Practice this week has been a little off but we still maintain the mental focus for the game against El Rancho. This is the first time that Diamond Ranch will play El Rancho. Watching film, we noticed that their quarterback is one of their main threats, which made practice a lot of more getting used to the option and quarterback run.

Gardena Serra was hoping to experience the trip of a lifetime and participate in the Beehive Classic in Salt Lake City, Utah this weekend. After a late change in plans and cancellations of air travel that was initially to be provided by the tournament's sponsors, the Serra and Long Beach Poly boys were left with two choices.

The time has come. The 2012 college football season kicks off Thursday with a good set of games to get the ball rolling.

The only ranked team on the slate are #9 South Carolina who opens the year on the road against Vanderbilt in an early season SEC clash.

Another intriguing story line is the debut of Brett Hundley as UCLA starting quarterback in head coach Jim L. Mora’s first game at the helm.

In the battle of the Cougars, Washington State travels to Provo to take on BYU in Mike Leach’s inaugural game as WSU head coach.

Games to Watch

The Gardena Serra Cavaliers pulled out a thrilling 26-23 road victory over the Notre Dame (CA) Knights in front of a raucous crowd in Sherman Oaks Friday night.

The first half was dominated by the defensive side of the ball as both teams struggled to produce. Notre Dame led 3-0 at the intermission.

The second half got off to a dramatic start when Serra forced a fumble on the opening kickoff after a crushing hit by the Cavaliers defender Malik Roberson.

Practice has been good this week. We have all mentally and physically prepared ourselves for this challenge versus Notre Dame this week. Last year we lost our first opening game versus Notre Dame since 2007 and then we lost in the 1st Round of playoffs to Culver City. It hurt our team badly. We want to seek redemption and put everything we have on the field tomorrow.

As CLA expected, the UCLA Bruins and first-year head coach Jim L Mora named former Chandler (AZ) standout quarterback Brett Hundley the starter last week. The expectation is that Hundley’s dual threat ability will flourish in their new spread offense.

The redshirt freshman beat out returning quarterbacks Kevin Prince and Richard Brehaut to claim the starting nod. The insertion of Hundley will surely energize the fan base and provide the Bruins stability under center for the foreseeable future.