The top football games on this week's schedule:

Mater Dei (6-4) vs. Bishop Amat (9-1)
Friday, 7:30 p.m. at Bishop Amat High

Outlook: Old Angelus League rivals meet in this first round game.

The playoffs officially start Friday, but the Monarchs have been in the playoffs since Week 7.

Mater Dei opened Trinity League with consecutive losses to Orange Lutheran and Servite. Mater Dei then rallied with victories over JSerra (45-7), Santa Margarita (41-24) and St. John Bosco (42-14) to clinch third place in the Trinity League.

Corbin Anderson continues to produce for the Monarch ground game. Anderson, a junior, has rushed for 730 yards this season. He has averaged 123 yards during the three-game winning streak.

Max Wittek has continued his progress and the receiving duo of Victor Blackwell and AJ Roth have combined for 83 receptions for 1,552 yards.

The Lancers won the Serra League title. Their only loss came to Crespi (38-25) in Week 9.

Quarterback Jerry McClanahan completed 122 of 190 passes for 1,488 yards and seven touchdowns.

Jay Anderson has rushed for 1,010 yards and 19 touchdowns.

Can the Monarchs keep their season alive?

Click on the links below to check out the rest of The Calhoun Six:

Dana Hills vs. Orange Lutheran

Long Beach Poly vs. Los Alamitos

Servite vs. San Clemente

Fullerton vs. Pacifica

El Toro vs. Villa Park

Slide show: Calhoun's Players to Watch in the first-round playoff games.

The best games on the Week 6 schedule:

No. 9 Orange Lutheran (2-3) vs. No. 6 Mater Dei (3-2)
Friday, at Orange Coast College, 7:30 p.m.

Outlook: Is this the start of the journey to the three-way tie for the Trinity League title? We already know how this story ends.

Orange Lutheran beats Mater Dei, which beats Servite, which beats Orange Lutheran, leading us to the Saturday morning coin toss.

Is this the year the cycle ends?

If it does, it is up to Mater Dei, which starts league with Orange Lutheran and Servite. (And I thought Newport Harbor had a tough league-opening stretch.)

We will know a lot about the Monarchs after the first two weeks.

What we know so far is that the Monarchs have been a little inconsistent. They’re 3-2, but needed late drives to defeat Cypress and L.A. Jordan.

On the other hand, they could and probably should have defeated No. 1 Edison. They led by 12 in the third quarter.

Now, which Mater Dei team are we going to see in the Trinity League?

Orange Lutheran has a tough start due to injuries and illnesses knocking quarterback Bobby Wheatley and two-way starter Garret Gilliland from action.

They lost to Redlands East Valley on the last play of the game and to Narbonne of Harbor City in double overtime.

Will things start to turn their way this week?

Links to the rest of The Calhoun Six:  

No. 20 Corona del Mar vs. No. 22 Laguna Hills

No. 11 Tustin vs. No. 25 Canyon         

No. 15 Esperanza vs. No. 1 Edison

No. 4 Los Alamitos vs. No. 13 Newport Harbor

No. 7 Dana Hills vs. No. 12 Tesoro

Site, time: Santa Ana Stadium, Saturday, 7 p.m.

Outlook: Lutheran … Mater Dei. Mater Dei … Lutheran. That was the thinking when coming up with a preseason No. 1 team in the county. It could have gone either way. Lutheran again is that good. The Lancers have it all – good skill position players, including star-in-the-making Exavier Edwards as a junior running back (and senior Kyle Dravis is a fine back, too), good linemen and, just like last year, a stellar defensive backfield. Bullard comes out of the football-deep Fresno area. It will be a quick, hard-hitting foe for the Lancers, but they should be up to the challenge.

Winner: Orange Lutheran

ORANGE LUTHERAN VS. MATER DEI
AT SANTA ANA STADIUM

They save Best Picture until the end of the Academy Awards. This one has all the makings of an Oscar-worthy performance. We had Mater Dei as our preseason No. 1 team in the county. It just as well could have been Lutheran. These teams appear to be that close, going into the season. If they are still ranked 1-2 – no matter the order – when this one rolls around, it will be because they both survived challenging nonleague schedules and got through the first four weeks of the Trinity League unscathed. So there could be a lot at stake here. You've read about the star players already; there will be a lot of future Pac-10 stars on the field. You know that programs this good are run by excellent coaches. Games like this make Orange County such a great place for high school football.

Related:
• All Football Kickoff '08 articles

SERVITE VS. ORANGE LUTHERAN
AT CAL STATE FULLERTON

Servite has figured out a way to beat Lutheran in both of their league games since the formation of the Trinity League in 2006. Three in a row is going to be quite a challenge for the Friars, because Lutheran might be as good as its '06 team that won section and state championships and its section semifinalist in '07. Lutheran has plenty of outstanding players returning from last year's10-2 club, including potential star at running back, junior Exavier Edwards. There are still some Pemasas at Lutheran, too, like standout linebacker Jeremiah Pemasa. Transfer Gabe Lemon was an All-County defensive back as a junior last year at Trabuco Hills, but look for him also to be a big part of the Lancers' offense. Servite has a similar two-player – Bijon Samoodi, who was an All-County defensive back last year but should be a threat on offense at wide receiver. Samoodi is one of those athletes who require coaches to figure out a way to get him the football as much as possible. Look for Friars running back Gregory Portis to be a big contributor, too. But the key to Servite's victories over Lutheran in '06 and '07 was the Friars' defense, which would have to come through again in a big way to make it three in a row.

Next: Week 9

Lemon had nine interceptions for Trabuco Hills last season as a junior, and was named All-Orange County first team. He transferred to Orange Lutheran in January. Lemon will be part of a quick, skilled defensive backfield for the Lancers, and he will be part of the receiving corps, too. He had 26 receptions for 424 yards and three touchdowns last season at Trabuco.