As expected, Week Five was the sleepiest of the California high school football season, mostly due to midseason bye weeks.
But no matter – Week Six is here, and it's arguably the deepest of the regular season. While California's upcoming weekend of football doesn't have much that's on the national radar, it's jam-packed with dozens of crucial league games between some of the state's better programs. And at the top is one final big-name clash between NorCal and SoCal juggernauts before we have to wait until state finals for more.
Here's a look at the top 10 games to watch in Week Six, followed by many more games on our radar. Rankings referenced in games' descriptions below refer to SN's statewide team rankings for Week Six.
Top 10 California high school football games to watch in Week 6
(Games start at 7:00 or 7:15 p.m. PT on Friday unless noted otherwise.)
10. Pacifica (Oxnard) vs. Oaks Christian
Despite starting 1-4 against a tough schedule, Oaks Christian is a remarkably talented football team and not one that can be written off from contending in the Marmonte League. Pacifica is the heavy favorite after its amazing 5-0 start, especially at home, but Oaks Christian is better than at least four of the teams Pacifica has played, and it seems that the Lions can find another gear coming off a bye week with so much adversity under their belt. This is probably the one and only week left that could turn around Oaks Christian's regular season before it's too late.
9. Sierra Canyon vs. Serra (Gardena)
On paper, is there any reason to think that Serra has a chance in this one? Not after Sierra Canyon won 41-9 against an Orange Lutheran team that had just rolled the Cavaliers 35-14. But we have to at least shout out the Mission League title race one time this season, and this game will have fans across the country on notice if Serra can shock the world by pushing Sierra Canyon. If the Cavaliers can manage a couple early scores, there's not a team in high school football that would want to be tasked with coming back from a hole against that defense.
8. Corona del Mar vs. San Juan Hills
Between reigning champion San Juan Hills, Yorba Linda, Villa Park, and a Corona del Mar team that just cruised past Trabuco Hills to start 5-0, the Bravo League is set to be a dogfight. The Sea Kings might not have the defensive firepower to stop San Juan Hills' offensive attack, but they've proven themselves too dangerous to count out, and they nearly knocked off San Juan Hills last year before falling 31-28. There's a strong argument that whomever wins this game is the favorite to win the Bravo.
7. Servite vs. Santa Margarita
While this game is unlikely to factor into the Trinity League title race at all, it should be a dang good one. Santa Margarita might be reeling after getting shut out by Bishop Gorman to end its national title hopes, but picking up its second loss of the season to an out-of-state opponent doesn't otherwise have much bearing on the Eagles' season. Servite got walloped 44-8 when these teams met last season but has otherwise had Santa Margarita's number for most of the past several years.
6. Clovis North vs. Central East – Thursday at 7 p.m.
The TRAC has so much parity in 2025 that literally all its members arguably have at least a one-percent chance of taking the crown, and that's not usually the case at all. That waters down the intrigue of this matchup quite a bit, but it is indeed between the two top-ranked teams in the conference, so we might look back on this weeks from now as one of the biggest – and perhaps best – games of the regular season. Clovis North won 26-21 last year when they met in league play, which saw Clovis East sweep the conference, but Central East got revenge in the section semifinals by a score of 27-10, so both teams might be entering this one with revenge on their minds.
5. Folsom vs. Oak Ridge
After beating Rocklin two weeks ago and taking a bye week, Folsom controls its own fate in the SFL as usual. With that said, the Bulldogs weren't exactly unstoppable in that 34-21 Rocklin win in which Ryder Lyons returned from injury, and Rocklin went on to get upset by Jesuit last week, so based solely on the last two weeks, Oak Ridge has a chance here. In fact, Oak Ridge's 2025 resume is absolutely on par with Folsom's thanks to its wins over St. Mary's (Stockton), Del Oro, Granite Bay, and Frontier. It's just hard to imagine the Trojans doing close to a 180 after losing 35-7 and 41-0 in last year's meetings with Folsom, but that was 2024 and it's currently too early to count them out.
4. Inglewood vs. Leuzinger
The Bay League title game? Probably? Inglewood hasn't lost a league game since 2018 before Mil'Von James took over, and this is probably the most danger it's been in of doing so. Thanks in large part to a brutal schedule, Inglewood is off to a 2-3 start, whereas Leuzinger is 3-1 with a win over Long Beach Poly and narrow loss only to JSerra. Despite being on the road, Leuzinger would even be considered the light favorite here by many after Inglewood's three losses, but this game will probably be a tossup and that's how we like it. Whichever team wins still has to go through Mira Costa and other strong league foes, so as big as this win will be, it won't be time to anoint a king just yet.
3. Damien vs. Rancho Cucamonga
Some are saying that the Baseline League title is No. 16 Damien's to lose after last year's sweep and Damien's brilliant 5-0 start to 2025, but Baseline League play always comes with twists and turns. To win it last year, Damien had to survive Chino Hills by three points, Rancho by three points, and Upland in double overtime, and none of those teams are about to roll over just because Damien looks poised for another good run. Everyone knows Rancho Cucamonga is leaps and bounds more dangerous than its 1-4 record would indicate – the win came against Oak Hills and its lowest-ranked foe was Chaparral – so the Cougars might even get a small boost from being battle-tested with no potential for a perfect regular season. Does that mean they match up with a fine-tuned machine on both sides of the ball though?
2. Mission Hills vs. La Costa Canyon
Yet another high-profile conference that's probably seeing its title decided in the first week of league play. The Avocado League is even deeper than usual in 2025 and is loaded with legitimate contenders, but with No. 22 Mission Hills and No. 24 La Costa Canyon both off to brilliant 5-0 starts, it's hard to tell if there are even 20 teams in California that can beat them. Whichever team wins this tossup can't afford to sleepwalk through the rest of conference play but will be in fantastic position to complete an undefeated regular season. Bring your popcorn.
1. De La Salle vs. Cathedral Catholic
During a week in which the onset of league play dominates most storylines, the No. 1 game of the week is a final NorCal-versus-SoCal chess match before state championships bring more in mid-December, and both teams come in unbeaten. At No. 7 in the state, De La Salle has unsurprisingly been in national rankings discussions for a few weeks now, whereas Cathedral Catholic wasn't on the national radar to start the season but wasted no time in pushing the envelope. Regardless of who wins, De La Salle is the favorite to emerge as the NorCal Open Division regional champion and Cathedral Catholic still has to worry about Lincoln in both Western League play and perhaps the CIF-SDS Open Division playoffs. But the winner has a great chance to go 10-0, especially with De La Salle off to a strong start in what's otherwise a down year for most of the North Coast Section. And whichever team wins also has to like their chances of being ranked top-25 in the nation a week from now.
MORE GAMES TO WATCH:
Central (El Centro) vs. Imperial
Mission Viejo vs. Long Beach Poly
Norco vs. Murrieta Valley
California (San Ramon) vs. Livermore
Chaparral vs. Vista Murrieta
Clovis West vs. Clovis East
Clovis vs. Buchanan (Clovis)
St. Vincent de Paul vs. Rancho Cotate – Saturday at 2 p.m.
Archbishop Mitty vs. Valley Christian (San Jose)
Villa Park vs. Yorba Linda
Santa Fe Christian vs. Army-Navy – Saturday at 12 p.m.
Chaminade vs. Bishop Amat
Del Norte (San Diego) vs. Rancho Bernardo
Los Gatos vs. Pittsburg
Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep vs. Archbishop Riordan
Orange Lutheran vs. Mater Dei
JSerra vs. St. John Bosco
Chico vs. Elk Grove
Serra (San Mateo) vs. St. Ignatius – Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
Eagle Rock vs. Marshall – Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Carlsbad vs. Torrey Pines
Serrano vs. Oak Hills
El Camino (Oceanside) vs. Poway
East Nicolaus vs. Pierce – Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Lassen vs. Las Plumas – Friday at 7:30 p.m.
University (Los Angeles) vs. Venice
Mount Miguel vs. Helix
Tulare Union vs. Lemoore – Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
San Diego vs. Point Loma
Oceanside vs. San Marcos (San Marcos)
Madison vs. St. Augustine
Kennedy (Granada Hills) vs. Panorama
Steele Canyon vs. El Capitan (Lakeside)
Washington Prep vs. Fremont (Los Angeles)
RELATED CALIFORNIA HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL NEWS
- SN's CIF-Southern Section Top 25 rankings (Week 6)
- California football Top 25 (Week 6): Crean Lutheran debuts
- Vote: SN's California Team of the Week (Week 5)
- Edison (Huntington Beach) is SN's California football Team of the Week for Week 4
- Sonora's Steven Morfoot is SN's California Player of the Week for Week 5