San Diego Football Network: 2015 Prep Football Preseason Rankings: #8 Christian Patriots

#8 Christian Patriots

Location: El Cajon, CA

School Colors: Red, White, & Blue

Division: II

League: City

Championships: 10 (Section), 7 (League)

Head Coach: Matt Oliver (16th Season)

2014 Recap: 13-1 CIF-SD Division III Champions (3-0 Central League, 1st)

En route to their second straight section title and first-ever state playoff berth, the Christian Patriots topped their school's single-season records in wins, scoring, and total offense. The only setback was a 48-21 loss to St. Margaret's (San Juan Capistrano, CA) in the state playoff opener.

2015 Outlook

The Patriots have enough returning talent to make a run at their third straight section title, but with a promotion to Division II, this run will most likely present a tougher challenge.

“We have high expectations for how we expect to play,” Christian head coach Matt Oliver said. “We’re just wondering how it’s going to pan out playing up in Division II.”

The Patriots will also get a boost in league competition by moving from Central to the much tougher City. With only 390 students, Christian will face a bigger enrollment gap between their new league opponents, who all have over 2,000.

“Last year we had a lot of blowout wins, and we don’t expect those this year,” Oliver said. “We're going to have to persevere in tough games, and stay relatively healthy because we don't have a lot of depth.”

The depth the Patriots do have are in the skill positions. The leader of the pack is all-time single-season scorer Adrian Petty. With high-level speed and outstanding vision, the senior running back provides an explosive home-run threat to Oliver's pro-style offense.

“He’s the best back I ever had and he’s very special,” said Oliver when speaking on Petty. “Once he breaks the line of scrimmage; we’re shocked if he ever gets tackled.”

Oliver returns 15 total starters to this year's roster, including leading passer David Todd Jeremiah, leading receiver Nick Sexton, leading defender Joey Morones, and kicker Kyle Thompson.

“Personally I feel like this could be one of my best teams ever,” Oliver added.