Michael Huntley takes a hard look at the Orange County high school football scene after last week’s games. He’s looking at what worked or didn’t work, who starred, who stumbled and who is feeling the heat this week.

Wait and see

I am typically not one to pull back the curtain and reveal insider information, but I am one of the three voters in the Register’s Top 25 poll each week.

Voting gets more difficult every week when teams get upset wins or get on a hot streak. There are more quality football programs in Orange County this season than there have been in my seven years of reporting.

There are two teams — Fountain Valley and El Toro — with a good case to be in the Top 25 but are not. El Toro has won two consecutive games including an impressive upset win over previously No. 14-ranked Capistrano Valley in Week 4.

Earlier in the season Fountain Valley dominated El Toro 38-0. Barons fans rightfully say that if El Toro is being considered for the Top 25, that Fountain Valley has to be ranked above them.

Fountain Valley lost to No. 23 El Dorado 50-7 in Week 1. With the exception of El Toro, Fountain Valley’s wins are against opponents with a record of 1-8.

El Toro might have figured something out the past two weeks that will change the course of its season. But the Chargers still lost badly to Fountain Valley and Downey, which has to be taken into consideration at this point.

We will learn a lot more about these two teams after this week which is why I am taking a “wait and see” approach. Fountain Valley is playing a 3-1 Aliso Niguel team this week with both teams coming off a bye.

El Toro is traveling to play No. 17 Tesoro, which is coming off a bye after playing a great game against a very good La Serna team.

Fountain Valley lost 44-15 to Aliso Niguel last season. If the Barons beat the Wolverines on Friday, their case to be in the Top 25 will be stronger.

If El Toro beats Tesoro and pulls off back-to-back upset wins over South Coast League teams, then we can have a conversation about putting the Chargers in the Top 25.

San Juan Hills ready to take off?

Everything that could have gone wrong for San Juan Hills (0-5) this season has gone wrong.

The Stallions opened the season with their two best offensive linemen, Enzo Benzan and Ryan MacDougall, on the shelf with injuries. The team’s two star sophomores, QB Michael “Butter” Tollefson and linebacker Weston Port, have battled hip and ankle injuries, respectively.

Benzan and MacDougall made their season debuts last week against Corona del Mar. With those two back in the lineup, the Stallions were competitive with a very good Corona del Mar team.

San Juan Hills ran for over 100 yards and Tollefson had his best passing game of the season.

The Stallions have a home game Friday against a very good El Modena team. Don’t be surprised if San Juan Hills keeps it close, or even wins now that the Stallions have their top guys back and are in front of their home crowd for the first time in over a month.

Defense still matters

The marquee Orange County game last week was between Los Alamitos and Santa Margarita. The teams combined for 118 points in that game.

One county team that I think is flying under the radar is winning games with its defense. Foothill has allowed less than 10 points per game in its three wins this season. Before its bye last week, Foothill held a good Troy team to 250 yards of total offense.

Ethan Charpentier is second in the county in tackles with 62. Lacrosse star Bode Jellerson is next on the team with 25 tackles and Bryce Perkins is very good in the secondary.

Foothill has some tough opposing offenses to face in the coming weeks — Chino Hills on Friday, then Canyon (Sept. 30) and El Modena (Oct. 8). But the Knights are winning games the old fashioned way, by running the ball and playing physical defense.

Pacific Coast League: Where running backs still matter

The four teams in the Pacific Coast League all excel at running the ball and feature some of the better running backs in the county.

Christian Guarascio of Dana Hills leads the county in rushing with 923 yards in four games. Kendyn Beaver and Evan Hasegawa of Irvine each had two touchdowns in its win over University last week.

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Nick Ferlauto and Troy Leigber of Laguna Hills combined for over 210 yards rushing and five touchdowns against Portola last week. Adam Harper of Northwood was the CIF Division 11 player of the year last season and has continued his dominant play this season.

This is one of the more fun leagues to follow in the county and expect some fast-moving games when league play starts.