For most, the answer is a resounding yes. The pigskin season kicks off today with a number of local teams playing, including Burlingame at Terra Nova, The King’s Academy at Fremont-Sunnyvale, Menlo School at Hamilton City, South San Francisco at Carlmont, Serra at Westmont, Sacramento at Woodside and Pioneer versus Aragon at Burlingame High.

Two games fill Saturday’s slate: Saratoga at Menlo-Atherton and the College of San Mateo plays at De Anza. Here’s hoping for a great football season. Even though football is the most popular sport in America, it doesn’t always make for great games — especially at the prep level. With 22 players on the field at a time, football only enhances the chasm between the have and have-nots.

Whereas in other sports — take basketball for instance — the have-nots have a fighting chance when they play the traditional power teams because they only need one or two good players to be competitive. That doesn’t apply to football, where you need at least a half-dozen quality players to compete against the top-tier squads.

The powerhouse schools not only have the better athletes, they have more of them at every position. As a result, games can get ugly in a hurry. Last year it seemed like the first 12 games I covered ended in hair-pulling blowouts, reducing my life expectancy rate a few years. Whenever someone asks me about New Year’s day wishes, I hope and pray for competitive high school football games on a weekly basis. Is that too much to ask? Here are a couple of things to watch for in the upcoming season.

Games to circle on your calendar

De La Salle at Serra, Sept. 13, 1 p.m. Any time you get a chance to watch one of the premier programs in America, it’s always a treat. The Padres aren’t too shabby, either.

Woodside at Oak Grove, Sept. 12, 7 p.m. The Wildcats are fully expecting to compete for the PAL Bay Division championship. They’ll find out just how good they are against the defending CCS Open Division champs.

Menlo-Atherton at Valley Christian, Sept. 19, 7:30 p.m. Another big test for a team from the PAL. M-A played well against the Warriors last year before succumbing in the fourth quarter. The Bears will be looking for a different outcome this time.

Menlo-Atherton at Aragon, Oct. 24, 3 p.m. M-A ended Aragon’s four-year reign atop the Bay. The Dons want the title back. If this year’s game is anything like last year’s — an M-A win — it should be a doozy.

Serra vs. Bellarmine at San Jose City College, 7 p.m. As WWE announcer Jim Ross would say, a true slobber knocker. Part III in a rivalry that only gets better with time. The Padres dealt the Bells their only 2007 league loss only to lose to Bellarmine in heartbreaking fashion a couple of weeks later in a CCS Open Division playoff opener.

Ocean Division championship game, Nov. 7, TBA. The winner of the Ocean’s A and B divisions square off for the league’s lone automatic— and most likely only — playoff berth. I’m picking Burlingame and Carlmont to meet for the Ocean’s first-ever official title game.

(Just some of the) players to watch

Cody Jackson, Serra QB. The third time will be the charm. After the Padres suffered painful playoff defeats the last two years, Jackson is poised to lead Serra to a Open Division title.

Jason Simpson, Woodside RB/DB. One of the most electrifying players in the section, Simpson is a part of Woodside’s most talented squad since the team that won a section championship four years ago.

Kimi Maka, Menlo-Atherton OL/DL. At 6-foot-6, 370 pounds and able to run the 40 in five seconds flat, Maka has turned his teammates’ heads in practice.

Julian Bernard, Terra Nova QB. It’s no surprise Bernard is receiving some Division I looks. He’s got the size (6-6), the arm and the athleticism to be a difference maker.

Matt Walters, Sacred Heart Prep RB. Agile, speedy and tough, Walters enters his junior year as one of the top backs in the county. He rushed for over 1,000 yards last year, including a couple 200-yard rushing efforts.

Questions, questions, questions

Who will win the PAL Bay?

This year the race looks to be more wide open than ever. M-A is the defending champion but up until last year Aragon had won the title five of the previous seven years. Terra Nova is always tough, Woodside has plenty of talent, Menlo School returns a number of key players from last year’s fourth-place Bay squad and South San Francisco looks to be on the rebound. The difference between first and sixth? Not much. Things should be very interesting.

How will CSM fare in the powerful NorCal Conference? The NorCal is the South Eastern Coference of junior college football — without a doubt the top league in the land. Entering their fifth year in the NorCal, the Bulldogs haven’t done as well as they would have liked, but even if they’re the fourth or fifth best team in conference, that’s still pretty darn good.

Motivated by its shortcomings last year — CSM had close games with Foothill and City College of San Francisco only to fall short — look for it to have a winning record in the NorCal for only the second time since it entered the conference.

Emanuel Lee can be reached at emanuel@smdailyjournal.com or (650) 344 5200, ext. 109.