Given the tumultuous offeseason experienced by the Diamond Bar High School football team, being ranked No. 1 in the Central Division after two games would probably be a shock to the Brahmas, if they cared about early season rankings.

Instead, first-year coach Marcus Hughes is preaching to his team that the only rankings that matter are the final ones and everything can and will come crashing down if the Brahmas aren’t on their best behavior Friday night against San Dimas, which is ranked No. 1 in the Mid-Valley Division.

“I’m not a big rankings guy,” Hughes said. “The reality of it is we’ve got a long way to go. We’re going to get tested each week. Obviously, our schedule gets harder this week with San Dimas. Rankings don’t mean anything, you’ve got to go play the games.”

Hughes and Diamond Bar couldn’t have asked for a better start considering that several of the Brahmas top returning players left the program in the offseason along with former head coach Ryan Maine. But here the Brahmas are at 2-0 and hoping to prove it’s no fluke against San Dimas.

Although Diamond Bar’s first-two opponents are both 0-2, neither game has been close after halftime. The Brahmas still have third-year varsity quarterback Tyler Peterson and all-purpose standout Antonio “Noodles” Hull.

“Antonio does it all and he also can be used as a great decoy,” Hughes said. “But we’ve had so many other guys step up, too. Tyler Peterson is having an unbelievable year. His brother Kyle Peterson, too. We’ve got some young guys on defense and young guys on the offensive line who have stepped up as well.”