Friday Night Lights: Week 9 Prep Football Preview

There are plenty of great matchups to keep prep football fans on the edge of their seats this weekend, starting with the Grossmont Valley League game pitting 6-1 Mount Miguel at 8-0 Santana. Both are 2-0 in the league and the winner should end up as GVL champ.

The Matadors, No. 8 in this week's Sportswriters-Sportscasters Poll, have lost only to Helix, while the Sultans, just outside the top 10, want to prove they belong in it.

No. 1 Helix (6-1) hasn't had much trouble since its season-opening loss to Eastlake, but host Valhalla (5-2) hopes to give them some in a Grossmont Hills contest, despite a tough loss to Steele Canyon last week.

In another GHL game that features two teams with winning records, Grossmont (4-2-1) visits Granite Hills (4-3), though both are 0-2 in league play.

The top game in North County appears to be the Avocado West matchup sending No. 10 La Costa Canyon (5-2, 2-0) to No. 4 Oceanside (5-1-1, 1-0). LCC has won four straight, allowing just 28 points in those games.

In a rare nonleague game, No. 2 Poway (6-0-1) tries to stay unbeaten when it hosts Carlsbad (5-2). Poway has averaged 40 points over its last three games and has not allowed more than 17 in its last five.

On Saturday, it's the private school battle for La Jolla supremacy and Coastal League positioning as Bishop’s (4-3, 0-2) takes on La Jolla Country Day (6-1, 1-1) at La Jolla High.

Here are the games involving schools covered by Patch sites in San Diego County:

FRIDAY

Helix (6-1, 2-0) at Valhalla (5-2, 1-1), 7 p.m.

Grossmont (4-2-1, 0-2) at Granite Hills (4-3, 0-2), 7 p.m.

West Hills (2-5, 1-1) at Steele Canyon (5-2, 2-0), 7 p.m.

Grossmont Valley League

Mount Miguel (6-1, 2-0) at Santana (8-0, 2-0), 7 p.m.

El Capitan (1-6, 0-1) at Monte Vista (1-6, 0-1), 7 p.m.

Palomar League

Ramona (1-6, 0-1) at Torrey Pines (3-5, 1-2), 7 p.m.

Rancho Bernardo (3-4, 0-1) at Westview (6-2, 2-1), 7 p.m.

Avocado West League

La Costa Canyon (5-2, 2-0) at Oceanside (5-1-1, 1-0), 7 p.m.

El Camino (3-4, 0-1) at Rancho Buena Vista (0-7, 0-2), 7 p.m.

Central League

Clairemont (3-5, 2-2) at Coronado (5-2, 2-1), 7 p.m.

Metro South Bay League

Mar Vista (6-1, 0-0) at San Ysidro (2-5, 0-0), 7 p.m.

Western League

Hoover (4-3, 1-1) at La Jolla (1-6, 0-2), 6:30

Pacific League

The Rock (0-7, 0-2) at Army-Navy (2-5, 1-1), 2 p.m.

Nonleague

Carlsbad (5-2) at Poway (6-0-1), 7 p.m.

SATURDAY

Coastal League

Bishop’s (4-3, 0-2) vs. La Jolla Country Day (6-1, 1-1) at La Jolla High, 7 p.m.