There are the usual rivalries. Battles for family supremacy. Some first-time or rare showdowns. That's prep football 2013 in the East Valley that begins in a scant two months.

A sneak peak recently at some games on the schedule, certainly not all the big ones,  finds these for starters:

August 30 -- This is the first full week of the season after Mountain Pointe and Salpointe open the campaign the week prior in Las Vegas at the Sollenberger Classic. Two coaches make their debut with new schools with new D-II arrival Mesquite (Jim Jones) visiting D-I  Gilbert (Tim Rutt). Both are trying to get their programs back to competitive after two rough seasons. A high-power matchup features Desert Mountain and its passing combo of Kyle Allen and Mark Andrews at Brophy Prep. And defending D-III champ Queen Creek tries its hand against a D-I opponent -- Highland -- at Highland.

September 6 -- The De La Torre Bowl. George De La Torre pilots Dobson for the second year and Poston Butte counters with George's son, Mike, at the helm. Should be a competitive contest. The same week two schools with multiple big-school titles in the last decade meet with Brophy visiting Hamilton. Also on tap that week a first-ever meeting with Basha heading to the west side to tangle with Centennial.

September 20 -- Another west side vs. east side battle with Millennium taking the bus to Desert Ridge.

September 27 -- Rematch of last year's D-I title game  -- Hamilton at Mountain Pointe. Plus another first-ever meeting as Cienega, a D-II playoff perennial, visits D-I Desert Vista.

October 4 -- A team that faces a tough slate the first five weeks in its freedom games gets asixth with Red Mountain hitting the road to Desert Mountain. It will be the first of five sectional games for each school. Red Mountain's first five games are against Pinnacle, Westlake, Calif.; Westview, Brophy and Chaparral. 

October 18 -- Not the oldest rivalry in Mesa, but Mountain View heads to Mesa High with the Jackrabbits trying to end a 16-game losing streak to the Toros. Mesa last beat Mountain View in 1994. Also section rivals Queen Creek and Williams Field square off at Williams Field in a D-III game. Williams Field will be out to avenge a lopsided loss from 2012.

October 25 -- Basha vs. Chandler. Amazing the schools have met only twice (splitting games the past two seasons) given Basha has been open a decade now.

November 1 -- May as well close the regular season with a couple playoff regulars and perhaps teams that will go deep in postseason -- Brophy at Desert Vista.