Charlie Rosenthal (left) is shown in the spring as the JV kicker for her team at San Marcos. At right QB Jacob Porteous looks to gain some of the 647 yards he passed for during one game last week at Casa Grande of Petaluma. Photos: Chris Stone / timesofsandiego.com & Greg Lennert / Petaluma360.com.
We hope you enjoy this free story on Cal-Hi Sports.com. For our State Top 25 rankings packages for the rest of the football season plus State Stat Stars of the Week, state record updates and special features, please check out our Gold Club membership today. If you’re not a member, CLICK HERE.
Note: For these honors, we consider CIF Central Section players for Northern California. To nominate anyone, email markjtennis@gmail.com. We are picking the winners on Monday nights for the rest of the spring season.
FOR UPDATED SINGLE-GAME STATE PASSING RECORDS THROUGH LAST WEEKEND (GOLD CLUB),
CLICK HERE.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Offensive Player of the Week
Jacob Porteous (Casa Grande, Petaluma) Sr.
The historic town of Petaluma was once hailed as the “Chicken Capital of the World” and also had a moniker given to it by the old ABC Wide World of Sports dubbing it the “Wristwrestling Capital of the World” as well. Now, after the performance of this 6-foot-4, 170-pound quarterback, Petaluma can now proclaim itself as the high school passing capital of the Bay Area.
Last week, in a wild 49-35 victory on the road at Santa Rosa Maria Carrillo, Porteous was anything but courteous to the hosts after completing 29-of-52 passes for 647 yards and seven touchdowns.
According to our own exclusive Cal-Hi Sports state records, the passing yardage is a new CIF North Coast Section record and is also better than any mark in the CIF Central Coast Section or Oakland and San Francisco sections making it a San Francisco Bay Area record. The previous North Coast Section top performance came in 2014 when Noah Davis of St. Bernard’s of Eureka passed for 614 yards (eight TDs) in a 53-41 victory over McKinleyville.
While it is a Bay Area record, the mark is No. 5 all time on the Most Yards (Game) list in the Cal-Hi Sports Online Record Book and No. 2 all time in Northern California. The top NorCal spot is held by current NFL quarterback Jake Browning when was a sophomore at Folsom in 2012 he passed for 689 yards and 10 TDs in a 68-28 victory over Roseville Woodcreek.
In a bit of a twist, Porteous, who played his freshman and sophomore seasons at Petaluma St. Vincent de Paul, passed for 748 yards and nine TDs at Casa Grande in the pandemic-abbreviated, four-game spring season for the Gauchos, a mark he nearly equaled in one game last Friday night.
It will be interesting to see what kind of numbers Porteous can post this Friday when Casa Grande hosts Redwood Empire power Marin Catholic of Kentfield. The Wildcats’ defense has not yielded a point in two wins by a score of 68-0 combined.
Vito Riccabona holds up three fingers after getting his third interception of the night for Aptos in big win vs. Campolindo of Moraga. Photo: Brandon Valliance / Santa Cruz Sentinel.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Defensive Player of the Week
Vito Riccabona (Aptos) Sr.
For our Northern California Defensive Player of the Week we head over the hill from San Jose and then down Highway 1 just past Santa Cruz to find our honoree.
The buzz around the CIF Central Coast Section was that head coach Randy Blankenship had a solid team at Aptos coming into this season and when the Mariners posted a 49-0 home win over Mills of Millbrae no one thought much of it, but when the team ventured to Moraga last Friday night and posted the exact same 49-0 score in a pounding of a host Campolindo team that was 6-0 in the Covid-shortended spring season and was coming off a 56-21 road win at Moreau Catholic of Hayward, the Bay Area prep football community took notice.
The Aptos players and the Mariners community had heavy hearts last Friday after the school had an unfortunate act of violence on campus the previous Tuesday in which a student died from a stabbing. But we’re not going to let that sully the performance of Riccabona after the senior cornerback and wide receiver who is also a backup quarterback had three interceptions out of eight turnovers the Aptos defense forced.
The three picks by Riccabona doesn’t quite make that list in the Cal-Hi Sports Online Record Book but the Aptos victory got Blankenship career victory No. 297 and within three wins of joining just 11 other coaches in state history with 300 career coaching victories.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Special Teams Player of the Week
Krishna Clay (Wood, Vacaville) Sr.
The 6-foot-3, 200-pound Clay, who is also one of the top players on the Wood basketball team, can do a lot of things on the football field, but in the most recent outing for the Wildcats it was his foot that did most of the talking.
Last week, in a 34-14 victory over visiting Napa, Clay came to play. His first field goal from 40-yards out gave Wood a 10-0 lead. Then as time expired in the first half Krishna wasn’t finished as he hammered home a 52-yard bomb to give the Wildcats a 20-7 halftime lead. Krishna finished with 10 kicking points after going 4-for-4 on points after touchdowns.
Clay made some plays on defense as well after the Wood defensive end recorded eight tackles with one for loss with three quarterback hurries. He also handled the kickoff and punting duties and got the job done there as well.
While the 52-yard field goal does not make that list in the Cal-Hi Sports Online Record Book it is believed to be the longest in Wood history.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Offensive Player of the Week
Christopher Cooper (Beaumont) Soph.
For our Southern California Offensive award winner we head around 15 miles southeast of San Bernardino where I-10 and Highway 60 intersect. There we find a quarterback that despite being a sophomore is among the reported state passing leaders and a big reason the Cougars are off to a 3-0 start this season.
Last week, in a 33-22 victory over Summit of Fontana, Cooper was super after the 6-foot-1, 175-pounder went 25-for-37 passing for 450 yards and five TDs with one interception.
On the season, Cooper has completed 75-of-105 passes for 1,176 yards and 13 TDs with four interceptions for a very respectable 132.0 quarterback rating. The 1,176 yards is not only tops in the CIF Southern Section but the entire state for reported leaders. The 13 passing TDs is tied for third in the Southern Section.
Beaumont receiver Gabriel Nunez also deserves a lot of credit for what he did in the win vs. Summit. He set a school record with 16 catches that went for 257 yards and all five of Cooper’s TDs.
It’s easy to see why other players at Eastlake of Chula Vista will gladly follow the leadership of senior Trey White. Photo: Twitter.com.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Defensive Player of the Week
Trey White (Eastlake, Chula Vista) Sr.
For our SoCal defensive award winner we head to the southern part of the CIF San Diego Section a little less than 10 miles inland from San Diego Bay and around 10 miles north of the border with Mexico. It’s at Eastlake where we find a 6-foot-3, 230-pound defensive end/linebacker and running back who has been a standout for the Titans since his sophomore season.
Last week, White was a big part of an Eastlake defense that took charge and got the Titans to 2-1 on the season after an 18-14 win over La Habra from Orange County.
Although Trey was one sack away from making a list in the Cal-Hi Sports Online Record Book his five sacks and nine total tackles was a huge factor in the victory.
So far this season, White has 22 tackles, six sacks, seven quarterback hurries and a forced fumble. He also has a 4.0 GPA and has listed college offers from Arizona, Columbia and Penn.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Special Teams Player of the Week
Charlie Rosenthal
(San Marcos) Jr.
We head to the North County portion of the CIF San Diego Section for our Southern California Special Teams honoree where we find this 5-foot-9 junior kicker.
We don’t usually pick a player from a team that is 0-3 but for Rosenthal we made an exception. With the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) celebrating the 50th anniversary this school year of Title IX, in which girls sports were supposedly given equal footing with boys sports, we felt what better way to spotlight a female athlete who has crossed the barrier and plays a sport like football that prior to Title IX could never happen and even today is a rarity.
The reason you see is that Charlie is a girl, and she’s among the state leaders in field goals.
San Marcos lost a heartbreaker last week, 29-23, to visiting Steele Canyon of Spring Valley in a game the Knights led 23-7 after three quarters, but every time she was called on Rosenthal gave it her all. Charlie was 2-for-2 on PATs and the one time she attempted a field goal she split the uprights from 38 yards out, a distance believed to be the longest boot for 3-points by a female in San Diego Section history.
On the season, Rosenthal is 3-for-3 on PATs and has made all three field goal attempts with the other two both coming from 26-yards out. Charlie also kicks off and her longest is 53 yards.
On the season her three field goals also ties for fifth in the state and first in the San Diego Section among reported leaders.
Harold Abend is the associate editor of CalHiSports.com and the vice president of the California Prep Sportswriters Association. He can be reached at marketingharoldabend@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow him on Twitter: @HaroldAbend
