Lavan Alston from St. Bonaventure of Ventura can rise above the competition using his leaping ability or breakaway speed. Photo: Tom Hauck/Student Sports.
Attention all Ventura County, Santa Barbara & San Luis Obispo football fans: We have just posted the most complete, up-to-date all-time state football team records ever compiled. It is for Gold Club members only. This is the best time of the year to sign up for a one-year subscription so you can check out everything we do. To sign up, CLICK HERE.
MORE PRESEASON HONORS SQUADS: CIFSS/Inland Empire | Central Section | L.A. City Section | Central Coast Section | San Diego Section | Northern Section | |CIFSS/San Fernando Valley | CIFSS/South Bay & Long Beach | CIFNCS/Redwood Empire | CIFNCS/East Bay (plus Oakland)
FIRST TEAM OFFENSE
WR Lavan Alston (St. Bonaventure, Ventura) 6-0, 175, Sr.
Alston can be an electrifying talent, such as when he went 97 yards for kickoff return TD against Newbury Park and also 75 yards on a punt return against Westlake. He’s got offers from most of the Pac-12 plus Penn State and Boston College.
WR Andre Baccellia (Westlake, Westlake Village) 5-11, 170, Sr.
After catching eight TD passes for the Warriors last season, Andre continued to improve and attracted offers from several colleges. He has committed to Washington.
Oaks Christian’s offensive line should be in good shape with Reno Rosene among the returnees. Photo: Student Sports.
WR Darick Holmes (Newbury Park) 5-8, 180, Sr.
He played last season at Oaks Christian and we also remember being impressed by him as a sophomore starter for the Lions in 2012. Holmes is very much suited to be a slot receiver for the next level with big-time speed and has committed to Arizona.
OL Jordan Burbank (Paso Robles) 6-2, 260, Sr.
After turning in a more than solid junior season, Burbank was named to the All-CIF Southern Section Western Division team. He also received recognition from the San Luis Obispo Telegram-Tribune.
OL Nick Capella (St. Bonaventure, Ventura) 6-6, 260, Sr.
He has yet to commit to a four-year college unlike some of the other well-known offensive linemen in the region, but Capella is an easy choice for this squad since he was MVP among linemen last season in the Marmonte League. He also does have offers and will be a D1 signer.
OL Patrick Mekari (Westlake, Westlake Village) 6-3, 265, Sr.
He’ll be the senior leader of one of the most imposing offensive lines in Southern California that will average more than 300 pounds per player.
OL Zach Okun (Newbury Park) 6-3, 300, Sr.
Committed to Oregon, Okun has been regarded as among the state’s top Class of 2015 offensive line prospects since he first starting playing for the Panthers as a sophomore.
OL Reno Rosene (Oaks Christian, Westlake Village) 6-7, 315, Sr.
Along with Capella and Okun, Rosene is the third of this region’s offensive linemen who also are among the very best in the state. Rosene has committed to Duke.
QB Ricky Town (St. Bonaventure, Ventura) 6-4, 210, Sr.
It’s not uncommon for a QB from this region of the state to be among the highest-rated QBs in the nation. That’s the case once again with Town, who committed to Alabama as a sophomore but since then has switched his commitment to USC.
RB Marcus Chambers (St. Bonaventure, Ventura) 5-9, 185, Sr.
He’s one of 10 returning starters for the Seraphs on offense and is outstanding at squeezing into tight spaces to pick up extra yards. We saw him rush for 235 yards and catch three passes for 63 more in that shootout loss to Corona Centennial last year. He also had five TDs in another game and 202 yards rushing against Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks.
RB Derrick Portis (Lompoc) 5-10, 175, Sr.
As a junior, Portis earned All-CIF Western Division honors as a defensive back. For this team, he fits in best as a running back. Portis rushed for 1,532 yards and scored 21 TDs last season.
PK Kevin Robledo (Westlake, Westlake Village) 6-1, 170, Sr.
He’s already been first team all-state so making the preseason team from the Ventura/SLO/Santa Barbara region is automatic. Robledo followed up his 20-field goal sophomore season by making 11 more last year and converting 43 of 43 PAT attempts.
FIRST TEAM DEFENSE
DE Trevor Howard (Oaks Christian, Westlake Village) 6-3, 225, Sr.
A pass rushing specialist with a great motor, Howard had several colleges courting him in the winter and spring. Since then, he has committed to Cal.
DE Josh Oliver (Paso Robles) 6-4, 225, Sr.
We could have listed Oliver at tight end or linebacker, but he also works as a defensive end. He was an impressive performer at the Los Angeles NFTC and has committed to San Jose State with additional offers from Air Force and Sacramento State.
Westlake linebacker Reno Dubreuil is the top defensive returnee for a loaded team along with DB Jalyn Harrison. Photo: WestlakeHighSchoolFootball.com.
DL Jackson Valencia (Santa Ynez) 6-1, 250, Sr.
He should pick up the slack for graduated standout Clayton Hanly. Valencia was all-league as a junior and was all-area by the Lee Central Coast Newspaper Group.
LB Andre Chevalier (Oaks Christian, Westlake Village) 5-11, 215, Sr.
The three-year starter for the Lions was the team leader in tackles last season with 76 and had seven for loss. Chevalier, who also plays basketball, had 10 tackles vs. Westlake and six tackles with two sacks against Santa Ana Mater Dei.
LB Reno Dubreuil (Westlake, Westlake Village) 6-0, 220, Sr.
An inside linebacker with a mean streak, Dubreuil comes back after earning All-CIFSS Pac-Five and All-Ventura County honors. He just received his first Pac-12 offer from Utah but also could consider the Ivy League.
LB Daelin Hayes (St. Bonaventure, Ventura) 6-1, 220, Jr.
A transfer from St. Mary’s of Orchard Lake, Mich., Hayes figures to make an immediate impact for St. Bonnie, which loses most of its defensive starters from 2013. Hayes already has committed to USC and could be one of the top juniors in Southern California.
LB Shane Hersch (Nordhoff, Ojai) 5-11, 195, Sr.
He’s the top returning player off of last year’s Nordhoff team that lost in the CIF Division III South title game to eventual D3 state champ Corona del Mar. Hersch, who also scored five times as a fullback, racked up 145 tackles for the Rangers.
DB Chris Barganier (St. Joseph, Santa Maria) 6-1, 180, Sr.
This two-way talent is expected to have a breakout season for the Knights. He collected all-area honors by the Lee Central Coast Newspapers group after catching 40 passes for 506 yards and four scores and making 40 tackles with three interceptions.
DB Jordan Harrigan (Arroyo Grande) 5-11, 185, Sr.
He was an impressive performer at the L.A. Nike SPARQ Combine with an 86.64 SPARQ Rating. Harrigan was a standout for the Eagles last season as well with 83 tackles and two interceptions.
DB Jalyn Harrison (Westlake, Westlake Village) 6-0, 180, Sr.
In addition to shining for the Warriors and earning All-CIFSS Pac-Five Division honors, Harrison also ran back kicks. He had two kickoff return TDs last season and had a fumble return score.
DB Tim Jimenez (Carpinteria) 6-0, 175, Jr.
As a leader of Carp’s 8-4 team from last season, Jimenez was in one nearly 100 tackles. He finished the campaign with All-CIFSS Northwest Division honors.
P Cole Ramey (Arroyo Grande) 5-10, 165, Sr.
This latest outstanding kicker for the Eagles made 11 field goals last season in addition to averaging nearly 38 yards per punt. With Ramey and PK Kevin Robledo, this region has two of the top kickers-punters in the entire state and some others who clearly would have been preseason all-region or all-section in many other places in the state.
FIRST TEAM MULTI-PURPOSE
WR/DB Alex Bachman (Oaks Christian, Westlake Village) 6-0, 170, Sr.
As an athlete, Bachman ran a 4.13 in the 20-yard shuttle and jumped 38 inches on his vertical last spring at the NFSC. He does play some defense but is primarily a receiver with a commitment to Wake Forest. The most receivers we can fit on first team offense is three, but there are a few players like Bachman and others that we can list as multi-purpose.
If Bailey Gaither of Paso Robles doesn’t make it in football or baseball, maybe he can be the next James Bond. We think he does look like a young Daniel Craig, the actor who has been playing Bond in recent films. Photo: Student Sports.
RB/KR Austin Hayes (Lompoc) 5-8, 175, Sr.
Lompoc will have a terrific one-two punch in the backfield this year of Hayes and good friend Derrick Portis. We have Portis slotted for this team on offense but are going with Hayes on multi-purpose. Hayes, who was on last year’s All-CIFSS Western Division team as a utility player, scored 13 TDs for the Braves last season. Two of those came on kickoff returns.
QB/RB Malik Henry (Westlake, Westlake Village) 6-3, 190, Jr.
Of course we had to find room on this team for the No. 1 player from our first Class of 2016 player rankings. Henry, who passed for more than 2,300 yards last season, just couldn’t be listed as the QB due to Ricky Town’s presence. Thankfully, he rushed for enough yards so we could put him on multi-purpose.
WR/DB/KR Bailey Gaither (Paso Robles) 6-1, 170, Sr.
Before he was even named as the San Luis Obisbo County Baseball Player of the Year, Gaither went to the Nike SPARQ Combine and ripped off a 4.49 in the 40 and compiled a 111.03 SPARQ Rating. He has returned kicks, played defense and reportedly is the Bearcats’ back-up QB, but his best position is receiver. Gaither’s top offer so far is from Wyoming and other mid-majors also are in on him.
QB/RB Davis Pinkston (Simi Valley) 6-0, 205, Sr.
This dual-threat QB had a stellar season for the Pioneers in 2013. As a rusher, he fell just short of 900 yards with 875 and scored 11 teams. As a passer, Pinkston reached 2,211 yards and had 18 TDs.
WR/DB Jeremy Vincent (Oaks Christian, Westlake Village) 5-11, 185, Sr.
Head coach Bill Redell has been raving about Vincent in preseason coverage in the L.A. Times and L.A. Daily News. The versatile talent ran a 4.64 in the 40 at the L.A. NFSC and seems to be on the verge of collecting scholarship offers.
SECOND TEAM OFFENSE/DEFENSE & MULTI-PURPOSE
(10 players that deserve recognition)
DB Kameron Carroll (Buena, Ventura) Sr.
PK Cooper Garcia (Nordhoff, Ojai) Sr.
RB Abel Gonzalez (Bishop Diego, Santa Barbara) Sr.
RB/DB Manny Gutierrez (Moorpark) Sr.
WR Theo Howard (Westlake, Westlake Village) Jr.
LB Michael Lugo (Ventura) Sr.
PK Bryce Pasky (Paso Robles) Sr.
RB Tyler Peralta (Ventura) Sr.
OL Daniel Podratz (Santa Barbara) Sr.
OL Shareef Wahba (Mission Prep, San Luis Obispo) Sr.
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