{"id":458381,"date":"2026-09-09T16:44:19","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T16:44:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/458381\/"},"modified":"2026-09-09T16:44:19","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T16:44:19","slug":"press-telegram-football-previews-and-predictions-for-week-3s-top-games-press-telegram","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/458381\/","title":{"rendered":"Press-Telegram football: Previews and predictions for Week 3\u2019s top games \u2013 Press Telegram"},"content":{"rendered":"

Previews and predictions for the top high school football games in the Long Beach area this week. The teams are listed by their ranking in the Press-Telegram Top 10<\/a>.<\/p>\n

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL<\/p>\n

GAME OF THE WEEK<\/p>\n

Carson (2-1) vs. No. 2 Long Beach Poly (1-2)<\/p>\n

Where, when: Cabrillo High, Friday, 7 p.m.<\/p>\n

Analysis: Long Beach Poly is coming off a 16-13<\/a> road loss against Tustin on Sept. 4. The Jackrabbits are on a two-game losing streak heading into a local showdown against Carson, the defending CIF-Los Angeles City Section Open Division champions. Success has been fleeting for Poly this season since a 24-7<\/a> season-opening win against Downey. However, only scoring 13 points in consecutive losses to Yorba Linda<\/a> and Tustin has Poly focused on getting its offense rolling by leaning on a trio of running backs in Steven Hunter, Elijah Dawson and Jeron Johnson, who scored the team\u2019s only touchdown last week, and figuring out effective ways to get the ball to receivers like Jayden Coley and Zion Anderson. All five players have breakaway speed. Meanwhile, junior quarterback Ace Fa\u2019gata<\/a> completed 13 of 15 passes for 111 yards but threw an interception and had a costly fumble, which Tustin recovered for a touchdown.<\/p>\n

Carson is coming off a 35-20 loss<\/a> against Palos Verdes on Sept. 3. Senior quarterback Chris Fields III completed 9 of 14 passes for 71 yards and one interception. Fields ran for 83 yards and three touchdowns on 18 carries.<\/p>\n

If Poly is going to win, they must make it extremely hard for Fields to run the ball, especially in the red zone. If the Jackrabbits can stop Fields from scrambling and picking up first downs with his legs, they will improve to 2-2.<\/p>\n

Winner: Long Beach Poly<\/p>\n

\"LongLong Beach Poly\u2019s Jeron Johnson II (9) carries against Yorba Linda in a non-league game at Veterans Stadium in Long Beach on Friday August 28, 2026. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)<\/p>\n

Kahuku of Hawaii (3-1) vs. No. 1 St. John Bosco (2-1)<\/p>\n

Where, when: St. John Bosco, Friday, 7 p.m.<\/p>\n

Analysis: St. John Bosco is coming off a 26-14<\/a> come-from-behind victory at Pittsburg on Sept. 4. The Braves trailed 14-0 in the first quarter but scored the game\u2019s final 26 points to secure the victory. Senior running back Maliq Allen ran for 143 yards and one touchdown on 22 carries. Allen, who is a three-year starter, also had a team-high four receptions for 61 yards and one touchdown.<\/p>\n

Kahuku is coming off a 28-21 home loss to Serra of San Mateo on Sept. 4. The Raiders trailed 21-0 at halftime and were not able to pull off the come-from-behind victory in the second half. Kahuku beat St. John Bosco 30-23<\/a> in Hawaii in 2023 and is one of the few programs not intimidated by Bosco.<\/p>\n

However, the Braves will be more than ready to defend Panish Family Stadium, and if they can get the team\u2019s running game going by featuring Allen, Bosco should improve to 3-1.<\/p>\n

Winner: St. John Bosco<\/p>\n

\"St.St. John Bosco\u2019s Maliq Allen (5) tries to break free close to the goaline in Bellflower, CA, on Friday, August 28, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)<\/p>\n

No. 4 Los Alamitos (0-3) vs. No. 3 Downey (1-2)<\/p>\n

Where, when: Downey High, Friday, 7 p.m.<\/p>\n

Analysis: Los Alamitos is coming off a 34-23 loss<\/a> at home to Gardena Serra on Sept. 4 and is pining for the team\u2019s first victory of the season under first-year coach Rory Schoonmaker. Griffins junior quarterback Elijah McDaniel completed 11 of 18 passes for 183 yards and two touchdowns last week.<\/p>\n

Downey is coming off an emotional 39-10<\/a> home victory against Millikan on Sept. 4. The Vikings, who were led by senior receiver Damani Porras with three touchdown catches, scored 26 unanswered points to secure the win. However, Los Alamitos needs to pick up wins before Alpha League play begins on Oct. 2.<\/p>\n

With the Griffins\u2019 at-large playoff eligibility at stake and an improving offense, Los Alamitos is ripe to win its first game of the season on the road against Downey.<\/p>\n

Winner: Los Alamitos<\/p>\n

\"LosLos Alamitos quarterback Elijah McDaniel (11) throws the ball during a nonleague game against Huntington Beach in Huntington Beach on Thursday, August 27, 2026. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Orange County Register\/SCNG)<\/p>\n

No. 10 Lakewood (1-2) vs. No. 7 Mayfair (2-1)<\/p>\n

Where, when: Bellflower High, Friday, 7 p.m.<\/p>\n

Analysis: The Milk Bucket Trophy is on the line. Mayfair is coming off a 52-48 road victory against Marquez on Sept. 3. Senior running back Jeromy Powell ran for 254 yards and four touchdowns on 36 carries. Powell has averaged 214.5 rushing yards in Mayfair\u2019s two victories.<\/p>\n

However, Lakewood won last season\u2019s rivalry game 35-7<\/a> at home.<\/p>\n

The Lancers are coming off a 26-24 loss at home to Ventura on Sept. 4. Despite the loss, Lakewood scored more points last week (24) than they did the first two games combined (15). However, they struggled to stop Ventura\u2019s rushing attack, which amassed 171 yards and two touchdowns on 34 carries. If Powell has another big game, Mayfair should bring home the Milk Bucket Trophy for the eighth time in the last nine games.<\/p>\n

Winner: Mayfair<\/p>\n

\"MayfairsMayfairs Jeromy Powell (3) celebrates his touchdown as the Monsoons take on Wilson in Bellflower, CA, on Friday, August 21, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Previews and predictions for the top high school football games in the Long Beach area this week. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":458382,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[7,2043,2044,131,133,132,137,127],"class_list":["post-458381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-california","tag-high-school-football","tag-high-school-sports","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news","tag-los-angeles-county","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=458381"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458381\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/458382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=458381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=458381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=458381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}