Senior quarterback Jack Heneghan from Menlo School of Atherton passed for more than 400 yards last week in a Texas-style shootout. Photo by Harold Abend.
We will lead off the State Stat Stars every week with the Northern California and Southern California Players of the Week, which were announced on Wednesday night on Time Warner Cable’s Varsity Roundup show. We will then present the stat stars each week according to performance and no longer simply alphabetical.
As has been customary for many years, we collect the state stat stars in support of the Cal-Hi Sports State Record Book & Almanac. The book has been published seven times and is as official as a state record book can be since no other exists. To report a State Stat Star of the Week of your own, please email details to markjtennis@gmail.com.
Note: All football state records are in the process of being added to this web site. They will be part of our Gold Club membership. To join our Gold Club today, please CLICK HERE.
Thanks to Paul Muyskens, Harold Abend, Ronnie Flores and CIF Central Section historian Bob Barnett for contributing items this week. This honor roll is for games played from Sept. 5 to Sept. 7.
Northern California Player of the Week
Trevor Bearden (Live Oak, Morgan Hill)
The preseason All-CCS First Team Multi-Purpose selection and No. 2 rusher in the CCS last season (2,176 yards, 20 TDs) came out of the box huge in a season-opening 52-41 victory at Gilroy. The 6-1, 220-pound senior that has offers from Boise State and San Jose State ran for 401 yards on 26 carries with four TDs, including an 80-yard run. He also caught a 64-yard pass for a fifth score. Look for more in Inside the State Record Book for gold club members.
Trevor Bearden from Live Oak of Morgan Hill is looking to surpass 6,000 yards for career rushing. Photo: Student Sports.
Southern California Player of the Week
Tre’ Watson (Centennial, Corona)
With Cal-Hi Sports in attendance, he rushed for 466 yards and seven touchdowns on 37 carries as the Huskies defeated St. Bonaventure of Ventura 69-55 in a game that is going to get considerable coverage on Friday in our first Inside the State Record Book feature for Gold Club members. Watson has committed to Cal, which is now running a version of the same spread offense that Corona Centennial has been running for more than 10 years.
RUSHING
Sheldon Croney (Garces, Bakersfield)
The promising junior ran wild for a school record of 380 yards on 26 carries and scored four touchdowns in a 49-14 win over Golden Valley of Bakersfield.
Austin Clark (West Valley, Cottonwood)
When you have double digit carries in a game and average almost 30 yards a carry it’s safe to say you earned your way onto this list. For Clark, he ran for 352 yards and four touchdowns on just 12 carries as the Eagles moved to 2-0 on the season with a 41-7 win over Shasta of Redding. They have a monster game this week against Enterprise, which T.J. Holmes of the Record-Searchlight says could be the Northern Section Game of the Year.
Brandon Boyd (Gilroy)
It was an effort that he didn’t have to be disappointed about but he probably since his 47 carries for 331 yards and five touchdowns came in a 52-41 loss to Live Oak of Morgan Hill. Had he carried the ball one more time he would of earned a spot in the Cal-Hi Sports state record book.
Justin Torres (Sierra Vista, Baldwin Park)
Making it seem like a walk in the park, he carried the ball for 326 yards and a touchdown on 27 carries but it wasn’t enough to prevent a 53-27 loss for the Dons to Baldwin Park.
Rudy Murillo (Sotomayor, Los Angeles)
For the first year program, he has already set the bar pretty high for single-game rushing performances. The 5-foot-8, 175-pound South Pasadena transfer went for 325 yards rushing and four touchdowns in a 54-28 victory over Monroe of Sepulveda. He opened the season with a 311-yard, 4-touchdown performance in a 39-26 inter-sectional victory over Hoover of Glendale. He’s emerging as one of the best players in the L.A. City Section’s Northern League.
River Meza (Royal, Simi Valley)
Leading the Highlanders in a comeback from a 13-point deficit, River ran wild for 271 yards and three touchdowns in a 28-27 triumph over Golden Valley of Santa Clarita.
Joe Swen (Center, Antelope)
The Cougars moved to 2-0 on the season as Swen carried the ball 36 times for 263 yards and two touchdowns in a 20-18 win over Chico.
Robbie Hou (Bishop Montgomery, Torrance)
Abbott and Costello would be proud of Hou as he dashed for 250 yards on 28 carries in the Knights’ 25-0 win over L.A. Contreras.
Harris Ross (Pittsburg)
After only playing one half for disciplinary reasons in the Pirates’ season-opening loss to Sebastopol Analy, Ross, who has interest from several D1 colleges, led a ground game that racked up 364 yards and five TDs in a big 35-33 victory over California of San Ramon. The 6-0, 205-pound Ross had four of the scores and 233 yards rushing.
Edgar Segura (Mendota)
Three-year standout rushed for a game high of 219 yards on 12 carries and scored three touchdowns (45, 5 and 6 yards) has the Aztecs belted Caruthers 41-7. Edgar has now scored 87 career touchdowns, the sixth best in Central Section history.
Brett Rasso (Sacred Heart Cathedral, San Francisco)
Rasso was a big part in getting Bay Area veteran but first-year head coach Ken Peralta his first win coaching at his alma mater. In a 40-21 win on the road at Saratoga, the senior running back ran for 218 yards and four touchdowns.
PASSING
Kory Brown (Charter Oak, Covina)
He earned a spot in the Cal-Hi Sports state record book with his 59 pass attempts and he completed 39 of them for 495 yards and five touchdowns during a 55-48 loss by the Chargers to Roosevelt of Eastvale. Wonder if the great Lou Farrar at Charter Oak ever thought he’d coach in a game like that? Look for more in Inside the State Record Book for gold club members.
Coach and trainer Chris Asher works with state stat stars of all ages, helping them to improve their speed, quickness and agility. He is based in Hollywood, also has a role with the UCLA track program and serves athletes within many miles of his location. For more about him, CLICK HERE. For more about his Gold Medal Excellence training program, CLICK HERE.
Cristian Solano (San Fernando)
This all-state candidate is putting up Anthony Davis-type numbers for the Tigers, as he completed 18 of 21 passes for 450 yards and six touchdowns in a 55-24 win over Chatsworth. The yardage and touchdown total set a new school record for a program that could begin to creep up in the D2 South Bowl Game Rankings if it keeps winning.
Nolan Merker (Sheldon, Sacramento)
There are now two state record book categories that include Nolan’s name after he threw for seven TDs in one half and had eight TD passes for the game during Sheldon’s 68-13 romp past Lodi. On the night, Merker passed for 406 yards and no interceptions. Four of Merker’s TD passes went to talented wideout Taron Johnson. Look for more in Inside the State Record Book for gold club members.
Jack Heneghan (Menlo School, Atherton)
The Knights ventured deep into the heart of Texas to face San Angelo Central, and although he had a huge game, breaking the record for passing against the hosts, his team gave up 50 points in the first quarter, and lost 84-49 in an old-fashioned Texas shootout. The 6-foot-4, 223-pounder that’s getting strong Ivy League looks completed 29-of-52 passes for 435 yards and three touchdowns, and also ran for two more scores.
Brady White (Hart, Newhall)
For the second straight week, White was considered for the SoCal POW honor. He completed 36 of his 53 pass attempts for 409 yards and seven touchdowns in a 55-54 overtime win over previous No. 12 Chaminade of West Hills. With the win, Hart moved into the top 25 rankings at the No. 22 spot this week.
Austin Mendoza (Banning, Wilmington)
He completed 19-of-32 passes for 375 yards and two touchdowns in the Pilots’ 48-34 win over Torrance. He added 42 yards rushing on 14 carries and scored three more times on the ground.
Eric Jimenez (Central, Fresno)
He had a fine game against Liberty of Bakersfield as he passed for 373 yards, which is the third best in school history, to go along with four touchdowns on 26 completions in 41 attempts. Ten completions went to speedy, big-time recruit Michiah Quick for 178 yards and two scores.
Brad Kaaya (Chaminade, West Hills)
In the 55-54 shootout loss in overtime to Hart of Newhall, the University of Miami commit passed for 370 yards and three touchdowns.
Anthony Gordon (Terra Nova, Pacifica)
The Tigers’ junior quarterback had a pretty impressive performance in his first varsity start, after completing 18-of-30 passes for 362 yards and three TDs in a huge 45-7 win on the road at Bishop O’Dowd of Oakland.
Will Freed (San Marcos)
A junior with promise, Freed was outstanding by completing 16 of 26 passes for 362 yards and three TDs in a 55-26 victory against La Jolla. Freed also rushed five times for 43 yards and one score.
Noah Whitney (Dorsey, Los Angeles)
With more teams going to a spread offense and taking more snaps from scrimmage over the course of a game, passing records are falling everywhere. Whitney passed for a school record 359 yards in the Dons’ 25-23 victory over Fairfax. He threw for four touchdowns during a game that wasn’t preserved until Brandon James blocked a 47-yard field goal attempt on the final play of the game.
Kevin Jackson (St. Anthony, Long Beach)
KJ set a school record for passing yards in a game with 348 to go along with six touchdown passes and 103 yards rushing in a 48-0 win for the Saints over Crean Lutheran of Irvine.
Matt Jimison (Vista del Lago, Folsom)
Coming up one touchdown pass short of making the state record book, he had seven as the Eagles picked up their first win 76-0 over Highlands of North Highlands. Brad Rittenhouse was his leading target as he caught three touchdown passes.
Michael Carrillo (Christian, El Cajon)
A SoCal Player of the Week finalist, he passed for 333 yards and four touchdowns as the Patriots moved to 2-0 on the year with a 42-0 win over Santana of Santee.
Clarence Williams (Sylmar)
A talented sophomore, this QB threw for 330 yards and four touchdowns, but the Spartans were stopped on the 3-yard line with six seconds left in L.A. Roosevelt’s 48-41 victory.
Jalen Greene (Serra, Gardena)
One of the early favorites along with teammate Adoree’ Jackson to capture the Cal-Hi Sports Mr. Football State Player of the Year award, he passed for 317 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 153 yards and two scores as the Cavaliers defeated Oceanside 50-39.
Cade Apsay (Canyon, Canyon Country)
One of the top QBs we saw at the Elite 11 tryout in Santa Clara, Apsay accounted for six touchdowns in a 48-0 home victory over Clovis West of Fresno. The Colorado commit passed for 264 yards and five touchdowns on a night the Cowboys’ 1983 CIFSS championship team was honored. Liam Cabrera also had a big game on this special night with six receptions for 133 yards plus an interception and fumble recovery on defense.
Brian Gadsby (Crescenta Valley, La Crescenta)
The Great Gadsby tossed six touchdown passes during a 54-20 intersectional victory over Verdugo Hills of Tujunga.
RECEIVING
Kyle Sweet (Santa Margarita, RSM)
He set three school receiving records in a controversial 34-31 double overtime loss to national power Bishop Gorman of Las Vegas. The junior hauled in a TD reception from QB K.J. Costello (443 yards passing) for 95 yards and caught 13 passes for 294 yards. The yardage total will earn Sweet a place in the Cal-Hi Sports State Record Book, but it can’t change a blown call by a referee. A 24-yard pass to Grant Clancy in overtime was ruled an incomplete pass by referee Bob Yoakum after another ref signaled it a touchdown. It was ruled incomplete, although video showed it should have been ruled a touchdown. Yoakum sent an apologetic email to coach Harry Welch that the veteran coach applauded.
Chris Cannaday (Weston Ranch, Stockton)
The junior wideout came up big with 18 catches for 255 yards and four TDs in a 48-40 loss by the Cougars to Franklin of Stockton. His quarterback, junior Marcus Moore, completed 27 passes for 310 yards.
Jamie Stewart (El Segundo)
He accounted for five touchdowns in Gundo’s 49-12 victory over Lynwood. He scored on a 53-yard run and added five receptions for 181 yards and four touchdowns.
SPECIAL TEAMS/MULTI-PURPOSE
Wayne Brooks & Daniel Ruffin (Stagg, Stockton)
On Stagg’s first play of the season against Modesto, Ruffin took a handoff from the 1-yard line and raced 99 yards for a touchdown to tie the record for longest run in school history and also to tie a state record. The rest of the night wasn’t as nice as Modesto claimed a 36-32 victory. Brooks threw a costly late interception, but still ended 16 of 21 passing for 265 yards and four TDs plus 105 yards of rushing. For more on 99-yard TD runs, see Inside the State Record Book for Gold Club members.
David & Daniel Arriaga (Roosevelt, Los Angeles)
David, a quarterback, rushed for 243 yards on 22 carries and hit paydirt three times in the Roughriders’ 48-41 win over Sylmar. Brother Daniel rushed for 149 yards and three touchdowns on 14 carries, but the real hero of the game was linebacker Chris Campos, who batted down a pass on fourth down near the goal line with six seconds left to preserve the win. Campos finished with two sacks and 16 tackles.
Andrew Celis & Felix Lemerle (Marin Catholic, Kentfield)
Two weeks ago in a win over Miramonte of Orinda, Celis had 157 yards receiving and one TD, returned a punt 50 yards for a score, kicked a 42-yard field goal, returned punts and kickoffs, and punted and kicked off. Last week, in a 31-20 win at St. Ignatius of San Francisco, the 6-0, 178-pound Celis caught a TD pass, threw a 24-yard halfback option pass for a touchdown, kicked a 46-yard field goal, returned punts and kickoffs, and did it all in just over two quarters before leaving due to cramps. Celis never had to punt because MC never punted, but when St. Ignatius tried on onside kick after scoring with 3:44 left, it was recovered by Celis, who moments before was walking around on the sidelines iced up. Lemerle was a one man wrecking crew on defense. The Wildcats’ lineman had all three of the team’s sacks, two more tackles for loss, and 16 total tackles.
Kyle Blumer (Troy, Fullerton)
The Warriors opened the season with a 33-7 win over Walnut as they scored the game’s final 33 points behind Blumer, who passed for 163 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for 111 yards and two scores.
Austin Harmer (Bella Vista, Fair Oaks)
This Broncos’ quarterback looked a bit like Oakland Raiders’ QB Terrelle Pryor as he passed for 123 yards and two touchdowns while running for 178 yards and three touchdowns in a 42-27 win over Cordova of Rancho Cordova.
Josh Medina (Liberty, Bakersfield)
Josh had a game to remember against host Central of Fresno not just because Liberty won 43-41 in three overtimes. Medina was 23-of-30 for 226 yards and three touchdowns, he ran for three touchdowns and he passed for a two-point conversion for the game clincher to Justin Nieto.
Nzuzi Webster (Deer Valley, Antioch)
It was a hat trick of sorts for him in the season-opening 56-13 win over Rodriguez of Fairfield. He caught a touchdown pass from brother Nsimba, played strongly on defense, returned a kickoff for a touchdown and ran back a punt for a score.
Devron Davis (Franklin, Stockton)
There had to be a good reason why the Yellowjackets could beat Weston Ranch 48-40 despite giving up 18 catches for 255 yards and four TDs to one player. That reason was Davis. He returned two kickoffs for touchdowns and also scored on a 22-yard run in the fourth quarter.
Isazah King (Lower Lake)
The Trojans’ junior quarterback rushed for 214 yards and four TDs and passed for 107 yards as well.
DEFENSE
Dante Feliciano (Tomales)
The junior lineman and youngest son of head coach Leon Feliciano had five sacks in a 52-6 win over Santa Rosa Elsie Allen.
LaBon Fisher (Quartz Hill)
This defensive back was all over the place with 20 tackles, including two for loss, in a 21-7 home victory over Oxnard.
Christian Nielsen (Prospect, Saratoga)
The senior linebacker was everywhere on defense, finishing with a sack, a forced fumble and 20 tackles, but his team fell 40-20 to Cupertino.
Joey Banks (Franklin, Elk Grove)
Not only did Banks have 12 tackles and a sack on defense but he also ran for 130 yards and scored a touchdown as the Wildcats defeated Tracy 45-14.
Olajuwon Tucker (Serra, Gardena)
Another highly-regarded defensive player who had a big game that was lost in the shuffle in a week filled with offensive stars, Tucker had three interceptions in Serra’s big 50-39 victory over Oceanside. He also had three sacks and nine total tackles.
Matt Schonher (Los Altos)
The Eagles’ junior had three interceptions, one of which he returned for a TD, kicked seven PATS, and had a 48-yard punt, in a whitewashing of San Francisco Burton.
John Powers (St. Francis, Mountain View)
A key reason for the Lancers’ 28-0 shutout win over Oak Grove of San Jose in the debut of head coach Greg Calcagno was the play of Powers. He had three sacks, one other tackle for loss was in on seven tackles in all.
TEAM SCORING
Frazier Mountain comes back to the Central Section for the second time and begins by blitzing Albert Einstein Academy 82-22. Frazier Mountain scored 70 points in the first half, which ties the Falcons in the section record book for the second most points scored in one half with Bakersfield, which scored 70 points against Cal Poly SLO in 1920. The section record is held by Selma, which scored 83 points against Sanger in 1920.
Mark Tennis is the co-founder and publisher of CalHiSports.com. He can be reached at markjtennis@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow him on Twitter: @CalHiSports
