FOOTBALL NOTES: As week seven begins, a look at OC match-ups and standouts

(Photo: Fernando M. Donado, For OC Sports Zone).

Crean Lutheran offense clicks

Crean Lutheran quarterback Jeremiah Finaly is having a solid year with the Saints, passing for 1,081 yards and 13 touchdowns. Justin Dominguez is the Saints leading rusher with 641 yards and seven touchdowns.

Crean Lutheran’s top receiver has been Ben Byszewski, who has 23 receptions for 268 yards and two touchdowns.

Crean Lutheran (5-1, 1-0) hosts Pacifica Friday night in an Empire League game on homecoming.

Costa Mesa needs strong finish

Costa Mesa High School’s football team (2-4 overall, 1-1 in Orange Coast League) needs a strong finish to have a chance at qualifying for the CIF playoffs.

The Mustangs have some tough games ahead including Thursday’s contest with league-leading Santa Ana at Santa Ana Stadium. Costa Mesa also plays at St. Margaret’s on Friday, Oct. 13 before hosting Orange Friday Oct. 20 and Estancia Friday Oct. 27 to end the regular season.

“We got a tough game against Santa Ana,” said Coach Gary Gonzalez after the Mustangs win over Saddleback last week. “We got to play a perfect game. Rory (Santa Ana Coach Rory) Schoonmaker does a really good job coaching them and it should be a fun game Thursday night. It’s a very tough league.”

With a victory, Santa Ana (5-2, 3-0) could take a major step toward setting up a battle for Orange for the league title in the final week of the season. So far, no one has been able to stop the Saints talented running back Charles Hughes.

Also Thursday night, Calvary Chapel hosts Orange at 7:30 at Segerstrom.

Bye week for St. Margaret’s

St. Margaret’s football coach Dan O’Shea called the bye week the “greatest invention in high school football,” on Twitter this week.

The Tartans are 3-4 overall and 2-1 in the Orange Coast League.

O’Shea praised the play of quarterback Max Ruff, who has 1,951 total yards in offense (1,728 passing) this season and linebacker Battle Gideons, who has 77 total tackles for their outstanding play.

St. Margaret’s resumes play next week vs. Costa Mesa on homecoming.

Sage Hill player stands out

Danyel Khan, who plays eight-man football for Sage Hill, had a memorable performance with five touchdowns, two interceptions, a two-point conversion, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery and 350 all purpose yards in a 57-13 victory over Foothills Christian Friday night.

Khan, a senior, is one of the captain on the Sage Hill team which is 4-1 overall.

Locations for state bowl games

Officials at the CIF State Office announced the locations for the 15 CIF State Championship Bowl Games Friday, Dec. 8 and Saturday Dec. 9.

The games will be held at Saddleback College, El Camino College and Pasadena City College. The schedules will be announced on Sunday, Dec. 3 following the regional championship games. The regional games will be held at host sites, officials said.

League play soon in Pacific Coast

Teams in the two leagues in the Pacific Coast Conference have one more week of non-league play this week before playing the first of three league games starting Friday, Oct. 13

Irvine (4-2) plays at Dana Hills (4-2), Beckman (5-1) plays at Portola (4-2), Laguna Hills (7-0) and Woodbridge (1-6) have byes this week.

The conference is divided up into two four-team leagues, most likely the last year of this format with a new plan coming for most Orange County football teams next season.

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OC football schedule for week seven: Thursday, Friday and Saturday Oct. 5-7

—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com