New season means more expert picks

Thought I went away?

Tried to forget about me?

Yeah, not happening.

I'm back for another year. In fact, from what I was told when I stopped by the Nevadapreps.com office last week, I might never leave.

The football season kicks off for real tonight -- before school even starts. And that's a good thing because it means I haven't missed a class yet.

It also means I haven't missed a pick yet. Let's see how long either one of those streaks lasts.

Here are four picks to score. For more, head over to Nevadapreps.com, the official home of ... well, me.

■ Legacy at Spring Valley -- That's defending Northwest League champion Legacy to you.

But it's also one starter back on offense and two back on defense Legacy.

More than 3,000 yards of total offense graduated, leaving L.J. McMorris and a bunch of unknowns to pick up the slack for the Longhorns.

Spring Valley has a new coach -- Marcus Teal in, Kelly Murphy out -- and quarterback -- Jordan Cox replaces Anton Stallworth. I'm expecting the Grizzlies to be pretty fired up.

Here's hoping officials make it to Spring Valley for the season opener. That's always a tossup. So is this game. Spring Valley by 2.

■ Durango at Del Sol -- Julio Mora show, Take 2.

Durango's running back gained 1,785 yards and ran for 27 touchdowns last year. Think he might be the focal point of opposing defenses?

Chase Roberts is back at quarterback for the Trailblazers and will throw enough to keep defenses honest.

Del Sol has half its starters back from a team that finished second in the state but lost receiver Evan Weinstock and running back Dezerick Reed.

The Dragons always seem to lose everyone every year and still get back in the hunt in the Sunrise Region. They'll be there again this year. Del Sol by 4.

■ Palo Verde at Green Valley -- It only seems like this is the first year that Palo Verde starts a season without 63 1,000-yard rushers on the team.

The Panthers do have one -- Brandon Wright, who led the team with 1,181 rushing yards and scored 21 touchdowns last year -- but the rest of the offense isn't as battle-tested.

Palo Verde still will run the double-wing and still will be good, though.

Green Valley hopes this is the year it gets over the hump. The Gators thought that last year, too ... and the year before that.

Giving the ball to junior running back Rakeem Griffin, who led the team with 643 yards and seven scores last year, is a good place to start.

The safest pick on the board is that a team wearing some shade of green will win. Palo Verde by 10.

■ Arbor View at Rancho -- One of the toughest teams to figure out last year, Arbor View has just one starter back on offense and could be mysterious this year, too.

Losing your top four rushers, your quarterback and your top receivers tends to not be a good thing.

At least early on, expect a lot of running by Christian Rodriguez and Roderick Eason.

Moving the ball and finding the end zone weren't Rancho's strong suits last year. When you break double figures on the scoreboard three times all year, that's not a good thing, either.

Someone scores. Someone wins. Someone is ... Arbor View by 6.

Contact Fielder at fielder@nevadapreps.com.