Week Zero was full of season-opening winners.
Santa Clara won its first 11-man game in nearly a decade. Camarillo won in Santa Barbara for the first time this century. Royal won without its head coach. Calabasas grabbed victory from the jaws of defeat on Jayden Campos’ miracle catch.
“It’s nice to see our kids have a smile after the game,” said Camarillo head coach Nate Anderson.
Jostradamus has been wearing a smile all week after opening his junior season with a veteran-like 18-2 performance.
And that came on perhaps the toughest weekend of the season, when the rosters are fresh and the strengths and the weaknesses aren’t yet revealed.
The trick during the Week 1? Don’t overcorrect from just one game of data.
And it is a mouth-watering slate full
of huge early-season showdowns.
Ventura’s first game after its CIF-State bowl run is old foe Oxnard. Grace and Santa Paula meet again, nine months after they played for a CIF-Southern Section title. Pacifica welcomes a fellow CIF-State contender to Oxnard. Oaks Christian visits former quarterback Treyvone Towns at Rancho Cucamonga.
Westlake-Agoura, Moorpark-Camarillo, Rio Mesa-Calabasas, Oak Park-Fillmore, and Thousand Oaks-Hueneme are all interesting all-local matchups.
Onto the Week 1 picks. Let’s see how much Joe Knows.
Friday
Ventura 31, Oxnard 14: Game No. 102 for Ventura County’s oldest rivalry.
Westlake 35, Agoura 31: Westlake leads the series, 22-5.
Moorpark 21, Camarillo 20: The Musketeers won the last meeting in 2023 to halt the Scorpions’ four-game streak in the series.
Rio Mesa 35, Calabasas 27: The Spartans rolled up 325 yards and five TDs rushing in the season-opening win over Hueneme.
Oak Park 27, Fillmore 24: Welcome to California, quarterback Bryson Kennedy. Here’s Nate Page’s defense.
Thousand Oaks 20, Hueneme 12: The Vikings haven’t beaten the Lancers since 1999.
Grace 41, Santa Paula 40: Hopefully the fog holds off for the rematch of the 2025 CIF-SS Division 12 final.
San Diego-Lincoln 35, Pacifica 31: Matchup pits two of the top 24 teams in the state, per CalHiSports.com.
Newbury Park 14, Hart 13: The Panthers defense has to deal with Matix Frithsmith, who had 1,000 yards rushing and receiving as a junior.
St. Bonaventure 28, St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy 14: The last time it took the field, St. Pius X faced another team from Ventura for the CIF-SS Division 6 final last November.
Rancho Cucamonga 28, Oaks Christian 10: The Treyvone Towns Bowl! The former Oaks Christian quarterback threw for 159 yards and two TDs in Rancho Cucamonga’s season-opening 28-14 win over Murrieta Valley.
Dos Pueblos 24, Buena 21: Grady Felix threw TD passes to Soren Smedley for Dos Pueblos only points in its season-opening, 21-14 loss to Santa Ynez.
Viewpoint 21, Channel Islands 16: Viewpoint is 2-0 and has scored more than 40 points in both wins so far.
San Marcos 15, Del Sol 14: San Marcos allowed 56 points in a season-opening loss to former Nordhoff coach Tony Henney’s Dana Hills.
Simi Valley 41, Shadow Ridge 40: The Pioneers dropped a 41-40 thriller on the road to the Las Vegas school last year.
Royal 45, Carpinteria 14: No head coach, no problem for the Highlanders so far.
Nordhoff 24, Taft 14: Taft beat the Rangers 20-17 a year ago.
Santa Clara 21, Jordan 14: Jordan mustered just 175 yards of total offense and six points in its season-opening loss to Bosco Tech.
Last week: 18-2 (.900).
This season: 18-2 (.900).
Joe Curley — aka Jostradamus — writes The Star’s high school football picks column. He can be reached at joe.curley@vcstar.com. Follow him at @vcsjoecurley on Twitter/X, Instagram/Threads and Facebook.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Jostradamus hopes Week 1 picks will keep his season-opening smile
