Midseason Football Analysis 2025 from Teran Rodriguez
Each of the seven of the Sunset League football teams are now at the halfway point of the 2025 season. Edison and Los Alamitos haven’t started league play, but for Corona Del Mar, Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, Marina and Newport, those teams kick off league play starting in week six. Here’s how some of the teams are faring through six weeks of the season – including week double zero.
Corona del Mar (5-0, Bravo League): The Sea Kings have surpassed their win total from last year and scored at least 28 points in all of their games. Brady Annett has taken the quarterback one position and ran with it, as some of his top targets include Dorsett Stecker, JJ Haley and Garrett James – who missed most of last year due to a shoulder injury. The Sea Kings kick off Bravo League play this week at home against San Juan Hills.
Edison (4-2, Alpha League): Despite suffering a tough setback against La Serna just recently, the Chargers are still having a great season and look like the team that has won the CIF-SS and CIF State championship. Sam Thomson leads the charge at quarterback while Ayden Degiacomo is his top target. Matthew Auau has emerged as an underrated receiver for Edison while Sam Edmisten has fulfilled the role of lead running back quite nicely following the graduation of Julius Gillick, who is now playing at Fresno State. The Chargers play Summit of Fontana before their bye.
Fountain Valley (1-4, Foxtrot League): The Mitch Olson era has had its fair share of ups and downs. Some may look at the record and think this is looking like a replay of last year, but Olson has his team playing hard and giving 100% every game and it’s shown in games where they’ve been in most of them. The Barons go into league play having lost 30 straight league games dating back to the 2019 season. Their last league win was against Newport Harbor on October 26, 2018 in a 34-21 victory. Fountain Valley starts off Foxtrot League play against Orange at El Modena High School.
Huntington Beach (4-1, Epsilon League): Halfway through their season, the Oilers have improved drastically for the most part. Their offense is still as high-flying and stacked as it was last year, but the defense is the thing that has been most impressive, holding opponents to under 20 points in every game that they’ve won so far. Their lone loss came against Trabuco Hills, who narrowly beat them 20-19 in week one. Huntington Beach head coach Matthew Hatchette said that the loss allowed his team to learn from it and grow, adding that his team “needed it.”
Los Alamitos (7-0, Alpha League): There’s no team playing better football in Orange County than Los Alamitos, as it’s already surpassed its win total from last year. The Griffins were the first Sunset League team to start the season, beginning with a road win over Inglewood in a week double zero game. Despite playing a majority of its games on the road, Los Alamitos has looked impressive in every aspect of the game. Lenny Ibarra has been Mr.DoItAll, as he’s ran all over opponents, kicked extra points and even made big plays defensively. Following the graduation of Alonzo Esparza, Colin Creason has fulfilled the role at quarterback really well. Griffins offensive coordinator TJ Fenton called Creason “Orange County football’s best kept secret.” The next two weeks get interesting for Los Alamitos, as they have a bye each week. They’re not back in action until they open up Alpha League play against Edison on October 16 at SoFi Stadium.
Marina (4-1, Lambda League): One of the reasons why Marina has been successful this season is because of its play from its offensive and defensive line. Vikings head coach Charlie TeGantvoort is big on that, as his motto is “no line, no shine.” That’s one of the reasons why the Vikings helped TeGantvoort earn 100 coaching wins. The offense has also looked impressive, as Francis Saporito has made the most of being the starting quarterback following the graduation of Garrett Honeycutt. Carson Honeycutt, Garrett’s younger brother, has also stepped up at the receiver position, being the favorite target of Saporito. Marina, which tied for first in the Lambda League last year with Beckman and Kennedy, opens up league against an improved Sunny Hills team on Thursday.
Newport Harbor (2-3, Bravo League): The second year of the Matt Burns era is going a little better for Newport Harbor, despite what the record says. Some could say that the Sailors should be 5-0, as all three of their losses have seen them tied or leading at some point of the fourth quarter. In its most recent win over Colony, Newport Harbor picked up its first road win in Burns’ tenure, also snapping a seven-game road losing streak that dated back to last year. Quarterback Jake Meer has led the Sailors while his top targets are Shane McKibbin and Ryan Palmer. Newport Harbor opens up Bravo League play Friday at Tesoro, which has lost two straight to the Sailors.