It's that time of year again...

The 2019 Prep Football season is rapidly approaching, and the schedules are now officially in for the San Pedro & Mary Star Of The Sea High School football teams, as both look to improve off their 2018 campaigns.

San Pedro stumbled in the final month of the season before a Marine League victory over Gardena closed a turbulent regular season, but third-year coach Corey Miller and company righted their ship at the perfect time, as they finished 2018 on a five-game winning streak, culminating with the program's sixth CIF-Los Angeles City Section championship when the Pirates outlasted Dorsey of Los Angeles, 22-20 for the Division 1 crown at El Camino College on November 24.

San Pedro would go 8-6 overall, 1-3 in the Marine League.

The 2019 schedule sees that the Pirates gladly won't face Downey after demoralizing losses to the Vikings in each of the last four seasons, but a renewal of an old playoff rivalry will commence on September 6 when Taft of Woodland Hills visits Mike Walsh Pirate Stadium. San Pedro will also host Eagle Rock on August 29. The Eagles were CIF-LACS Open Division semifinalists in 2018. Other major notable on the schedule is the Pirates will also travel to defending CIF-Southern Section Division 3 champion Sierra Canyon of Chatsworth in mid-October.

In Marine League play San Pedro will host five-time defending CIF-LACS Open Division Narbonne and improving Gardena, while hitting the road for short trips to Carson and Banning of Wilmington (83rd Battle Of The Harbor).

Meanwhile at Mary Star, fourth-year coach Jason Gelber and the Stars returned to the CIF-Southern Section playoffs with a 7-4 overall record, finishing 2-1 as runner-ups of the Camino Real League, where they came one score short of once again defeating eventual league champion Bishop Montgomery of Torrance. If all goes well, the November 1 rematch at Bishop Montgomery just might be for the league crown again.

Stars also have the added advantage of playing their first two league games against St. Monica of Santa Monica and Cantwell Sacred Heart of Montebello at home.

As far as the nonleague schedule goes for Mary Star for the other seven games, the best draws are the season opener against Gladstone at Citrus College (the only new face in the Stars' 2019 schedule), and a highly anticipated rematch with South Torrance that will commence on September 20 in what could be the final year at Daniels Field as the Stars are expected to begin preparing the works for their future football field on the Taper Avenue campus.

Here are the 2019 schedules for both schools as both San Pedro and Mary Star will have even schedules as far as destinations: five home, five away.

Note: San Pedro's 2019 season opening scrimmage is now going to be at Peninsula High of Rolling Hills Estates on August 16. Time for the scrimmage is still to be determined.