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King City - Was heavily senior-oriented in 2008. Defense returns two good starting linebackers in Huitzel and Krehbeil plus all-league DL, Ramon. On offense King City returns Sinclair at QB, plus OL Reidler, Ramon and all-league TE Davis. None of their leading rushers (except Sinclair) return and only one of their leading receivers (Davis) returns. Of course, they do return other big kids to fill in both OL and DL spots as well as RB Holcomb and QB Stephens off the JV team. Finished last year with three wins plus the tie over PG. However lost to Greenfield, and the tie to PG was against a shell-shocked PG team whose leading rusher broke his leg in the first quarter. Historically KC has solid JV teams, and their varsity coaching staff now has a year under their belts of "opening it up" offensively. Sinclair seemed to make fewer mistakes by the end of last season and Stephens looked good in JV games…might be a real fight for the QB spot.

Greenfield - Was heavily senior-oriented in 2008. Returns one of the best players in the league, junior Daniel Breaux. Do they keep him on the OL or move him into the backfield this year? The Tamayo experiment worked so well last season that I'll bet he is a running back this year. Also return all-league Merritt at both OL and DL as well as another fast "little" Greenfield-type RB, Perez. Have a big hole to fill at QB…not that Sanchez was a great passer but he was excellent in their fly offense.

PG - Returns some very good players, including two lineman both at 270 lbs…and Lohr is also a heavyweight wrestling champion. Merchak will be starting his second season at QB, Hatau is another junior who played a lot as a sophomore.. Bell, Collins, Consiglio, Schrader and Wheeler could all start on any team in the MTAL. And their new stadium might get more kids to consider going out for the team. Ultimate question for PG is depth. And the fact that they will begin the season with a new head coach and perhaps more importantly it is rumored that there will be a "whole new" coaching staff. And of course with that you might have a new offensive and defensive scheme.

RLS - If all the juniors on last year's team play this year, RLS will only have five seniors on their roster. Last year's JV team was very good, so much will depend on how the underclassmen perform. Don't recall any big linemen on the JV team so size could be an issue. Jack Moffett will be a very good QB if he has time and receivers. Tyler Allen performed really well at RB last year.

Gonzales - Returns some VERY good skill players. If they can find enough kids to play offensive and defensive line, they are going to surprise a number of people. I thought Madrid was the second best quarterback in the MTAL last year. Ledesma has a ton of ability. And Jiang has loads of heart. Who shows up and how much depth they have remain the Spartans big issues.

Soledad - When they finally get a coach who lasts more than a season, the Aztecs can win. They have a "big" (by MTAL standards) school full of good athletes. They have two experienced quarterbacks returning as well as their leading rusher and three of their top five leading receivers. Some big kids return on both the offensive and defensive lines.

Carmel - Graduated 9 seniors but has experienced players behind most of them who can step in and fill spots. (With an average margin of victory in league games of 38 points, non-starters got a lot of playing time.) 7 of next year's seniors will be playing their third (and in one case, fourth) year of varsity football. And all 8 of the sophomores on last year's team got significant playing time. (Plus, Carmel's JV teams have been 27 an 1 over the past three years.) The defense which lead the MTAL in 2008 should be better next year and the offense could be nearly as good…and probably more balanced than in years past.

Prediction

1) Carmel
2) King City
3) Greenfield
4) PG
5) RLS
6) Gonzales
7) Soledad

PS... Apologies to those whose names I left off.