Desert Valley Blitz
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Desert Valley Blitz
Ep#5-Desert Teams Battle Through Non-League Challenges
The real season begins when league play starts—everything else is just preparation.
This week's episode features special guest Coach Bill Johnson of Coachella Valley High School, who brings his championship experience to break down Week 4 action across the desert. As a four-time DVL champion coach, Johnson offers unique insights into program building, explaining how CV's success stems from a culture where "kids work really hard both on and off the field" and coaches who "love the details of preparing players."
A fascinating pattern emerges throughout our conversation: desert football programs deliberately schedule challenging non-league opponents to prepare for crucial league matchups. "We're playing teams that if we make certain types of mistakes, we'll be punished for it," Johnson explains. "That's what we set up for them." This strategy of "putting ourselves through the fire" is shared by programs like Palm Desert, Palm Springs, and Yucca Valley.
Week 4 highlights included Palm Springs' impressive 49-42 comeback victory over Colton, where quarterback Bishop Miller outplayed a D1 recruit; La Quinta's gutsy 22-21 win against undefeated Hesperia secured by a two-point conversion with 40 seconds remaining; and Shadow Hills' dominant 44-10 performance against Desert Hot Springs.
Looking ahead to Week 5, we preview must-watch matchups including Yucca Valley at Xavier Prep, Palm Springs hosting Yucaipa, and CV welcoming El Centro. We also discuss the upcoming 2026 Valley super conference that will reorganize local teams into tiered divisions, creating new rivalries while preserving traditional ones like the always-electric CV vs. Yucca Valley game.
Whether you're a die-hard football fan or just want to stay connected to local sports, this episode delivers expert analysis, insider knowledge, and the passion that makes desert football special. Subscribe now and join the conversation about the teams and players shaping this exciting season!
#highschoolfootball #coachellavalley #football #mayorscup #indiohighschool #shadowhillshighschool #palmdeserthighschool #laquintahighschool #coachellavalleyhighschool #palmspringshighschool #xavierprep #ranchomiragehighschool #cathedralcityhighschool #desertmiragehighschool #desertchristianacademy #desertchapel #deserthotspringshighschool #yuccavalleyhighschool #29palmshighschool
welcome back everyone to desert valley blitz. Today we have a special co-host for week four roundup. Right, coach, we're real excited. We've got the, the legend himself, mr coach bill johnson of cv. Welcome coming in to give us his expert analysis on week four. Man, thanks for coming in. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2:We'll see how expert this analysis is. Well, I'll share some thoughts we're here for it.
Speaker 1:Yeah we're really excited. So, coach, I mean let's, before we get into the weekly week for a wrap up, we want to kind of, you know, shine some light on your, on your team, and you know your guys have been DV, a perennial dvl power, for the last maybe 10 years now. I mean you've won four dvl out of five championships. Um, you know, what do you attribute some of your success?
Speaker 2:uh, you know, these last few years we've we've had a lot of success, absolutely, um, uh, I would uh just the program culture. Um, we work, our kids work really hard, both on and off the field, getting the academics to get ready to play so that we can have all our guys together and have that continuity throughout. And we, you know, we practice hard, we practice with a purpose and you know I've got a great staff of guys that love coaching and love the details of preparing players to be at their best on Friday night. So you know that's a big part of it. You know what I mean is the staff and the student passion.
Speaker 1:Yeah Well, you guys are doing your thing. I mean, anybody that knows anything about desert football knows that Coachella Valley. You go to a Coachella Valley game. You're going to see some points.
Speaker 2:You're not going to see.
Speaker 1:No 7-0, 14-7 games. I mean, you guys are known to light up the scoreboard. So you know and I think that kind of you know it comes all back to the head coach and your philosophy and the way you're doing things. So shout out to you guys at CV man, you guys are doing a great job. Hey, man, you guys are doing a great job. You've got a lot of great players and a lot of great coaches.
Speaker 2:I appreciate that On behalf of all of us working and grinding in the hot sun out there in thermal. We're working towards something. We're building something this season. We're on the grind. We're working on not getting the results early that maybe we'd wanted to. Tough non-league yeah, but that's by design. Myself and the athletic director, jason Castillo, put together a schedule that was going to be very testing of our returners and also testing of guys who are new to the roles that they're playing.
Speaker 1:Well, speaking of your ambitious schedule, coach week four, you guys go out to Blythe and play Palo Verde Valley. Final score Palo Verde Valley 40, coachella Valley 24. What did you kind of see? What did you like in that game? What did you not like about that game?
Speaker 2:Well, we certainly didn't like the loss.
Speaker 1:We didn't like the result.
Speaker 2:We didn't like that much but, in all seriousness, you know, there are a lot of positive things that we're going to take from it. We had a lot of young guys step up. We have a lot of young guys in the starting lineup offensively and defensively. We've got a couple sophomores. On our offensive line, we have a freshman playing strong safety, we have sophomores and outside linebacker and a corner. We've got, you know, a lot of guys stepping up into young guys, stepping up into big roles, and so I saw some really positive things from those players.
Speaker 2:Defensively, roger Perez, who's been playing receiver and jumped in as a defensive back and played well but then at receiver his first varsity touchdown on a 24-yard catch and run at the end of the game and so just showing what he's ready to contribute to the varsity program as a 10th grader. And so that's exciting to see Javi Olivas, our middle linebacker and captain of the team, you know, relentless in his effort and just a tough kid just doing what he needs to do to will the defense forward with him. And yeah, we gave up more points than we wanted to, but those are things that we can take a look at and say, okay, it's preseason, so we're giving ourselves those challenging pieces. What do we need to do to make those improvements? And you know we're a work in progress and as coaches we're always talking with each other about it and talking with the players and we're going to get back to work and get it going Offensively. We moved the ball great. We had over 400 yards of offense. We had over 400 yards of offense?
Speaker 2:Yeah, you did. We had 430 yards of offense. We got down to the goal line and we stalled up inside the five. And that's something we can't do and the students, athletes, know that's not what we do. We get down there, we score, and so we got down there multiple times and didn't come out with points and that ultimately hurt the result.
Speaker 2:On know, on the positive end, we've, you know, we got a young offensive line that's doing a good job. You know what I mean that we have kind of been working with over the last week. You know kind of we shifted some players into some different positions. After the Vista game we won our opener on the road down at Vista lost two of our starting offensive linemen. So we've been plugging in guys to kind of who's going to step up and who's going to play. We found those guys during the Palm Springs game and those guys did well offensively, got off to a great start. We just didn't adjust well when Palm Springs adjusted. And so those guys are learning on the job. You get better every week, that's it. And then those same guys kind of came together Okay, we took that line, went to Palo Verde Valley, moved the ball up and down the field very effectively, run pass screen doing a good job. Everything was working.
Speaker 3:Everything was working until we got inside the dang tent, I know.
Speaker 2:And then just the and we have had our red zones. Statistically we've been solid in the red zone and we just didn't have a good night at the office in the red zone in that way. But again, preseason is an opportunity to learn that and to kind of sit down with the students and, hey, let's look at it, why not? What happened, what went wrong? And and that's the beauty of it is that we're not playing teams that we can make mistakes and just be forgiven for it. We're playing teams that if we make certain types of mistakes, we'll be punished for it, and that's what we set up for them and that's what we're doing. And I know the students want to get better. They're passionate about this and we're going to get back to going in practice and get in the film room and do what we need to do to make the necessary changes.
Speaker 1:I mean that schedule's pretty tough right, yeah. I mean, you guys have gone through murder's row the last couple weeks. We're in the fire. It's gonna continue this weekend.
Speaker 2:We're in the fire.
Speaker 1:We'll kind of get to that as we move on to the preview for week five already we're in it.
Speaker 2:We're in it, we are definitely in it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we are but moving on with the wrap-up. So Coach Josh's game of the week was Shadow Hills versus Desert Hot Springs. Shadow Hills comes out in an impressive fashion yeah 44-10 is the final on that one. Coach Josh, did you get the chance to kind of check that?
Speaker 3:one out. I didn't get to see it. No, I didn't see it, but it sounds like Shadow Hills did their thing. They worked on, you know, obviously, scoring points and not letting the other team score points and they did their thing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, obviously scoring points and not letting the other team score points. And they did their thing. Yeah, shadow Hills jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first five minutes and that was kind of all she wrote Desert Hot Springs. They get on the board at the end, but Shadow Hills is showing once again that they're a quality team and I think DEL, like we've said all year, is going to be tough. I'm glad I don't have to prepare for those teams in that league because there's some potent offenses in that league.
Speaker 1:And Shadow Hills may not have all the main players that you see in the paper, but they got a lot of good guys, A lot of good guys, and they got some weapons that can hurt you. So you know, Shadow Hills is starting to click. They did their thing against Desert Hot Springs. Desert Hot Springs is preparing for that new league.
Speaker 3:I think they'll be ready for that. They're in their tough non-league too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they're playing a tough schedule too. They're playing a tough team every week, shadow Xavier.
Speaker 2:Xavier, yeah, last week was back-to-back Back-to-back, yeah, so that's hard to get. They're putting themselves through the fire too, h, as far as it gets right there for them, they're putting themselves through the fire too.
Speaker 1:Hats off to them. Yeah, absolutely, they're scheduling for the playoffs. I think it's kind of like you, are you guys?
Speaker 2:want to be peaking at the end, and that's how you do it right. They want to play their best football in late October and November. Then that's what that schedule says to me when I look at it.
Speaker 1:Shout out to the Golden Eagles, They'll be back ready for league, Kind of looking at moving on to some of these others. So another Friday game. We have Coach Josh Special here LaQuinta versus Hesperia. Now I know you checked that one out.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I watched the game. It was a good game. I mean, hesperia had a very good running game. I think they put up 290 yards on them, which is, you know, I didn't think they put that much on the Blackhawks, but they just controlled the time. They scored three touchdowns Offensively, though LaQuinta was able to move the ball through the air. They got the running game going a little bit, but Ansley put that, you know, his team on his back again, and Major had a couple of touchdowns. He's defensively usually. And then he showed up playing offense this year and, um, they, they came through, uh, scoring a touchdown right at the very end, um, and then they went for two and they won it.
Speaker 1:I know, shout out to coach ruiz. Man, he had some, he had some cojones. I mean, you're on the road, you just tied the game up 40 seconds left. He was like, hey, I'm not he's getting on that bus. We're either winning or losing he went for two Ended up.
Speaker 3:They got it. Ansley found it was a boot. Yeah, they ran the corner route On the corner right, yeah on the corner For a 22-21 victory, and Hesperia was an undefeated team. No, they had some big boys and that running back was nice. I should have got his name. He'd bounce it a little bit and then he'd go all the way around and he's gone. I was like, dude, he's a very good runner, very fast, good balance. They had their hands full all night.
Speaker 1:Ended up being a real good test for the Kington 3-0 on the season 3-0. I mean you can't start better than that right 3-0, even if you win by one.
Speaker 3:Especially on the road.
Speaker 1:It's still a. They're looking like they're going to be a contender for that DER.
Speaker 3:That would have been a long long bus ride home if you would have lost.
Speaker 1:I think that was a long bus ride, even if you won.
Speaker 1:That's a long one to Hesperia, but, you know, shout out to the Blackhawks. They did their thing, they got their victory. So getting ready for league Next up on the wrap-up, we're going to look at Yucaipa versus Palm Desert. Yeah, palm Desert gets on the road after an impressive win against Elsinore. They're going on the road and going to a tough opponent, yucaipa, that we know pretty well. Yeah, playing every team in the Valley, it seems like Yucaipa comes out on top 37-21. Coach, did you get the chance to check that one out? Yeah, I watched this game too.
Speaker 3:You know this is our second chance for Desert to be this or Yucaipa team and Palm Desert. Whoever was calling plays over there, he was in the zone man. I mean everything he was dialing up was working, watched their screens, they were getting their inside run going, they were taking shots, downfield Receivers were making plays and they 21-21 at halftime and then it just kind of fell apart at the end. I don't know if it was adjustments, I only watched it one time through. I didn't go back and watch it like a coach, but Palm Desert just kind of lost that offensive momentum in that second half. And sometimes that's the ballgame and hats off to Yucaipa. They're a good team man.
Speaker 1:That quarterback can run, run and he can sling it. He's pretty good man.
Speaker 3:He's really good. Yeah, we get another shot at Yucaipa this week. I think Palm Springs is playing them.
Speaker 1:That'll be a good test. That'll be hopefully the desert team that beats them.
Speaker 3:Yeah, let's go desert.
Speaker 1:We got to get Yucaipa at least once this year, he's just coming down and beating everybody. But Palm Desert, like you said, the offense kind of went away in the second half. Aj Rivera, their quarterback started off real hot in the first half.
Speaker 3:Aj was slinging that ball in the first half and he has some really good ball placements. I think even when they played central their receivers kind of dropped some balls there. He just has this. His timing's good right. He throws the ball timing and then the deep ball just hits these guys in the hands every time. So I think he might have one of the best deep balls in the desert. So he's doing a good job. Just got to keep get that running game going a little bit more, I feel, just to help that passing game going.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Hey, I think Palm Desert is showing they've played a pretty hard schedule, just like CV and Palm Springs yeah 100%, I think they're preparing for league and that's when they're going to be contending for league with that defense.
Speaker 3:Yeah, defense is good.
Speaker 1:Their defense is really, really potent. So we'll be looking for Palm Desert to be making a run here at the end. Moving on, we're going to check out the Western Christian at Indio. So this was a game that I know Indio kind of circled, that we could kind of get on the board with a victory, and in the first half doing my research on this game the first half was really competitive. It was 6-6. In the first quarter Indio was moving the ball a little bit, going to the wing team running the ball with that quarterback.
Speaker 1:Oh were they, yeah, they were running the ball trying to control the clock, I think. Just, you know it comes down to kind of depth with Indio sometimes, and second quarter Western Christian's an undefeated team. So I think they thought, you know, looking at the schedule at the school, you know, hey, this is a good matchup but this team turned out to be really, really good and really potent. They kind of separated there in the second half, so 47-6 the final. On that, indio's still looking to get in that win column, I think this week, you know we got another chance to do that. So Indio's looking for those last three games. As you know, coach, those league, those league games are the most important of the whole season. So anything you're doing now is just preparing for league. Right, that's right, that's right, it's preseason, preseason.
Speaker 3:Still moving pieces around trying to find it.
Speaker 1:That's right. So we'll look for Indio to be improving in the next couple weeks. Moving on to another Xavier Prep versus Cathedral City coach Xavier Prep. Final score 48-6. We kind of spoke to this last week, not real surprised, kind of expected. Yeah, xavier's got top-line talent. You know they're always got some guys that can kill you in the offensive game and that kind of held. True Cat City Coach Lee does a good job getting those boys ready. The numbers are not great right now at Cat City so they're just trying to find their footing and once again it's another story of let's get to league.
Speaker 2:Let's get to that league schedule.
Speaker 1:Right, let's get to league and make our hay there, because ultimately, Coach that's all that matters.
Speaker 2:Right is the league these days. Well, I mean, what gets you into?
Speaker 3:the playoffs is the league Can be an 0-5, right and still get in the playoffs.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's all about what happens in those league games and especially now in the age of equity playoffs, where your playoff bracket is determined based on how your season went. Now if you get the right draw, you want to make sure that you are able to get into that playoff bracket. You have to qualify for it through your league. So I think especially now you've got a lot of teams two leagues in the Valley that have only four teams in them with the SVL and the DVL, but that's kind of a trend. You've got that going on in many places in Riverside County and other places in Southern California and many places in Riverside County and other places in Southern California they're playing this seven games of non-league and then these three very important league games to qualify for playoffs. And I think every team is thinking now the DEL has six teams, so half their season is going to be league and stuff. But everybody, that's the part of the season that matters, because what happens in postseason is all determined on what happens in league.
Speaker 1:It's a major thing. It's like you're almost everything is just preseason to that point Even if it's a rival. It's like we're just preparing for league.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's all about preparation at this point.
Speaker 1:Yeah well, that's all. It's all about man. Get to that league schedule.
Speaker 3:I'm still rooting for Indio man. I love that school man.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, obviously I'm rooting for the Rajas at all times, but they'll be ready for the league. Coach Shipley and Coach Lamont will have them ready. Moving on, we're going to look at final score. Chafee 28,. Yucca Valley 21. So Yucca Valley goes on the road tough non-league. You know Yucca pretty well, coach.
Speaker 2:Absolutely.
Speaker 1:You might know more than Yucca than anybody in the.
Speaker 3:Valley.
Speaker 1:But Chafee's a pretty and you've had some history with Chafee. Chafee's a pretty good program. They run the ball. They run the heck out of the ball. They play defense.
Speaker 3:They do it right up there.
Speaker 1:That's a tough place to win a game, yeah absolutely it's a close game. Yucca Valley went over there and put up some numbers, but ultimately they fall short. I think once again another kind of game, just preparing for league preparing for CV.
Speaker 2:Well of course I'm sure they are I have a lot of respect for Coach Johnson over there. Man, we've talked many times. We came on, we started the same year. Both of our first years were over COVID. Good coach yeah, he's a great coach. He does a great job with that program. Great job with that team. Man, we've had so many epic battles with Yucca Valley over the years Before I took over in 2020 or early 2021 during the COVID season. Even before then, when Coach Davis was coaching this man, he coached the team like there were just some tight, close ones with Yucca Valley. It's just part of the game now.
Speaker 1:And I think that's exciting.
Speaker 2:I think I know the Yucca players look forward to it and the CV players look forward to it because it's just, it's a game that tests both sides. You know, I hear that score with Chafee and I know that all I can see about it. I didn't see the game, I haven't seen any tape on it, but I just know how competitive Yucca's program is and how they're always trying to up their game in terms of athleticism, to be the best athletes that they can be on the field. So I know falling short is just going to help them as they go forward. It's just going to help them Playing a team like that, playing La Quinta right.
Speaker 1:You know what?
Speaker 2:I mean. They're just putting themselves in the fire, like the rest of us, and I think that it's going to speak well of Yaka going forward, and we have no illusions. We know that that game is coming.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, and that game is coming. Oh yeah, and that's going to be DVO game of the year. It always is. We got it circled and it's an awesome rivalry because it's not artificial Like you guys are rivals, because you're the best in that league and you've been the best for 10 years, so it's an awesome game. We've all got that one circled on our calendars too.
Speaker 3:Both teams pass the ball a lot. It's a fun game to explosiveness.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean you know the. I mean there have been so many close ones, so many high-scoring ones, low-scoring ones, I mean in 21, it was a five-point game In 22,. It was a one-point game In 23,. It was a basketball score.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was like 60-something, 40-something.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I remember that you know and then last year you know we got them last year at their place. Now they kind of come to our place, I mean. But I think about even before COVID, when they won the league title in 2019, you know it was a last-minute touchdown, you know what I mean. In the final 30 seconds of the game, I mean it's just that there's some history there, man.
Speaker 2:There is excellent. If you love football, man, if you love high school football in the Valley, you've got to check out. Whenever Steve and Yaka get together, it's always a good time.
Speaker 1:I'm circling that one.
Speaker 2:That one's a fun one to go to.
Speaker 1:We'll all be checking that week out, making sure that.
Speaker 2:I'm sure, looking at they're coming off of a loss, they probably know we could have had that one, but all they're going to do is get better. All they're going to do is get better from it, because that's just how they coach up there. They coach to improve and to coach to excellence. Good staff up there, yeah absolutely Well.
Speaker 1:we're all looking forward to that CV-Yucca matchup a couple weeks here it's coming, always the DVL, pseudo-dvl championship game. So I don't think that I think that this year is shaping up to be that that way as well, unless somebody is going to surprise us. But moving on, my D desert Christian Academy conquerors went on the road to San Jacinto Valley. Final score 58 to seven.
Speaker 3:Did their thing.
Speaker 1:Did their thing and we had coach Johnson in here last week kind of telling us you know how his philosophy on building the program and he's got a lot of young kids on that team Coach and I think, desert Christians, they're going to be a force to be reckoned with in the next couple years. They're doing their thing. They put up a lot of points. They put up a lot of points and using a similar style to CV right, yep, I mean, you know that coaching staff pretty well out there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, darryl C was my O-line coach last year, ernie, in previous years. He's using a lot of your systems. Like I said, your offense is spreading. It's not just run by CV anymore.
Speaker 3:Shadow Hills too. Right yeah.
Speaker 1:You've got a bunch of coordinators out there. Armando.
Speaker 2:Diniz is coaching.
Speaker 3:He's coaching.
Speaker 2:He's calling plays at Shadow. It's working. Yeah, he's coaching.
Speaker 1:He's calling plays at Shadow. I mean that's pretty impressive, it's working. That's pretty impressive. Coach, your system works.
Speaker 2:I can't take complete credit for it. These are good coaches, smart guys. They coach with me, they coach with Coach Davis and you know, I think they're guys that love football and love learning and it's exciting to see what they're doing out there. It's cool to kind of look over and say, oh, look at that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I was wondering about that.
Speaker 2:They're putting their own mark and their own twist on things and building philosophies as they go, being creative. It's cool to see. It's cool to see, for sure.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean it's all stemming from the same system too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's awesome.
Speaker 1:That's awesome Speaks. So yeah, that's awesome. Awesome speaks to. Speaks to success. You know you have some success. People are going to try and emulate that success. So shout out to dca they're, uh, they're four, and oh, and they're, they're, they're gonna make a run. I think you know they get to get a good draw.
Speaker 3:I think that's one of the only teams I haven't seen this year play the offense is potent man.
Speaker 1:They've got a lot of young kids, so that that offense is going to be around for a long time.
Speaker 3:Send us some film.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we'll have to talk to Coach Johnson, but DCA 4-0. Moving on Another team, you know pretty well Coach 29 Palms had another home game against Rubidoux. Okay, final score 41, rubidoux 12.
Speaker 3:So 29 Palms gets on the board with a victory, and a pretty impressive victory at that. Is that their first win this year, that's?
Speaker 1:their first win. They're 1-2, but I mean, hey, they look like they're trending in the right direction, yeah absolutely.
Speaker 2:When I heard that they got in the win column, I was very positive for those guys. Twan Palms also has athletes Always have athletes up there Always have athletes, military families up there. Yeah, and just getting out there and passion and love for the game Coach Tilly Coach had many conversations with him during track season because his daughter's now a track star.
Speaker 3:Okay, all right, she's tough on the track.
Speaker 2:She is, yeah, so definitely seeing 29 Palms. I know he's feeling positively about that victory as, again, we're all making our way through our preseasons and getting ready for league. Yeah, 29 Palms, I know he's feeling positively about that victory. Again, we're all making our way through our pre-seasons and getting ready for league.
Speaker 1:Yeah, 29 Palms. Shout out to them, man, wildcats Get that W. That's it. That's all it's about man. Get on that win column. I think they'll be ready for league coach. Give you a little bit more to prepare for this year.
Speaker 2:Well, the wild thing is that we're playing Yucca first and I was thinking, you know, so we're going to have that one come right from Yucca into 29 Palms. We've got to go 29 Palms on the road. Crazy thing about that is they've had this, you know. They have the new field.
Speaker 3:I was just going to say that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's nice. So I've been on the field. Physically I've been there.
Speaker 1:But as a football player.
Speaker 2:I've never played up there yet it's going to be our first time playing up there, since the last time we played 29 Palms At 29 Palms we were still at the middle school.
Speaker 3:We're at the bumpy Because they were probably redoing it.
Speaker 2:Well, yeah, they were building it. Yeah, they were building it Because they didn. That was their home field. And then they just Yucca, built their stadium, got their field going, the turf field, and everything was really nice. And so 20-1 Palms followed suit and you know it looks great. You know what I mean and you know I used to coach in the soccer program, so I taught the girls' soccer program at CV, so I'll talk to the coaches there and you know they've been up there played soccer on it.
Speaker 1:The boys' soccer, girls' soccer played on it. I'm like we're still waiting for our first chance to get on that turf.
Speaker 2:Well, it's coming, coach, it's coming. Finally this year, finally this year.
Speaker 1:So we'll be looking forward to that one. Moving on, we had Desert Chapel go off to Norhoff. I hope I'm saying that right. Final score Norhoff 47, desert Chapel 13. Desert Chapel's an up-and-coming program. They're kind of trying to emulate what DCA is doing with building that program out going from eight to 11-man football. They got a couple guys. I know their quarterback can sling it the wide receiver's good, They've got a receiver. That's a really good Young guy too. Really good young guy. Sophomore maybe, I think just Desert Chapel, the defense, and just depth.
Speaker 3:So those small?
Speaker 1:teams always struggle with depth, and if their defense shows up, I think they're going to get in the winning column pretty soon here. But shout out to Desert Chapel.
Speaker 3:They keep plugging away, they keep plugging away man week to week.
Speaker 1:Then Saturday we had a game Desert Mirage at Temecula Prep. Desert Mirage 48, Temecula Prep 14. So Desert Mirage gets their second win of the season. Yeah, 2-2 coming off that loss to DCA and I don't have the stats, but I'm sure one of those running backs had like 200 yards. Yeah, More than likely. Yeah, I mean, I don't have the stats in front of me, but you know, Desert Mirage is.
Speaker 2:I'm always running the ball. Yeah, they're running philosophy and yeah, usually their best years are when they have a great back, good back. Well, I mean, one of the greatest backs you know even the Valley's had, was from Desirage Manny.
Speaker 1:Ridge yeah, manny Ridge. I remember preparing for that guy man. We threw nine guys in the box and he still ran for 200 yards on us.
Speaker 3:It was tough Shout out Coach Perry.
Speaker 2:It was tough man. My favorite Manny Ridge story is how he would get tackled and he would pop up and he would help the guys up who tackled him. That, to me, is Manny Ridge in a nutshell. He's already up, got the ball in his hand, reaching down to pick up his tacklers before he goes back to the huddle.
Speaker 3:Good job, yeah, and he got the ball again. Yeah, and then he did it again.
Speaker 2:He was like oh, I'll see you again in a second, because I'm going to run this thing 50 times this game, wow.
Speaker 1:That power running game.
Speaker 2:Pooble knew it was coming, but he still did amazing things. He was fun to watch. Yeah, I remember that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, shout out to Manny Ridge man.
Speaker 2:That guy was a beast with that ball man. He no Super strong kid Very strong, but yeah, positive kid too.
Speaker 1:Dezen Mirage man Two and two they're looking like they're trending in the right direction.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I like when they're doing good, yeah.
Speaker 1:So, and then, lastly, we're going to move on to the Thursday game. So Thursday Rancho Mirage went on the road to Ramona. Yeah, I didn't see this game. Final score Ramona 28, rancho Mirage 21. Now, ramona was a tough test. I think a little tougher test than we expected, because they were undefeated, they had been blowing people out. I know Rancho Mirage kind of fell behind early in this game and I think it was 28-14 at the half, something like that. They battled back, they battled back.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it was a close game 28-21. They battled back. It was a close game 28-21.
Speaker 1:Julian Hernandez. Their quarterback, jeremiah Johnson. I saw some of the highlights. That kid made some crazy catches. That kid is the real deal man. They battled back. Fell a little short on the road on a Thursday night. You know those are always tough Coach.
Speaker 3:Short week Short week of preparation.
Speaker 1:Walkthroughs on Wednesday, but Rancho Mirage, I think they're still right there for the DEL. What do you think, coach?
Speaker 2:Well, I mean Rancho Mirage is coming off of a back-to-back DEL title, or at least having the share of one for a couple of years. So you know they're strong defensively and disciplined defensively. You know our toughest offensive game was against them. We've been solid in terms of our offensive production, but they made it hard for us.
Speaker 3:Their DNs play well.
Speaker 2:They're fast in the defensive backfield. They've got speed back there, A lot of speed back there. The defensive line is disciplined and well coached. I think Rancho will be just fine. They'll do well. Falling short here is just that again, we're in the fire. We're learning. You know what I mean. I think what Rancho will do is just like when they lost to Christian in their opener. It's just an opportunity to learn and become a better football team. Rancho will be just fine. Yeah, Coach Matthews will have the right coach. Oh yeah.
Speaker 1:He's always trying to peak at the end of the season.
Speaker 3:They usually do.
Speaker 1:That's when you want to do it. And then, lastly, here, probably I think the most impressive performance from a Valley team, palm Springs goes on the road to Colton and final score Palm Springs 49, colton 42.
Speaker 3:And they had to come back.
Speaker 1:And they made a big comeback. But the impressive thing about this to me is that Colton has a guy, a quarterback, that's a D1 prospect and apparently Bishop Miller our own Bishop Miller, from Palm Springs outplayed the D1 recruit and led Palm Springs to a comeback victory. So that's just shining the light on the Valley and saying, hey, you know.
Speaker 3:We can play too.
Speaker 1:We can play too. I know Colton's a little closer to L, to la, so they get a little bit more publicity maybe. But uh, we had a kid from our valley go out there and and lead the team back and and kind of outplay a d1 guy. So if you're watching those recruiters watching that film for that, for that guy they're recruiting he's this guy yeah who's? This guy that beat this guy.
Speaker 1:So, shout out to Bishop Miller in the Palm Springs Indians that's an impressive win on the road on a Thursday and you know a little bit about that offense. That offense is pretty potent.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they're dynamic. They're very athletic, they're very dynamic. I think the mistake that people make is thinking that team is just one guy, or just George Johnson or just Miller, or what have you. They've got a lot of weapons on offense and um, and they're uh, they're fast, they're strong, they're dynamic. They can do a number of different things. So, um, you know, it sounds like it was a shootout out there. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Score.
Speaker 2:That you're telling me that you know it's good to hear that a member of the Valley community is able to go out there and get a solid win on the road like that. What this tells me scoring 49 points on Colton just tells me that their offense is clicking and they're feeling good about that, how their offense is working. And there will be more good things to come. It will be interesting when the DEL slate starts and those teams have to now face off against each other.
Speaker 1:I'm excited about it. It's going to be a fun year. There's going to be a bloodbath in that league.
Speaker 3:Everybody might be 3-2 at the end.
Speaker 2:It's going to be some special competition. I know usually it's one of those things that will be interesting once their league, the weeks, yeah, absolutely Two weeks.
Speaker 1:It starts, yeah, yeah, yeah, cause we have a buy week.
Speaker 2:We'll play a desert mirage and we have a buy week before we play Yucca, and both of those weeks you know well they're, you know at least one or two of those weeks, those DEL, all those teams look solid.
Speaker 1:I don't think there's an easy win in that league this year It'll have to be decided on the field. That's what we're here for. That's why they play the games right.
Speaker 2:It's hard to tell now who's where, and who's going to be in the best space? Different people play different non-leagues and it's hard to tell based on what you're looking at. But once they play each other it'll become crystal clear.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so we're looking forward to it League's in two weeks and we're ready, man, we're ready, let's go.
Speaker 1:So that's going to do it for the week four wrap-up. We're going to get into week five preview. Coach, I can't believe we're in the middle of the season already, but we'll be getting into the week five preview. After a word from our sponsors. Looking to upgrade your home? Tile Designs by FINA is your one-stop destination for beautiful flooring, hard surfaces and countertops From timeless design, modern styles. They've got the perfect look for every room. Stop by today and transform your space with Tile Designs by FINA. Let's design together.
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Speaker 1:headaches. Ipay solutions is your local payroll and hr partner right here in the coachella valley. From direct deposits to compliance, we handle the details so you can focus on growing your business. Ipay solutions local, reliable and built for your success. Welcome back everybody. Desert valley blitz. We're going to go ahead and move on to our week five preview. I can't believe we're only like a couple weeks away from league coach it, here we are. It goes by really fast. So, coach Josh, what week five matchup has you most excited?
Speaker 3:It's Yucca Valley-Xavier. Yucca Valley-Xavier. Yeah, I think it's going to be a good game. Yucca Valley played La Quinta earlier, so this will give us a little measuring stick to see where Xavier's at. And yeah, I don't know, but it's 50-50 to me, if you're going to ask me. I can't lean one way or the other.
Speaker 1:Really 50-50, huh.
Speaker 3:Yeah, maybe a little towards Xavier, but Yucca's good man, I wouldn't put it past him, so I'm excited about it. Maybe a little bit Xavier.
Speaker 1:It's at home, so you've got to give Xavier a little bit of a try. I like the environment at Xavier.
Speaker 3:You go over there kids playing on that little grass area. They got the food. I like going to games at Xavier, yeah.
Speaker 2:Well, like you said, coach Yucca's putting themselves out there, huh yeah they are, they are and this is another opportunity just like to experience the fire and to play a strong program in Xavier Prep. I think it's a good decision, a good schedule for yucca to play xavier. I think that's. I think it's gonna. They're only gonna benefit win, lose or draw, they're gonna benefit from it yeah, there's a.
Speaker 1:There's got a good d man yeah they play good defense there. We tend to put points on the board to you know for that, like they're used to right, yeah xavier xavier's got some guys so game of the week, coach josh special yucucca at Xavier Prep on Friday night. Speaking of a tough challenge, coach your game this week at El Centro, coachella Valley, going down to El Centro.
Speaker 2:Are they coming to you? Yeah, they're coming up. That helps. We are playing at home.
Speaker 1:What are you expecting this week?
Speaker 2:Coach. Hey, we're expecting a challenging matchup against a really good football team. El Centro has been. There were some years ago where they had a couple off-seasons and what have you, but I think from 2018 on, they've just been strong across the board offensively, defensively, they're well coached. They got a deep roster, a lot of players.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you look on the sideline, it's a whole army yeah I noticed that too when they play palm desert.
Speaker 2:Um, they are yeah they, they run like 70 deep. It looks like on that squad which helps they are yeah, it does um.
Speaker 2:So, uh, you know we expect uh to have uh our work cut out for us. Um, we're looking forward to the challenge because, again, this is our mission this is our intention as we went into the preseason is to play very strong programs. Strong teams force us to play our best football or to learn from it. Either way or both. So I expect us to be competitive in that game. We're going to play that thing. We play to win every week and we're playing to win on Friday. That's how that goes.
Speaker 2:I know El Centro, just looking at the tape on them, they're solid across the board in terms of the positions. They're solid in the trenches. They're solid at the second level. They're disciplined. They tackle well. They adjust well. If they're getting hit by something, they adjust well to it. Quarterback can sling it, yeah, and that's been a thing. They've been good at that position for a few years. I remember in 2018, they had a good one that could just really put the ball down the field on a spot. So you know we're excited. We know that we've got only a couple more weeks of our preseason and we want to make sure we make the best of it. So it's another opportunity for our guys to shine and show themselves what they're capable of and show their teammates what they're capable of. So we welcome it.
Speaker 3:We're looking forward to it. Let's go. Play the game to win. Let's go. I'm looking forward to watching it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we'll be real for you, Coach. Somebody got to beat El Centro from here one of these years, man, I don't think we beat them in a while.
Speaker 3:I think LaQuinta's got them too. This year.
Speaker 1:Oh, they got them. Next right Is El Quibana.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:I think so.
Speaker 2:We'll make sure we'll take care of them before LaQuinta does.
Speaker 3:Yeah, tee them up.
Speaker 1:We got a lot of Thursday games this week, so our favorite non-league opponent, yucaipa, is back down in the Valley. We got to get these guys and they're playing Palm.
Speaker 2:Springs this week at.
Speaker 3:Palm Springs. Let's go Palm Springs so.
Speaker 1:Palm Springs. We got to get these guys, man, these guys have been coming down here and beating us all year. They're good, they're good, we're good, we're good too. But palm springs, that offense is rolling, yeah, yeah, and that offense is rolling, they're clicking on all cylinders, you kipa's an offensive team.
Speaker 3:They played them really well last year too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was a good game I think palm springs got the best chance to beat you, kipa. What do you guys think?
Speaker 2:I agree yeah, I think that I think that high-powered offense that palm springs has this year is, you know that's that's going to give them a chance to win any game. And so the question is, hey, are they going to come out hot and be able to keep their foot on the gas and then, defensively, are they going to be able to kind of slow down what Yucaipa brings?
Speaker 3:So that's a great game to go check out. We got enough film on Yucaipa to know what they do good.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 3:Let's stop it, yeah.
Speaker 1:So let's go Palm Springs. Somebody got to be you, kipa man. Let's go Somebody got to be El Central, somebody got to be you, kipa. So desert football, we're rooting for you when we're not playing each other. So moving on to another Thursday interesting matchup. So this is an interesting matchup because it's not a southern section team, so Lakeith Linwood, which is a city team, a city section team from LA, coming down to play La Quinta on a. Thursday night. It's kind of a weird schedule thing.
Speaker 3:huh, I don't know much about Linwood, but let's go La Quinta Well, traditionally city teams have not.
Speaker 1:there's high-end city teams and low-end city teams, I think. But I did do some research on Linwood. Their last opponent is somebody that high school fans would know about Narbonne. They played Narbonne last week and they beat Narbonne, but I don't know that Narbonne is Narbonne anymore because I think they're on suspension. But I mean, that's still a pretty big name right, so the.
Speaker 1:Kings might have their hands full on Thursday night with them. It'll be interesting to see what Lindenwood brings, and that's a long trip, though I mean that bus ride is going to take a little bit out of you, right, yeah.
Speaker 2:Well, you know, the great thing is going to be just the difference in styles. Like you say, city teams they play. Sometimes they'll play a little different. Out there in the LA city section we played Ben Franklin last year and went out to them in Highland Park, you know, just north of downtown LA, and it was a great experience for us just to kind of just to play in a different environment, see a different style.
Speaker 2:See a different vibe and to compete. You know, that's one of the reasons we went to Vista. We booked that because we wanted to kind of play. We like to take a trip and play someone from far out. Hey, we'd like to take a trip and play someone from far out. A couple years ago we went out to.
Speaker 3:Vegas and played El Dorado in East.
Speaker 2:Las Vegas and when you get a chance that Nevada 4A is the same thing as CIF LA, here it's the city section for Nevada, so the 4A was kind of set for the city schools there. So getting a chance to go in there and play a city school in Las Vegas and just again, style of play, approach to the game and playing there. And then what was cool about it is they returned the favor and they traveled out to us and we played them at home in 2024. I remember that, so that was pretty good. So I think LQ taking an opportunity to play a city team, it's just another opportunity to cut your teeth on a different style of play.
Speaker 3:It's a good idea. I think that's why I like playoff football so much is you get to play other teams from out of the area, and same things, just different styles, so it'll be interesting so interesting enough, that's not the only city team that one of our schools is playing city team that one of our schools is playing.
Speaker 1:Desert Mirage is going out to a school called Mendez which is in the downtown LA area Small school, but it's a city section team, Another city section team. So DM is on the road at Mendez I had to Google that to find out where that was but it's a city section team. So we got two desert teams matching up with city teams. That's kind of interesting. And Desert Mirage, I think, is looking good. They're kind of on a roll. So I think they've got an opportunity to get another victory here.
Speaker 2:It's a good opportunity, it's great, it's good travel at least once a season, you know in the preseason, to kind of get just to get out there and experience a longer drive and play in an environment that's very different from what you're used to. I think it's just a good overall idea, so excited to hear what happens with them.
Speaker 1:It's kind of interesting. We've got two teams playing city teams. A little cork in the schedule, but we're going to be keeping an eye on that Moving on. So another last Thursday game is Desert Christian is hosting California Military Institute. I believe that's in Paris, yeah. So Desert Christian have been on a roll 4-0. That offense is homing. They're looking pretty good. I think that's another opportunity for them to stack those wins.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I think the CMI versus, uh, desert christian. I think desert christian is gonna do quite well. Yeah, yeah, just on paper, the game is going to be is stacked well in desert christian's favor. I think they'll.
Speaker 3:It'll be another week where they showcase their talent, yeah, young talent and doing well yeah, they'll win again.
Speaker 1:I think five of them might be on the horizon. Oh yeah, desert christian. So shout out to the conquerors.
Speaker 1:They're right shout out they're running, they're doing their thing on that, on that out there in bermuda dunes are. So, moving on to the friday games, um, we got another pretty interesting matchup. Palm desert is going on the road to redlands, another old traditional powerhouse, yeah. Um, palm desert's two and two, they're, uh, they're going to redlands. I believe is about 500 as well, but Redlands is a big, big high school. I mean, they got a big population at this school. And they usually got some D1 recruits, usually traditionally Right Coach. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:I think they've. I'm trying to think They've had a game earlier in the season. I think you said they're 500. I don't know if they're at their best this year, if this is the best, strongest Redlands team we've had or what have you. I like Palm Desert in the game, quite frankly. Yeah, I like Palm Desert in that game. I think Palm Desert wins decisively.
Speaker 1:Yeah Well, defense travels, and that's what Palm Desert does. They play defense, get that offense rolling. Yeah, they get that offense rolling. They get that offense rolling. Palm Desert's got a lot of weapons. I think they're just getting ready for league as well. They're playing a tougher schedule as well, yeah yeah, pretty impressive preseason.
Speaker 1:They're challenging themselves. They always do so here to here. Coach got Palm Desert, palm Desert for taking out Redlands. Moving on to the Friday games. So Shadow Hills is at Patriot. So Shadow Hills, coming off that big win over Desert Hot Springs, they're now on the road against Patriot, which is, I believe, in their Yerupa area.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Riverside. I think they're in Riverside. Yeah, I think Patriot's a Riverside team.
Speaker 1:And I think Patriot's 3-1. They're not. Yeah, they've got a pretty decent record. So it's a matchup of 3-1 teams.
Speaker 3:They've, so it's a matchup of three and one teams.
Speaker 1:We have a good game here, yeah. So another test for Shadow Hills. They're getting out of the Valley and testing themselves, you know, getting ready for that league which opens up here pretty soon it's coming up, it's coming fast.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And Shadow Hills. They play defense, they can run the ball.
Speaker 3:Very well coached.
Speaker 1:Yeah, damian Halls is their running back. He's back, he's putting up. He's putting up some big numbers, um, you know. So it'll be a nice little test for shadow hills on friday night. Um, another game we got here in the valley on friday night is yoruba hills is coming to rancho mirage for a friday night matchup um yoruba hills, I believe, is one in three on my research, so they don't have they don't have a big lot of wins um rancho mirage is coming off that loss on Thursday.
Speaker 1:Tough opponent. I think they'll be a little angry a little upset and I think they're shaping up to take care of business at home.
Speaker 2:This should be a good game. I think Rupa Hills played El Centro in the first game. El Centro beat them, but it was relatively competitive, if I remember the score properly. So I think it should be a good, rigorous, competitive matchup for Rancho. They're always pretty good.
Speaker 1:Moving on another matchup we got this Friday San Gorgonio at Indio.
Speaker 2:So. San.
Speaker 1:Gorgonio, out of the San Bernardino area. They're coming down to play Indio. Indio is looking to get on that win side this week. San Gregonio, I believe, is 2-2. So they're about a 500-ball club coming down here. So it's one of those that Indio. I think if they can play their game, limit mistakes, they can definitely be in the game and give themselves an opportunity to get in that win column. Yeah, it should be in the game and give themselves an opportunity to get in that win column.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think Should be a good game. San Gorgonio, I believe head coach from San G is the Indian Springs old Indian Springs head coach.
Speaker 2:Oh really Years ago, yeah, and then he, because I remember we scrimmaged Indian Springs a year and then I remember he went over there because I think that's his alma mater. So I think he went to San G. He took over the job over there. So if that coach is still there, so it should be a good little matchup and test for Indio to get on the board. Let's see what they do.
Speaker 1:Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 2:Looking forward to seeing how that goes for them.
Speaker 1:Shout out to Indio man, let's get that first win. Let's go indio. Next on the uh, next on this friday slate, we got a royal valley coming into cat city.
Speaker 2:Hmm, so a royal valley, um, I didn't really find too much royal valley out of san bernardino, yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I think, if I'm thinking it's not a royal, it's a royal Arroyo Valley, and Arroyo Valley, I believe, is the San Bernardino city of San Bernardino school. Okay, I believe could be wrong, so fact checkers, fact check me, but I believe that's where TJ Stanford went when he left 29 Palms a few years ago.
Speaker 3:I don't know if he's still there, okay.
Speaker 2:But I think that's where he went to coach. I think he took that job over, so I don't know I'd have to. As you're going through the next piece, maybe I'll kind of peek at my phone and see if I can get local connection there. Maybe that's why they scheduled the game.
Speaker 1:Huh yeah.
Speaker 2:They used to be. I mean, that was when 29 and Cat we were all in the league together. That might be where the connection came from.
Speaker 1:Cat City's 1 and three. They're looking to get in that win column. It's coming off that Xavier loss. I think they got a chance. They're at home. They usually play better at home. Coach Leo will have them ready to go. Their numbers are down. But those kids fight hard every game. Watching them they're playing a lot of young kids too. I think Cat City. The future is bright. They've got a lot of freshmen starting varsity right now. Yeah, building from that ground. I think you'll hear a lot more from Cat City in the next two years one or two years.
Speaker 2:It'll be interesting when we go into the conference next year.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:When we kind of figure out.
Speaker 3:There's still a lot we don't know about what that's going to look like.
Speaker 2:I think every team is. Hopefully, that's the end game. That's where it will change based on how the teams do season to season. The question is, how are they going to tier it? Are they going to go four teams, six teams, four teams? Are they going to go four teams, four teams, six teams?
Speaker 2:How are they going to do the tier one, two and three, and so I've heard different thoughts about what that might look like. But the main theme here is really going to be based on what this year's results are as far as how they're going to rank everyone and where they're going to put those cut lines. So I think a lot of teams that's what I felt like when I saw teams like Xavier and Yaka playing Xavier and Kat and DHS and played a lot more Valley versus Valley matchups in the preseason and that just made me think about teams kind of getting a sense of each other in preparation for going into that conference in 2026.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we're excited that's going to be awesome, A super conference right, yeah, that's what we're talking about.
Speaker 1:Everybody in the Valley is going to be in the same conference area.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so it's just a matter of what tier, what division of it you'll be in. I think that's going to be big news when they finally come out with that. Yeah, we'll find out.
Speaker 1:I'm sure they'll have some algorithm do it or something.
Speaker 2:Seems like that's where everything's going All the ADs, I think, are going to get together in a room and it's going to be like the Continental Controversy and they're sweating until they figure out who's going to be where.
Speaker 3:Lock the doors.
Speaker 2:Yeah, don't come out until they have some divisions. That's above my pay grade.
Speaker 1:That's right.
Speaker 3:I don't want no part of that.
Speaker 1:There's a lot that goes into that Just let me know, how that goes.
Speaker 2:Yeah, just let me know what my schedule is.
Speaker 1:I wouldn't want no part of that decision making. Moving on to another Friday matchup here Big Bear is coming into Desert Hot Springs, coming down the hill.
Speaker 3:Big Bear. What do we know about Big Bear? They're a tough program out there, man. They traditionally run, is it the wing tee?
Speaker 2:Yeah, veer triple option kind of thing. Yeah, they run that veer, they run that quarterback. You know quarterback.
Speaker 3:It's tricky.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know, handoff pitch or running.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and then they'll counter the wing back the other way. If you think you know what's coming, they'll counter you.
Speaker 2:If they're still running that, then that's tough. If they're still running that it's part of the program Should be interesting for them to come down here and play. Obviously it's a tough place to play when you've got to go all the way up there to Big Bear.
Speaker 3:All the way up there. It's usually Saturday, right, do they?
Speaker 2:got lights, yet I doubt it's still Saturday. It's still Saturday morning game. I could be wrong. I think they like that Saturday. Yeah, I think, if I had to guess, that Saturday tradition is still going on. They're not putting lights out.
Speaker 1:Well, they're under the lights this time because they're going to the. Desert Hot Springs. I think Big Bear is 3-1, the Desert Hot Springs, but I don't know the competition that they've played, so I think Desert Hot Springs got a real good chance here to get another win. It should be, but to prepare for that veer all the time as a defensive coordinator that's a pain, because you go from spread to veer.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you don't see it a lot. You're cramming everything in that one week. There's a lot to work on. Corner's got a big responsibility. It's tough.
Speaker 1:It's tough to prepare for, definitely especially in high school when you get different offenses every week, different crazy offenses.
Speaker 3:Two hours a day.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you got one practice to figure it out, but Desert Hops is going to be ready. They're well coached, those guys up there. Those players are scrappy. Let's go Golden Eagles. Let's get that win man. Let's take care of Big Bear man. Moving on another game 29 Palms is at West Valley-Hemmett. I think 29 Palms, coming off their first victory of the year, might be on a little roll. They're going to probably play a little tougher opponent this week. West Valley is pretty tough, right, Coach.
Speaker 2:Definitely. Yeah, that's going to be some rigor right there for 29 to take on a strong West Valley team. It should be kind of like what many of us are dealing with this week Strong preseason. They put a little fire in their preseason. I like the choice. I think it's going to give 29 opportunity to really go up against some really strong rigor there and see how it kind of plays out for them. West Valley's strong, they're a solid team. They've traditionally been pretty good.
Speaker 3:Sounds like they found a new young quarterback. They stepped up. He was a sophomore.
Speaker 1:Yeah, 29 palms.
Speaker 3:Yeah, 29 palms.
Speaker 1:They found the quarterback of the future.
Speaker 3:It sounds like right.
Speaker 1:So, hey, they're on a roll.
Speaker 3:They took care of business last week they put up some points.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, everything at this point is just preparing for league, so we'll be rooting for 29 palms on Friday. And then, lastly, desert Chapel is going into New View Bridge, which I did a little research on New View Bridge. It looks like Desert Chapel might have circled this game. I think they got a chance to get in the win column here. They're currently 0-2. I think this is one that they might be able to piece together a win. New View Bridge is kind of a smaller school.
Speaker 1:I think they're dealing with the same kind of population. Let's go, eagles.
Speaker 3:Desert Chapel, Eagles man.
Speaker 1:They got that quarterback, they got that receiver. They should be competitive in this game and hopefully we can get a victory and get in the win column. We'll be pulling for the Eagles this week. That's going to do it, guys. We've gone through all the games. Week five preview man. Exciting stuff. Yeah, this week's going to be a pretty telltale. It's going to tell us a lot about our desert teams right.
Speaker 2:We've got some pretty tough matchups Halfway through the season at this point going to get a chance to see where everybody's at, It'll be a good snapshot. Also, I did kind of look up and it looks like, as of this season, a new head coach at Arroyo Valley stepped up.
Speaker 3:Okay, a new one.
Speaker 2:Mo who was an assistant before, so they still probably have that connection to help them kind of set up that game. But just to try to fact-check myself, as we go through this thing. Yeah, so we don't get those DMs. Oh, they didn't get it. He's not the coach anymore. It seems like that they have a new coach up there at Arroyo Valley that's stepping into that head role and will be coaching this year.
Speaker 3:That'll be interesting.
Speaker 2:It will be interesting to see how they fare against a team here in the Valley.
Speaker 1:Hopefully Cat City can get them, though let's go Cat City, let's go. Let's get them All right, Coach. Well, hey, we appreciate you coming in. Man, You're a wealth of knowledge. We're going to have to have you back in the offseason.
Speaker 3:Happy to come back.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we want to get all that good CV information and then maybe come talk to us about the league and the new league coming up.
Speaker 2:Conference.
Speaker 1:Should be interesting.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it should be interesting, so we'll have to have you back on on the show man. For sure, I appreciate it. I'd love to come. Thanks for inviting me. I look forward to it. Thanks for coming. Thanks for coming, man.
Speaker 1:Right on. We'd love having you, so if you guys liked that episode, you guys know the routine like subscribe and follow and we'll see you next time on Desert Valley Blitz. Thank you.