That Time Again: Ready or not, the...

That Time Again: Ready or not, the football season is here. Among high schools, City Section teams started practice last week and Southern Section teams begin two-a-day practices today. Above, a San Fernando High player hits a blocking sled. The season opener is Sept. 12--a Thursday--for most schools. Cal State Northridge, which opens Sept. 14 at Utah State, has already played a full-contact intrasquad scrimmage.

Leader of the Pack: Valley College is expected to field the region’s best junior college team. Nothing new about that. The Monarchs finished 10-1 last year, their only loss at the hands of Long Beach City, 59-49, in the Strawberry Bowl for the mythic national championship. Valley is 29-4 the past three seasons under Coach Jim Fenwick. The Monarchs have appeared in three consecutive bowl games.

Flowers Power: One of the Valley’s top players of last season, quarterback Aaron Flowers, has taken his considerable talent to Northridge, where he hopes to help the Matadors improve their 2-8 record of a year ago. Flowers passed for 3,135 yards last year, but he will be hard-pressed to quickly lift Northridge to respectability. The Matadors will be making their debut in the Big Sky Conference, the premier Division I-AA league. Last year, Northridge played two Big Sky teams and was defeated by a combined score of 120-7.

Working Double Time: Southern Section high school teams usually practice twice per day near the end of summer, a rite similar to late-night cram sessions before a final. Medical authorities say that by taking precautions during grueling workouts, coaches can prevent tragedies such as the one in 1992, when a San Fernando High player collapsed after a conditioning practice and died two days later of heatstroke.