All-State FB 2019: Medium Schools

Just one day after the small schools teams were done, here’s the best players from schools that we consider medium schools. The one of two schools that landed three on first team didn’t win a CIF state title, but did have to move up and play in the CIF Division 1-A bracket. Pacifica of Oxnard did win a state title and leads the way for these teams with five honorees (three first team). This is the 41st straight year in which Cal-Hi Sports has provided all-state football teams as a capper to the thousands of players that could conceivably be considered. We’re now down to the last major teams covering the 2019 season.


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This year’s Cal-Hi Sports All-State Medium Schools squads are led by not one but two players who’ve already been chosen as a state player of the year. That’s because the State Junior of the Year, quarterback Tyler Buchner from Bishop’s of La Jolla, happens to fall into medium schools due to the section playoff division (San Diego D2) that his team played in. Going by enrollment only, of course, Tyler and the Knights would be small schools.

Buchner also was placed as the first team quarterback on offense for medium schools. He was multi-purpose first team for the juniors. Regarded as one of the nation’s top QB recruits for the Class of 2021 and committed to Notre Dame, Buchner roared back from a knee injury that cost him his entire sophomore season to pass for 4,474 yards and 53 touchdowns plus he rushed for 1,610 yards with 28 more scores. He also led his team to a 12-1 record and he was the Offensive Player of the Year for the San Diego Section.

In choosing the player of the year honors at the time, we knew Buchner would be medium schools but determined that the season turned in by El Monte running back Davon Booth still was enough for him to be the pick for medium schools. Booth led the state with 2,935 yards rushing and he led the state in scoring with 361 points (48 TDs). He also led the Lions to a 15-0 record and a CIF lower division state title.

Buchner and Booth, of course, aren’t the only super-prolific players to be picked on this year’s first team medium schools offense. Wide receivers Jahiem Allen-Pompey from Mt. Miguel of Spring Valley, Jalen McMillan of Fresno San Joaquin Memorial and Caine Savage from Western of Anaheim plus running back Isaac Hurtado of Cypress all put up eye-popping totals.

Allen-Pompey set a Cal-Hi Sports state record with 2,074 receiving yards on 110 catches in just 11 games. McMillan (signed with Washington) has been a multi-sport standout for three years at San Joaquin Memorial and ended his career with 251 catches for 5,121 yards and 54 TDs (all top 10 in state history). Headed to the University of Utah, Savage “only” had 96 catches for 1,464 yards and 14 TDs as a senior, but for his career was higher than McMillan in two categories, ending with 285 catches for 4,622 yards and 55 TDs. Hurtado was one of leading rushers in the state all season and had 2,613 yards and 37 TDs for the 13-1 Centurions.

McMillan and Savage also were first-team all-state medium schools picks as juniors and have been joined on first team by another repeater: 6-foot-3, 305-pound defensive lineman Jamar Sekona from Marin Catholic of Kentfield. Jamar will be playing next at USC.

Another twist for McMillan is that he’s one of three from San Joaquin Memorial to gain first team all-state medium schools honors. There really wasn’t any other way to handle it since Jalen’s teammate, Mac Dalena, was the PAG METER Player of the Year for the Central Section and since SJM defensive lineman Tobin Phillips (headed to Stanford) also had another statistically great season. Dalena caught 89 passes for the Panthers for 1,644 yards and 12 TDs and also had seven interceptions playing defense.

We’ll never know if San Joaquin Memorial had not had to go up to the CIF D1-A level to play Serra of San Mateo (a game the Panthers lost) if it might have gone all the way in D2-AA or D2-A. The D2-AA state champion, Clayton Valley of Concord, landed two players on first team while the D2-A champion, Pacifica of Oxnard, had two on first team and two on third.

Note: Schools broken down into large, medium and small in most cases based on section playoff divisions but also on where they’ve been traditionally. We also will not generally consider a school with 1,500 enrollment or more small school at all no matter what section playoff division that school is placed. With that said and with previous “small” schools moving up due to competitive equity playoffs, we now have more medium schools than we have had before. This has caused us to expand the medium school teams with a third team now being named in addition to first team and second team. All CIF Southern Section D1, D2 and D3 schools are considered large and there are some in other divisions also considered large due to being moved up in state playoff divisions. There also are several CIFSS D4 schools that are large based on league affiliation.

Cal-Hi Sports All-State Football
Medium Schools

FIRST TEAM OFFENSE
WR Jahiem Allen-Pompey (Mt. Miguel, Spring Valley) 5-7, 145, Sr.
WR Jalen McMillan (San Joaquin Memorial, Fresno) 6-2, 190, Sr.
WR Caine Savage (Western, Anaheim) 6-2, 180, Sr.
OL Nathan Cardona (Yorba Linda) 6-3, 275, Sr.
OL Andres Dewerk (Los Gatos) 6-7, 295, Sr.
OL Carter Mathisrud (Newport Harbor, Newport Beach) 6-4, 260, Sr.
OL Dirk Nelson (Central Valley Christian, Visalia) 6-2, 290, Sr.
OL Patrick Selna (Piedmont) 6-6, 255, Sr.
QB Tyler Buchner (Bishop’s, La Jolla) 6-3, 190, Jr.
RB Davon Booth (El Monte) 5-10, 185, Sr.
RB Isaac Hurtado (Cypress) 6-3, 210, Sr.
PK Scooter Carranza (Pacifica, Oxnard) 6-0, 160, Sr.

FIRST TEAM DEFENSE
DL Kavika Baumgartner (Clayton Valley, Concord) 6-2, 270, Sr.
DL Sione Lolohea (Aquinas, San Bernardino) 6-3, 235, Sr.
DL Tobin Phillips (San Joaquin Memorial, Fresno) 6-4, 290, Sr.
DL Jamar Sekona (Marin Catholic, Kentfield) 6-3, 305, Sr.
DL Tyler Wegis (San Juan Hills, SJ Capistrano) 6-6, 215, Sr.
LB Caleb McCullough (Pacifica, Oxnard) 6-2, 215, Sr.
LB Tyler Mello (Hanford) 6-3, 215, Sr.
LB Anson Pulsipher (Temecula Valley, Temecula) 6-1, 195, Sr.
DB John Humphrey (Muir, Pasadena) 6-2, 180, Sr.
DB Mason White (Birmingham, Lake Balboa) 6-0, 170, Sr.
DB Edward Woods (McClymonds, Oakland) 6-0, 175, Sr.
P Colby Grames (Citrus Valley, Redlands) 6-3, 215, Sr.

FIRST TEAM MULTI-PURPOSE
WR/DB Mac Dalena (San Joaquin Memorial, Fresno) 5-10, 170, Sr.
WR/KR Youlas Dickson (Buhach Colony, Atwater) 5-10, 170, Sr.
WR/DB Joey Hobart (San Juan Hills, SJ Capistrano) 5-11, 180, Sr.
QB/RB Jackson Pavitt (Cardinal Newman, Santa Rosa) 6-2, 190, Sr.
RB/DB Mike Sherrod (Pacifica, Oxnard) 5-9, 180, Sr.
TE/DE Ben Yurosek (Bakersfield Christian) 6-5, 225, Sr.

SECOND TEAM OFFENSE
WR Montana Lemonious-Craig (Inglewood) 6-2, 185, Sr.
WR Jamir Shepard (Palo Alto) 6-2, 190, Sr.
OL Kyle Christensen (Placer, Auburn) 6-4, 260, Sr.
OL Kyle Juergens (St. Margaret, SJ Capistrano) 6-5, 250, Sr.
OL Michael Malauulu (Morse, San Diego)
6-1, 280, Sr.
OL Frank Poso (Branham, San Jose) 6-5, 320, Sr.
OL Mana Taimani (Clayton Valley, Concord) 6-5, 305, Sr.
QB Zevi Eckhaus (Culver City) 6-0, 190, Jr.
RB Xavier Harris (Oxnard) 5-9, 165, Sr.
RB Isaiah Newell (Las Lomas, Walnut Creek) 6-3, 215, Sr.
RB Cael Patterson (Orange Glen, Escondido) 5-11, 185, Sr.
PK Dante Jackson (Pleasant Valley, Chico) 5-10, 180, Sr.

SECOND TEAM DEFENSE
DL D.J. Eldridge (Capital Christian, Sacramento) 6-5, 330, Sr.
DL Luka Sarac (Oak Park) 6-2, 220, Sr.
DL Ethan Saunders (Orange Vista, Perris) 6-3, 275, Sr.
LB Bryce Buchanan (West Ranch, Valencia) 6-0, 215, Sr.
LB Sy Riley (Palisades, Pacific Palisades) 6-2, 240, Sr.
LB Josh Ward (San Pedro) 5-9, 190, Sr.
DB Brody Hughes (Temecula Valley, Temecula) 6-1, 190, Sr.
DB Grady Liddell (Camarillo) 6-1, 195, Sr.
DB Trey Paster (Buhach Colony, Atwater) 6-2, 205, Sr.
DB Kameron Rocha (San Jacinto) 6-0, 165, Sr.
DB Semaj Verner (Mayfair, Lakewood) 6-2, 185, Sr.
P Tommy Meek (Palisades, Pacific Palisades) 6-2, 175, Sr.

SECOND TEAM MULTI-PURPOSE
WR/DB Jacob DeJesus (Manteca) 5-10, 170, Sr.
QB/RB Luca Diamont (Venice) 6-2, 175, Sr.
QB/RB Andrew Henriquez (La Serna, Whittier) 6-1, 175, Sr.
QB/RB Kajiya Hollawayne (San Jacinto) 6-2, 195, Jr.
RB/WR/DB Michael Johnson (Pacifica, Oxnard) 5-10, 180, Sr.
WR/DB Cassius Savage (Western, Anaheim) 5-11, 170, Sr.

THIRD TEAM OFFENSE
(Alphabetical list only. As with format for large schools, third team is for seniors only. We have separate teams for juniors and sophomores, but they are eligible for every first and second team. We ended up getting to go 15, 15 and 15 for each list below.)

RB Luis Contreras (Lincoln, San Francisco)
RB Isaiah Creech (Highland, Palmdale)
WR Clarence Freeman (Bishop’s, La Jolla)
RB Simon Gaete (Palm Desert)
QB Dominic Gamboni (Bakersfield Christian)
RB Walter Gooding (Esperanza, Anaheim)
RB Hans Grassman (Placer, Auburn)
OL Elijah Hatfield (St. Paul, Santa Fe Springs)
QB Jared Haywood (Inglewood)
OL Angel Hernandez (Mayfair, Lakewood)
QB Zach Johnson (Hart, Newhall)
PK Ethan Kollenborn (Cardinal Newman, Santa Rosa)
OL Anthony LaFrance (Ayala, Chino Hills)
WR Ethan Leonard (Hemet)
QB James McNamara (Camarillo)
OL Chuck Meyer (Crescenta Valley, La Crescenta)
WR Chris Miller (Culver City)
TE Louis Passarello (Palo Alto)
RB Trenell Ridgley (St. Paul, Santa Fe Springs)
RB Cameron Skattebo (Rio Linda)
QB Payton Stokes (Saratoga)
RB Terayon Sweet (Aquinas, San Bernardino)
RB Josue Torres (Milpitas)
OL Jonathan Tuitasi (El Camino, Oceanside)
OL Nofoafia Tulafono (Oak Hills, Hesperia)
RB Anthony Villegas (Palma, Salinas)

THIRD TEAM DEFENSE

DB Riley Anderson (North Monterey County, Castroville)
DL Justin Booth (Palos Verdes, PV Estates)
LB Peyton Bradford (Oakdale)
DB Jordan Burrell (Tulare Western)
LB Joey Bustos (La Serna, Whittier)
DB Wilson Cal (Sunny Hills, Fullerton)
LB JimE DeYoung (Simi Valley)
DB Broock Desta (Serra, San Diego)
LB Desi Gonzales (San Gorgonio, San Bernardino)
DL Billy Hennessy (San Dimas)
DE Jay Max Jacobsen (Temecula Valley, Temecula)
DB Justin Livingston (Paramount)
DB Milo Lopez (La Serna, Whittier)
DL Mason Mastrov (Campolindo, Moraga)
LB Petele Mikaele (J.W. North, Riverside)
LB Jacob Moi (Citrus Valley, Redlands)
LB Nathan O’Rourke (Marina, Huntington Beach)
DL Hudson Walker (Redwood, Visalia)
DL Jackson White (Crespi, Encino)

THIRD TEAM MULTI-PURPOSE

QB/WR/KR Abraham Banks (Rio Linda)
QB/RB Trent Butler (Reseda)
QB/RB Emilio Corona (San Luis Obispo)
RB/DB Nathan Iskander (Hillsdale, San Mateo)
QB/RB Kingston Hala (Paramount)
QB/RB James Jimenez (Northview, Covina)
WR/DB Cade Marshman (Glendora)
QB/RB/K Andrew Nash (South, Torrance)
RB/LB Josh Powell (Aptos)
WR/KR/DB Vito Russell (Alhambra)
QB/RB Michael Wortham (Center, Antelope)
WR/DB Nohl Williams (Pacifica, Oxnard)
WR/ATH Giancarlo Woods (Cardinal Newman, Santa Rosa)
QB/RB Carson Yates (Leland, San Jose)

MEDIUM SCHOOLS STATE PLAYER OF THE YEAR (previously announced):
Davon Booth (El Monte)

MEDIUM SCHOOLS STATE COACH OF THE YEAR (previously announced):
Mike Moon (Pacifica, Oxnard)

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