Inland Division is flexing its football muscle

The mighty Pac-5 Division, supposedly the best in Southern California football, had better start backing up the hype soon because the Inland Division is making noise.

Vista Murrieta (3-0), Corona Centennial (3-0), Norco (3-0) and Redlands East Valley (3-0) are unbeaten and showing signs of being able to compete with Pac-5 teams.

Centennial and Redlands East Valley have knocked off Santa Ana Mater Dei and Orange Lutheran, respectively. Vista Murrieta gets its chance to face a Pac-5 school Friday against Encino Crespi. And Norco owns a win over defending City Section Division I champion Crenshaw.

Redlands East Valley is a team not many paid attention to. But a 10-6 win over Orange Lutheran last week, combined with games in the next two weeks against Chino Hills and Mission Viejo, has put the Wildcats in position to gain respect.

Coach Kurt Bruich hasn’t been concerned about being overlooked.

“Our quarterback wasn’t back,” he said. “Our running back wasn’t back. It set up for us to fly under the radar.”

Defensively, the Wildcats have received strong play from nose guard Devon Lewis, a three-year starter, and cornerback Josh Armstrong, who suffered a broken leg against Orange Lutheran. And junior quarterback Austin DeCoud and senior running back Steffen Kirkland have performed well, Bruich said.

“We’re pretty talented,” Bruich said. “Can we keep it up? I don’t know.”

Gretzky to sit out

Quarterback Trevor Gretzky of Westlake Village Oaks Christian won’t play in Friday’s Marmonte League game against Westlake Village Westlake because of a lingering shoulder injury, Coach Bill Redell said Tuesday. Richie Harrington will take over as the starter. Gretzky’s shoulder has been bothering him since the summer.

Tickets going fast

A limited number of tickets for the Westlake-Oaks Christian game will be available for purchase Thursday morning at the Oaks Christian reception desk at 7:30 a.m.

Special teams

Los Angeles Dorsey has a bye this week, but the Dons (4-0) will continue to work on their special teams because they have been a big factor so far this season. Dorsey has scored five touchdowns on special teams, with two punt returns, a kickoff return and two blocked punts.

New rallying cry

Carson Coach Elijah Asante has a new rallying cry for his team’s game Friday night against top-ranked Mission Viejo.

“ UCLA shocked the world. Maybe we can do the same,” he said.

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