Best 2025 California high school football games in CIF Southern Section, week by week

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Southern California, especially the CIF Southern Section, is known for its nationally-ranked football programs, 5-star recruits and monster matchups.

Here is a breakdown of the best games and matchups to watch every all season long, from Week 0 to Week 10 from August through October.

Be sure to check out out High School On SI's preseason coverage, including the preseason All-CIF Southern Section team , the best players in Southern California by position (below) and the preseason Top 25 rankings .

BEST MATCHUPS IN 2025, WEEK TO WEEK (All games are set for Friday unless noted otherwise) WEEK 0, AUG.

21-22 Mission Viejo at Santa Margarita: Mission Viejo QB Luke Fahey (Ohio State) will try to spoil Carson Palmer's coaching debut.

JSerra at Sierra Canyon: This year's edition of Sierra Canyon might be its best.

Starting with a victory over a Trinity League team at home might go a long way.

Servite at Corona Centennial: The winner of this game could set the tone for the season.

Centennial has a new man under center in Dominick Catalano, who basically grew up on the Huskies' home field.

Mater Dei at St.

Thomas Aquinas (FL), Saturday: Nothing like national powers going toe to toe to start the season.

The Monarchs are the No.

1 team in the country.

WEEK 1, AUG.

28-29 Centennial at Santa Margarita, Thursday: A lot of talent on one field.

This game will be coach Carson Palmer's home opener.

Sierra Canyon at Oaks Christian: A classic rivalry that's evolved in Northern Los Angeles the last decade or so.

Winner gets area supremacy for a year.

Rancho Cucamonga at Orange Lutheran: Rancho Cucamonga QB Jacob Chambers will try his hand against a Trinity League power.

WEEK 2, SEPT.

4-5 Oak Hills at Rancho Cucamonga: These two schools are separated by 30 miles, but it feels a lot closer than that.

Bragging rights will be on the line.

Los Alamitos at Gardena Serra: Speed, speed and more speed on display.

Los Al and Serra are always loaded at the skill positions.

St.

Frances Academy (MD) at St.

John Bosco: A national powerhouse matchup in Bellflower.

WEEK 3, SEPT.

11-12 Mater Dei at Corona Centennial: A rematch of the CIF Southern Section Division 1 semifinals in 2024.

The classic private power versus public power.

Gardena Serra at Orange Lutheran: Two notable programs go head to head.

This matchup could impact playoff rankings in Division 1, or the loser ends up in Division 2.

Santa Margarita at Oaks Christian: Some NFL flavor in this one.

Carson Palmer played QB in the NFL.

Charlie Collins coached WRs in the NFL.

Also, USC commit Trent Mosley of SM vs.

Oregon commit Davon Benjamin of Oaks.

WEEK 4, SEPT.

18-19 Mater Dei at Bishop Gorman (NV): This game crowned Mater Dei the national championship before the season ended.

A lot of polls have these two teams No.

1 and 2 preseason.

Sierra Canyon at Orange Lutheran, Thursday: Another litmus test for Sierra Canyon.

This game is likely to determine Division 1 playoffs rankings.

Tustin at Yorba Linda: Flash vs.

Fundamentals in Orange County.

WEEK 5, SEPT.

25-26 Mission Viejo at Chaparral: QB battle.

Luke Fahey of MV vs.

Dane Weber of Chap.

Ventura at Newbury Park: Ventura All-State linebacker Tristan Phillips (Oregon) will try and slow down Newbury Park 5-star QB Brady Smigiel (Michigan).

Murrieta Valley at San Clemente: Two REALLY good Division 2 programs go head to head.

NOTE: League play starts in October ...

WEEK 6, OCT.

2-3 St.

John Bosco at JSerra: Monster Trinity League matchup.

Gardena Serra at Sierra Canyon: This game could decide the Mission League champion in the first week of October.

Rancho Cucamonga at Damien: One of these two teams is likely to win the Baseline League.

This game will be huge.

WEEK 7, OCT.

9-10 Santa Margarita at Mater Dei: Can the Eagles take down the juggernauts? JSerra at Servite: Two Trinity League teams not named Bosco and Mater Dei vying for league position.

Millikan at Long Beach Poly: Millikan won the Moore League last year for the first time since Richard Nixon was in office.

Long Beach Poly is determined to right the ship.

WEEK 8, OCT.

16-17 San Clemente at Mission Viejo : Alpha League title likely on the line.

Big rivalry.

Centennial at Murrieta Valley: This Big West League matchup always seems to go for 100 points or more combined.

St.

John Bosco at Santa Margarita: It seems like the Eagles (SM) are in a big game every week.

WEEK 9, OCT.

23-24 Inglewood at Palos Verdes: This matchup will highlight Inglewood's defense vs.

PV's standout offense led by junior QB Ryan Rakowski.

Bay League title on the line.

WEEK 10, OCT.

30-31 Mater Dei at St.

John Bosco: The game of all games.

San Clemente at Edison: Alpha League title could be in a winner-takes-all situation here if one of these teams knocks off Mission Viejo earlier in the year.

2024 CIF SOUTHERN SECTION RECAP The CIF Southern Section is heralded as one of the most talented high school football state associations in the country, most notably because it's home to juggernaught programs like Mater Dei and St.

John Bosco.

As we head into the 2025 season, here's a headline recap of what happened in the CIF Southern Section last fall.

MATER DEI GOES BACK TO BACK The Monarchs won their second straight CIF-SS Division 1 title and second straight national title in 2024, which was anchored by an ultra-elite defense and first-year coach Raul Lara.

Mater Dei defeated St.

John Bosco 31-24 in the section final before going on to thump De La Salle in the CIF State Open Division title game 37-15.

The 2024 campaign might've garnered the Monarchs their best team ever.

HERE'S WHY NEWBURY PARK STUNS D2 IN TITLE RUN 5-star QB Brady Smigiel and wideout Shane Rosenthal (now at UCLA) led the Panthers the CIF Southern Section Division 2 crown in 2024 after question marks about their soft schedule arose before the postseason.

Newbury Park football forges improbable CIF championship run fueled by naysayers Newbury Park defeated top tier programs like San Jacinto, San Clemente (on the road) and Yorba Linda en route to its 31-28 victory over Murrieta Valley (in Murrieta) to win the Division 2 title.

It was the program's first CIF title since 1993.

JULIUS GILLICK CAN'T PLAY TITLE GAME FOR EDISON One of the section's top runners, Julius Gillick of Edison, is ejected from the CIF Southern Section Division 3 semifinal against Vista Murrieta for two unsportsmanlike penalties.

The first was due to a touchdown celebration.

The second was due to 'excessive celebration'.

Despite an appeal, Gillick couldn't play in the CIF final.

Despite his absence, Edison beat Simi Valley 35-21.

High School On SI reporter Tarek Fattal broke down the controversary (video below).

THE 'COMPETITIVE EQUITY' CHAMPION St.

Pius coach Devah Thomas was not shy about his team's accomplishments in 2024 ...

afterall the season did result in a CIF title.

Under the new competitive equity rules that decide playoff placement, St.

Pius' strength of schedule rating earned the program a berth to the Division 8 playoffs despite being 1-9 (an 0-8 start).

How St.

Pius won a CIF championship after one-win season The Warriors ended up making a run to win the Division 8 crown over Serrano 38-19.

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