It could be a reality check for Servite

Cody Fajardo may not need a reality television show to make a memorable first impression.

The senior quarterback from Anaheim Servite High could help engineer a season-opening upset at 7 tonight when the Friars play Long Beach Poly at Long Beach Veterans Stadium in the first big game of the local high school football season.

A victory over the Jackrabbits, two-time defending Southern Section Pac-5 Division champions and The Times’ top-ranked team in the Southland, would go a long way toward helping Fajardo earn his place in Friars’ lore.

Servite is ranked No. 10 by The Times.

Fajardo has already completed shooting on “The Ride,” a soon-to-debut show on FS West in which he competes with seven other high school players to become the nation’s best under-the-radar quarterback and earn a college scholarship.

The 6-foot-2, 195-pound Fajardo faces a Poly defense that returns no starters.

“We’re going into the first game as an unknown,” Poly Coach Raul Lara said.

-- Ben Bolch