TONIGHT

No. 2 Grant (0-0) at Montgomery of Santa Rosa (0-0), 7:30 p.m.

• These two high-powered programs are trying to rebound from subpar 2007 seasons. The Pacers went 7-4, finished second in the Metro Conference and lost to Ponderosa in the first round of the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs. Montgomery was 6-4-1 and lost to Sonoma Valley 14-0 in the opening round of the North Coast Section playoffs. Grant has gone 40-8 over the last four seasons; Montgomery is 38-9-1. The Vikings, led by 29-year coach Jason Franci, will unveil a new offense – the pistol – a variation of the spread. Dan Boarman, a 6-foot-2, 210-pound senior, leads the defense after recording nine sacks as a junior. Grant returns 18 players who started two or more games last season. With star running back Marselius Williams now at Sacramento City College, the Pacers plan a running back-by-committee that includes speedster Howard Warren, the younger brother of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Paris Warren. The defense, manned by 10 veterans, is expected to be much improved over last season's bunch that allowed 197 points.

– Bill Paterson

Sacramento (0-0) at Woodside (0-0), 7 p.m.

• The Dragons finished 7-4 last season for the school's first winning season in 15 years. Woodside went 2-8 playing a lot of juniors but has been much better in the past under coach Steve Nicolopulos, including a 13-0 2004 in which the Wildcats won the Central Coast Section Medium School championship. They also return two senior two-way standouts – running back-linebacker Jason Simpson and defensive end-tight end Sekope Kaufusi – who have started since they were sophomores. The Dragons are still reeling from the killing of junior Robert Haynes, a Grant transfer who coach Doug Cosbie expected to be an impact player at running back and linebacker. The 16-year old was gunned down Aug. 22 at a house party in Meadowview. "It's been tough," Cosbie said. "Even though he was new to our school, most of our kids knew him either as teammates or opponents in youth football." Many of the players attended a memorial for Haynes on Saturday before scrimmaging Grant and Golden Valley of Merced. "He was really an upbeat kid," Cosbie said. "He brought a lot of energy and a lot of leadership. He played with passion." Cosbie hopes the game will be a welcome distraction for his players and a good test for juniors Matthew Ajayi and Arturo Amaya, who are battling to start at quarterback. Another player to watch is emerging talent Keivaughn Barrett, a 6-foot-4, 285-pound guard.

– Bill Paterson

SATURDAY

No. 10 Ponderosa (0-0) at Fernley, Nev. (0-1), 7 p.m.

• Want to watch a potent offense? Check out the visiting Bruins in this game. Although they graduated nearly 30 players from last season's Sierra Valley Conference championship team, most were role players who saw limited action. Returning are four all-league players, including senior offensive lineman Keith Jonutz and versatile junior running back Lyndell Scarr, who rushed for 1,558 yards and scored 13 touchdowns in an offense that racked up nearly 30 points per game. That's bad news for Fernley, which dropped its season opener to Moapa Valley of Overton, Nev., 33-14 last Friday. Fernley made national news in February after offensive lineman Kevin Hart announced at a school assembly and news conference that he would sign with Cal. But Cal coach Jeff Tedford said he had never talked to Hart and the Bears had never recruited him.

– Quwan Spears