We're halfway through the 2026 high school football season in the Coachella Valley and things are getting pretty wild.
I mean, Desert Hot Springs went toe-to-toe with Rancho Mirage last week, Coachella Valley is winless and a suddenly resurgent Indio might actually have a pretty good shot to win this week's Bell Game.
Then there's Desert Christian Academy looking like one of the three best teams in the valley, Yucca Valley, Xavier Prep and Shadow Hills all struggling a bit and Palm Springs, traditionally a defensive powerhouse, is allowing 37.4 points per game.
No, this isn't the Bizarro World; it's just Week 6.
Honestly, what is going on? The only thing that appears to be somewhat normal this season is that La Quinta and Palm Desert have looked
like the two best teams, in our opinion. At least that makes sense, right?
With several teams off this week on a bye, the craziness might come to a bit of a halt for a week. But maybe not.
Before we dive into our picks, let's quickly note that last week was brutal for Shad and I. We were each 4-5 with our picks, with both of us missing on Xavier Prep at Yucca Valley (Yucca Valley won), Rancho Mirage at Desert Hot Springs (Rancho Mirage won), Central at La Quinta (Central won) and Desert Mirage against Whittier Christian (Whittier Christian won).
Let's get into who we're taking this week.
Andrew's picks
Arrowhead Christian (2-2) at Cathedral City (1-4)
The common opponent here is Desert Christian Academy. Arrowhead Christian lost to DCA, 53-0, on Aug. 29, and Cathedral City lost to DCA, 61-12, last Friday.
But Arrowhead Christian seems to have turned its season around, having won its previous two games before hitting a bye last week. I think the Eagles come out fresh and ready for this one.
Arrowhead Christian 35, Cathedral City 21
Desert Hot Springs (3-2) at AB Miller (0-4)
The Golden Eagles are coming off that devastating home loss to Rancho Mirage last Friday, but I'm actually encouraged by it. Consider that Desert Hot Springs outplayed the Rattlers for a half and should now be even more focused and dialed in for this game because of how the Golden Eagles lost last week.
At the same time, Miller lost earlier this season to a San Gorgonio team that just lost to Indio, 28-0. So, by that logic, I think that DHS is a much better team than Miller. Expect a big bounce back here.
Desert Hot Springs 40, Miller 14
Desert Mirage (3-1) at San Gorgonio (1-3)
Coming off that loss to Indio, San Gorgonio will now face another valley team that is playing to get back to the postseason for the first time in years. The Rams lost for the first time this season last Friday, and I think there's serious bounce back potential here, too.
The Rams are so much bigger than the Spartans, on paper, with one of the biggest groups of linemen in the entire valley. They have several guys who are like 6-foot-4 and 280 pounds. I just don't see this being much of a contest with that size advantage and with the way Desert Mirage is playing this season.
Desert Mirage 38, San Gorgonio 7
Indio (3-2) at Coachella Valley (0-4)
It's been 15 years Indio beat Coachella Valley, its biggest rival. Coachella Valley's star quarterback, Ivan Garza, is day-to-day with a hamstring injury. Also, the coaches at Indio, many of whom were coaching at Xavier Prep in recent years, would love to get revenge on Coachella Valley after the Arabs embarrassed the Saints, 27-0, in 2024.
This feels a lot like Baker Mayfield facing the Cleveland Browns, his former team that he surely wanted to badly beat, last week. Only in that game, the Browns won, denying Mayfield of the sweet satisfaction. Will that be the case here? Will Coachella Valley show up motivated and preemptively spoil Indio's party? I think both teams will be fired up in this one, but I simply have to pick the team playing the better football at the moment.
Indio 32, Coachella Valley 27
Yucca Valley (1-4) at Twentynine Palms (2-3)
In the other Bell Game, these two rivals face each other with both teams coming off of wins. Both wins were quite impressive, too. Dare I say that the Wildcats' victory over Big Bear, however, was more impressive than the Trojans' win over Xavier Prep? I think that it might've been.
That said, I still think that Yucca Valley has more skill position talent than Twentynine Palms and I think that'll be the difference here. We crowned Aiden Pope the top player in the area in the pre-season and we haven't seen him cook quite as much as we expected. But I think he will really shine in this one.
Yucca Valley 34, Twentynine Palms 20
La Quinta (1-3) at Roosevelt (1-3)
I want to pick La Quinta here because I think the Blackhawks are much better than 1-3. But there are two things that are giving me some pause about doing that.
The first is that star senior Colton LaCrone was on crutches at the end of Friday's game (though he said he'll be fine). The other is that Roosevelt is not at all a step down from the three teams that have already beaten La Quinta. The Blackhawks have played the toughest schedule in the valley this season, and if I were coaching this team I'd simply want to be competitive and to get out without any serious injuries.
Roosevelt 28, La Quinta 17
Valley View (3-1) at Shadow Hills (1-3)
We're halfway through the season and Shadow Hills is probably the team I know the least about. Probably because the Knights are one of just three local teams this season that I have not yet watched live. So, take what I have to say here with a grain of salt.
I think, coming off a bye week, that this is a pivotal game for Shadow Hills. I don't expect a win, but some encouraging steps, particularly from an offense scoring just 12 points per game this season, would be a positive heading into DEL play next week. I think that there's too much talent, from what I can tell, for Shadow Hills to not be more competitive. This game, though, is against a really good team.
Valley View 38, Shadow Hills 21
Shad's picks
While Andrew's taking a deep dive on each game, which he will do every week now that league play is set to begin, this week, I'm just going to hit you with my picks ... and I would love for more of them to be correct please football gods.
- Arrowhead Christian 27, Cathedral City 20
- Desert Hot Springs 33, AB Miller 7
- Desert Mirage 28, San Gorgonio 0
- Coachella Valley 34, Indio 27
- Yucca Valley 27, Twentynine Palms 13
- Roosevelt 38, La Quinta 14
- Valley View 38, Shadow Hills 14
Shad's Game of the Week: Indio at Coachella Valley — Despite the eyeball test of this season so far. I'm sticking with the Arabs to continue their mastery of this rivalry. I feel like the motivation will be there to not be the team to lose the streak and somehow some way, they'll get it done. On the other side, it might be hard for Indio to keep its emotions in check and wits about them as they try to do something no Rajah team has done in 15 years.
Andrew John covers sports and recreation in the Coachella Valley for The Desert Sun. Email him at andrew.john@desertsun.com. Find him on Instagram at @desertwriter.
Shad Powers is the sports editor at The Desert Sun. Email him at shad.powers@desertsun.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Week 6 high school football picks and score predictions
