Carmel-North County football

Friday's game
Carmel (1-0) at North County (1-0), 7:30 p.m.
 Avoiding a mental letdown should have been a topic of conversation this week at Carmel after it beat defending CCS Division I champion Salinas in its opener.
 An argument can be made that the Padres may not face a stronger team the rest of the regular season. They don't have another 'A' League opponent on their schedule.
 That doesn't mean there isn't plenty to fix. A better start would be a starting point after giving up an opening drive touchdown. Surrendering the lead, albeit briefly, brought back memories of last year.
 The Condors hadn't won a season opener in five years. And they did it in comeback style, rallying on the road to beat North Salinas.
 Brandon Ducusin rushed for 86 yards and threw for 101 for North County, producing all three of the teams touchdowns -- including two in the fourth quarter.
 Grinding the ball and chewing up the clock are critical for the Condors if they want to keep Carmel's quick striking offense off the field. Someone other than Ducusin needs to make an impact.
 Last week quarterback Kai Lee threw for 317 yards and five touchdowns for Carmel -- two of which were 75 yards or longer. Luke Melcher and Dakota Mornhinweg each had over 100 yards receiving.
 Having managed just 26 yards on the ground last week, look for the Padres to attempt to rediscover its running game with Mornhinweg.