Two of this week’s NorCal/SoCal Players of the Week are Jordon Brookshire of Santa Rosa Cardinal Newman and J.J. Glass of San Juan Hills. Photos: Hudl.com & Twitter.com.
Redwood Empire showdown turns into personal showcase for Cardinal Newman QB Jordon Brookshire, who is now named one of our honorees for Northern California. In the south, emerging junior QB Warren Bryan of La Verne Damien gets nod with 440 yards passing.
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Note: Thanks for Stockton office assistant editor Paul Muyskens for contributions to this post. For these honors, we consider CIF Central Section players for Northern California. To find out how your business could benefit by sponsoring these honors each week, email markjtennis@gmail.com.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Offensive Player of the Week
Jordon Brookshire
(Cardinal Newman, Santa Rosa) Sr.
Making sure his Cardinals would not lose a second game in a row, the three-year standout quarterback put up huge numbers rushing and passing in a 42-26 win over Analy of Sebastopol.
In a matchup between perhaps the top two teams in the Redwood Empire, Brookshire amassed 327 yards rushing on 40 carries and scored five touchdowns. He also was nearly perfect passing the football, completing 13 of 14 attempts for 111 yards.
We first saw Brookshire as a sophomore in one of his first games at the Honor Bowl in Loomis and even then his talents were obvious. He’s listed as a 6-foot-2, 197-pound pro-style quarterback by ESPN Recruiting and 247 Recruiting.
Cardinal Newman came into last week’s game after a more than respectable 49-32 loss to state No. 9 St. Mary’s of Stockton.
Teams may not want to kick it to Elijah Harper any more this season. Photo: RecordNet.com.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Defensive Player of the Week
Lawrence Hardy
(Grant, Sacramento) Sr.
The Pacers improved to 3-0 on the season with a 52-24 win over Clackamas of Oregon and it was a second straight week of highlight reel plays by Hardy.
It was on defense where he perhaps shined the most against Clackamas with two interceptions, one of which he returned for a touchdown.
Hardy also had a pick-six in his previous game against Burbank of Sacramento. And in that previous game, he also caught a TD pass and returned a punt for score.
Against Clackamas, Hardy added a touchdown reception.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Special Teams Player of the Week
Elijah Harper
(Weston Ranch, Stockton) Sr.
An emerging 6-foot-3, 180-pound receiver and kick returner, Harper brought back one kickoff return and one punt return for scores during Weston Ranch’s 71-14 romp past Bear Creek of Stockton.
Harper’s 89-yard kickoff return to start the game got the Cougars going, who won for the third straight time to start the season. He later scored on a 80-yard punt return.
As a receiver, Harper also caught three balls for 54 yards in the same game with two going for TDs. He didn’t score, but in the first game against Ceres he had three catches for 121 yards.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Offensive Player of the Week
Warren Bryan
(Damien, La Verne) Jr.
Scoring 31 points just in the first half, the Spartans and their junior QB had their biggest offensive night so far this season, moving to 3-0 on the year with a 38-7 win over Claremont.
Before finding a spot on the sideline to watch the end of the game, Bryan completed 16 of his 24 pass attempts for 440 yards and four touchdowns while also rushing for 15 yards.
Playing on the Damien varsity since his freshman season, Bryan has now passed for 3,328 yards and 24 touchdowns in his high school career.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Defensive Player of the Week
J.J. Glass
(San Juan Hills, SJ Capistrano) Sr.
The 6-foot, 265-pound senior captain has been a menace to opposing teams so far this season for the 3-0 Stallions.
“He was very disruptive,” said head coach Aaron Flowers about this senior’s play during a 17-10 win over Capistrano Valley of Mission Viejo.
On the night, Glass kicked a** by recording four sacks plus six tackles for loss among his 11 overall. He also caused a fumble. He already has 13 tackles for loss on the season.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Special Teams Player of the Week
Daniel Mojarro (Upland) Sr.
One of the only upsets in the state last weekend came when the Highlanders knocked off Redlands East Valley 44-34 and the kicking of Mojarro was a big factor.
Head coach Tim Salter called on Mojarro to kick a field goal three times in the game and he made all three kicks, including one from 47 yards out. Mojarro also went 5-for-5 on PATs.
It wasn’t Mojarro’s first three-field goal game, either. He also went 3-for-3 to open the season in Upland’s 41-22 loss to Mountain Pointe of Arizona.
Mark Tennis is the co-founder and publisher of CalHiSports.com. He can be reached at markjtennis@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow Mark on the Cal-Hi Sports Twitter handle: @CalHiSports
