Two of this week’s NorCal/SoCal honorees are Mason Hurst of Del Oro and Kevin Boermeester from Cathedral Catholic. Photos: Mark Tenns & chrissailerkicking.com.
Yeah, we do try to avoid picking the big-time recruits for these honors in favor of those that might more need the love, but just couldn’t resist a salute to what Oaks Christian’s Michael Pittman Jr. did in his final prep performance. Others gaining honors are from Hayward, Loomis, Galt, Redondo Beach and San Diego.
Note: For purposes of this feature, we are considering the CIF Central Section to be in the north.
To nominate a player for next week, email markjtennis@gmail.com by Monday at 12 noon and be sure to include a photo that we can use (which means it’s not from the local newspaper or from another web site).
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Photo: Willie Watson/piedmontfootball.com.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Offensive Player of the Week
Jullen Ison (Moreau Catholic, Hayward) Jr.
Leading a second half comeback to keep the Mariners’ season going, Ison rushed for 200 yards and three touchdowns in the second half as they defeated St. Mary’s of Berkeley 70-34 in the
CIF North Coast Section Division IV playoffs.
Trailing 34-28 at halftime, Moreau Catholic outscored the Panthers 42-0 in the second half. Ison has had huge games all season, but this was his season high. The reporter from the Alameda Newspaper Group had him with 396 yards on 30 carries and four TDs. MaxPreps listed him with 411 yards.
For the season, Ison also has used the big night to take over the reported state rushing lead with 2,812 yards in 12 games.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Defensive Player of the Week
Mason Hurst (Del Oro, Loomis) Jr.
When there is a game that has the score of 59-49, you wouldn’t expect there to be a defensive effort worth highlighting but the Golden Eagles had seven interceptions during the win over Wood of Vacaville in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division II playoffs and Hurst had three of them.
Regarded as a top sophomore starter for the Golden Eagles last season, Hurst also brought back one of the picks for a touchdown. Del Oro (6-6) beat a team that was 10-1 and advanced to a semifinal game this week vs. league rival Granite Bay.
In Hurst’s reported stats, there are two other games this year in which he’s picked off two passes in a game.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Special Teams Player of the Week
Devin Hardaway (Liberty Ranch, Galt) Jr.
Making sure the Hawks would find a way to head to the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV championship game, this junior kicked three field goals, including a 33-yarder in the fourth quarter that would end up being the game-winner in a 44-42 victory over Los Banos.
Besides not missing a field goal, Hardaway was also a perfect 5 for 5 on extra points while also booming a 50-yard punt.
Liberty Ranch (8-4) meets Sierra of Manteca (7-5) in this week’s section final.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Offensive Player of the Week
Michael Pittman Jr. (Oaks Christian, Westlake Village) Sr.
Considering the opposition, Pittman Jr.’s receiving outing during Oaks Christian’s 61-40 loss to Bishop Amat of La Puente last Friday could go down as the most impressive in state history.
In the state record book itself, his total of 356 receiving yards on 18 catches will go down currently as the fifth best ever, not too far off from the record total of 380 set in 2013 by Damen Wheeler of Sacramento. Pittman also reached the end zone five times, including one a 99-yard pass from sophomore QB Matt Corral that tied a state record.
Headed to USC, Pittman Jr. ended the season with 81 catches for 1,990 yards and 24 TDs.
Thank goodness we have a multi-purpose category for our all-state first team because we’ll no doubt use it to get many of this year’s great wideouts such as Pittman Jr., Amat’s Tyler Vaughns, Corona Centennial’s Jevon McKinley and Stockton McNair’s Derrion Grim included.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Defensive Player of the Week
Cedric Muzik (Redondo Union, Redondo Beach) Sr.
Oxnard did not enjoy the tune or the tone the Sea Hawks’ defense and its Muzik performed last Friday night as they made their seven points stand up for a 7-0 win in the CIF Southern Section Western Division playoffs.
Muzik, who was on the all-state sophomore team two years ago and has continued to be a very productive defensive end/linebacker, added seven total tackles and three tackles for loss. He tied for the team lead in solo tackles with six, but more importantly go to the quarterback three times for sacks.
For the season, the 6-foot-2, 225-pounder has 31 tackles for losses and 15 sacks.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Special Teams Player of the Week
Kevin Boermeester (Cathedral Catholic, San Diego) Sr.
With all the kicks enjoyed by his brother, Matt, at USC, and his father, Peter, at UCLA, the one Kevin booted last Friday night for the Dons in their CIF San Diego Section Open Division playoff game vs. Carlsbad may have been a family first.
Boermeester connected on a 47-yard field goal with less than one second left on the clock that gave Cathedral Catholic a 24-21 triumph over the Lancers. It was an improbable comeback for the Dons, who trailed 21-14 in the game’s closing minutes with no timeouts but benefitted from an inopportune fumble.
Boermeester, who is ranked as a 4.5 star kicker by the Chris Sailer kicking web site, also punts and plays baseball at Cathedral Catholic. His brother became the Trojans’ kicker this season and had four PATs on Saturday in their loss to Oregon. His father kicked at UCLA in the late 1970s. Obviously, it would be interesting to see which team Kevin is rooting for when the Bruins and Trojans meet.
Thanks to Stockton office assistant editor Paul Muyskens for contributions to this post. 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
