara (41-0), Cathedral City–San Bernardino (6-0).
• Big-margin statements: Aquinas–Glendora (37-7), Bishop Diego–West Ranch (42-6), Crean Lutheran–St. Pius X–St. Matthias (42-9), Crespi–Golden Valley (41-16), Brentwood–Hueneme (38-7), Anaheim–Katella (34-13), Anaheim Canyon–Ayala (26-7).

Why it matters this soon: in the Southern Section, nonleague work feeds the math that sorts teams into playoff groupings later. Strength of schedule and how you perform against it can nudge a program up or down a division line. That’s why the first two or three Fridays carry outsized weight—teams are still raw, but the results count just the same. A clean 3-0 nonleague record looks great in October, and even a 1-2 mark hits differently if those games came against heavy hitters.

Look for two coaching points to dominate practice this week. First, special teams. A pair of one-point finals is your weekly reminder that PATs, snap-and-hold timing, and kickoff coverage are not side quests; they decide games. Second, situational offense. Several teams needed a first down to ice things or a red-zone call to flip momentum. The squads that solve those moments early usually steal an extra win before league play.

There’s a human side to opening night too. Student sections were loud, bands were back, and you could feel the nerves on early possessions—false starts, rushed throws, late substitutions. That’s normal in late summer heat. By the second half, conditioning and depth started to matter. Programs that handled rotations and hydration well kept their edge late, which shows up in those fourth-quarter scorelines.

Next week’s nonleague slate will test whether Friday’s big winners can back it up against stiffer resistance and whether the narrow survivors can clean up the edges. If you’re scouting: Can Aquinas and Bishop Diego sustain those margins against tougher fronts? Do Corona del Mar and Cypress turn one-point escapes into comfortable wins? Does a defense-first team like Apple Valley keep squeezing opponents under 10? Those are the threads to tug as the calendar flips toward league play.

It’s only one night, but it was a revealing one—shutouts in one corner, 50-burgers in another, and a couple of classics decided by a single kick. That’s Southern Section football in late August: noisy, imperfect, and wildly entertaining.