By Gerry Gittelson, LA Times (7/5)

The rebuilding project at Alemany of Mission Hills is in its third year under football coach Dean Herrington, and this season the Warriors should compete for a Western Division championship after going 8-4 and advancing to the quarterfinals last year.

The Warriors return lots of top skill-position players, including big-play receivers Chris Gant, Nick Cook and Antonio Bray and three-year starting running back Malcolm Marable.

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Locals take it on the run: It should be a good year for prep running backs this coming football season, as perhaps 10 returnees - Ryan Zirbel (Saugus), Malcolm Jones (Oaks Christian of Westlake Village), Chris Brown (Newbury Park), Dietrich Riley (St. Francis of La Canada), John Lister (Thousand Oaks), DJ Morgan (Taft of Woodland Hills), Marquell Jefferson (Palmdale), Malcolm Marable (Alemany of Mission Hills), Rashon Harper (El Camino Real of Woodland Hills) and Demitri Diamond (Hart of Newhall) - could be primed for 2,000-yard seasons.

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