As league play begins, DVL football appears to be much different than it was last year
Last year’s high school football season in the Desert Valley League was all about three teams: Coachella Valley, Yucca Valley and Indio high schools. The other five teams in the league were not very competitive in games against those three teams. It was those three teams and then everyone else.
Evidence for that is the five shutouts Indio recorded against those teams. Coachella Valley shut out four of those five teams and Yucca Valley shut out three of them.
With DVL play starting this week, the story this year appears to be much, much different.
Coachella Valley, Yucca Valley and Indio open DVL play against three teams that are unbeaten so far this year. The Arabs face Desert Mirage (3-0), the Trojans play Cathedral City (2-0) and the Rajahs will take the field against Desert Hot Springs (3-0).
In the fourth DVL game on the schedule, Banning will match up with Twentynine Palms.
That opening slate of games in the league should provide plenty of intrigue. It should also give us a much better idea of whether those three unbeaten teams are actually legitimate contenders in the DVL this season.
The Trojans (0-3) beat the Lions 48-0 last year, but Cathedral City has allowed just seven points this season in two convincing wins. A third game was canceled due to lightning with the Lions leading 14-0.
That sets the stage for what could be a very competitive matchup in Cathedral City on Thursday.
“I’m expecting a dog fight,” star Yucca Valley receiver and safety Javin Hudson said of the Trojans’ matchup with the Lions. “We’ve gotta come out and make a statement for the league.”
Another team that desperately needs to make a statement is Indio (0-3). The Rajahs were also winless in their three non-league games last season, before turning their season around with dominating performances in the league that led to a de facto league title game in the regular season finale versus Coachella Valley. The Arabs won and Indio finished third in the DVL.
On Thursday, the Rajahs will be home against an upstart Desert Hot Springs team, led by first-year head coach Roy Provost, that is aiming to start 4-0 for the first time in school history.
“Coach Provost has done a great job implementing a strong foundation,” Indio head coach Daniel Hayes said. “As far as the game, we expect DHS to be more competitive than the last two years. But we’re confident that if we go out there and execute, the outcome might surprise everyone but us.”
Coachella Valley (2-0) and Desert Mirage will each look to remain unbeaten this season following their game on Friday in Coachella. It will be the Arabs' home opener.
Regardless of who wins these games, coaches and players in the DVL agree that the competitive nature of them is good for the league. It makes the games more fun, Coachella Valley head coach Bill Johnson said, and it will help the teams that ultimately make the playoffs, Cathedral City head coach Richard Lee noted.
“It makes the league more exciting to watch,” Lee said, “when almost every team has a hand in it. It’s really nice to see.”
The big question is whether almost every team in the league will indeed have a hand in it this season or if the league slate will again heavily favor Coachella Valley, Yucca Valley and Indio.
We'll get a better of idea of that on Thursday and Friday.
"I think the league is going to be tougher this year," Johnson said. "I don't think there will be many easy wins, so we've got to be prepared for every game.
"We can't overlook anyone."
Andrew John covers sports in the Coachella Valley for The Desert Sun and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at andrew.john@desertsun.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: DVL football looks much different this year as it begins league slate
