Preseason State TOP 50 FB Ranks (1-10)

It’s now up to nine straight seasons that either Mater Dei of Santa Ana or St. John Bosco of Bellflower has started out No. 1 in the state and for 2024 that means the Monarchs are in that position. They are the defending CIF Open Division state champions and they also have a lot more returning strength than the Braves. The first game next week on Thursday vs No. 3 Centennial will set a tone. The CIF Southern Section has the first six teams in these rankings with Folsom and De La Salle going at No. 7 and No. 8.

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1. MATER DEI (SANTA ANA)
2023 Record & Final TOP 75 Rank: 13-1, No. 1
First Game: Thursday, Aug. 22 vs. No. 3 Centennial of Corona at Santa Ana Bowl

For the second straight season, the Monarchs are playing under a new head coach. Previous head coach Frank McManus departed after a 13-1 season for internal reasons. New coach Raul Lara comes over from St. Anthony of Long Beach, but previously had a great run of winning CIF Southern Section titles at the top division at Long Beach Poly. Longtime defensive coordinator Erik Johnson, who served in that role for many years under the legendary Bruce Rollinson (who retired after the 2021 season), also isn’t back due to retirement.

Even with those changes and the many graduation losses on offense, including Mr. Football State Player of the Year Elijah Brown (now at Stanford), everything else going on in the Mater Dei program seems to be rolling along. The offense will be bolstered by two of the top impact transfers in the nation and both of them should step into major roles. At receiver, Chris Henry Jr. arrives from Cincinnati. One of the top five national recruits for the Class of 2026, Henry Jr. caught 71 passes for 1,127 yards and 10 TDs last season. The other is offensive tackle Kodi Greene, a 6-foot-6, 290-pound junior previously at Eastside Catholic of Sammamish, Wash. Earlier this week, he committed to Oregon.

Brown may be replaced as the starter by transfer Dash Beierly, who previously was at Chaparral of Temecula. Say what you will about MD transfers, but from the player’s perspective they do often make sense considering the holes in the lineup that need to be filled. There are others who are back on offense who can really play, including 2022 State Sophomore of the Year Jordon Davison at running back, who was slowed by injuries last season. Marcus Harris also is back at receiver after catching 68 passes for 1,288 yards and 18 TDs the past two seasons.

Defense should be Mater Dei’s No. 1 strength, just as it was last year when simple yards to tough to come by in the CIFSS D1 title game vs. St. John Bosco and especially in the CIF Open Division state final vs Serra of San Mateo. The team’s combo at corner of Daryus Dixson and Chuck McDonald is the best in the nation and both were offered by every big-time D1 college. Dixson has committed to Penn State, while McDonald has committed to Alabama. Neither of those two, though, would be MD’s top defensive returnee. That would linebacker Nasir Wyatt, who was Trinity League Defensive Player of the Year as both a sophomore and junior. He also was runner-up to be State Defensive Player of the Year. Also back is DL Semi Taulanga (6-3, 315) and LB Abduall Sanders (6-3, 220). Sanders has committed to Alabama.

After playing its first game at home against Corona Centennial, Mater Dei will have a week off and then heads to Las Vegas for a matchup at Bishop Gorman that is being billed as No. 1 and No. 2 for the nation. Lara has some experience in such hype. In his rookie season at Long Beach Poly in 2001, the very first No. 1 vs No. 2 in the nation matchup took place between the Jackrabbits and De La Salle of Concord. Lara will be looking for a different outcome this time as DLS won in that historic matchup, 29-14.

2. ST. JOHN BOSCO (BELLFLOWER)
2023 Record & Final TOP 75 Rank:
11-2, No. 2
First Game: Saturday, Aug. 24 vs Chaminade-Madonna of Florida in Florida

We’ve seen at least one other ranking that has Centennial in the No. 2 spot, which obviously accounts for the fact that Centennial and Mater Dei are playing in the season opener. While last year’s win by the Braves over the Huskies was by one point, the schedule is just not enough to stick any other team at either No. 1 or No. 2 in the state to start the season. That’s the way the domination cookie crumbles.

Head coach Jason Negro’s squad does have a lot of players that have moved on looking at both sides of the ball. He and his staff have been down this road before, however, and know the type of talent that has to be out there to take a shot at the Monarchs.

Bosco did more than just take a shot at MD last year, of course, with a 23-0 win when the two met in the regular season. The defensive line was especially dominant in that game and almost all of those guys are back. Epi Sitanilei (6-5, 220), who has committed to UCLA, and Dutch Horisk (6-2, 230), a junior who is starting for his third season, lead that group. The defense lost a lot in the secondary, but junior Joshua Holland is one of the best in the state and has committed to USC. Junior Matthew Muasau at linebacker also is another player getting lots of attention.

Junior Matai Fuiava appeared to be on track to be the new starter at quarterback late in the summer. Whoever is the one replacing graduated Caleb Sanchez will have perhaps the state’s best group of receivers (rivaling Mater Dei at least). Juniors Daniel Odom and Madden Williams both have numerous top-level D1 offers. Carson Clark, a transfer from Los Alamitos, also is in the mix. Bosco’s line has a lot of returning strength as well. Matthew Perdue was All-Trinity League first team and leads the group. Frosh QB Koa Malau’ulu and soph WR/DB Dorian Franklin have both impressed in fall camp so far.

After traveling to both Florida and Hawaii last year, the Braves’ other big trip won’t be that far as they are heading to the Bay Area to play Serra of San Mateo. Another top NorCal team, Pittsburg, is going to make a trip south to play at Bosco.

3. CENTENNIAL (CORONA)
2023 Record & Final TOP 75 Rank: 9-3, No. 3
First Game: Thursday, Aug. 22 vs. Mater Dei (Santa Ana) at Santa Ana Bowl

While there will be a new quarterback starting for Mater Dei when the Huskies head over to Santa Ana to play the Monarchs at the end of next week, there sure won’t be one for them. Husan Longstreet will enter the game regarded as one of the best quarterbacks in the nation, especially after his showing at the prestigious Elite 11 QB competition held in the summer in Manhattan Beach. Longstreet went over 3,000 yards passing in his junior season at Centennial after throwing for nearly 4,000 as a sophomore at Inglewood.

State Running Back of the Year Cornell Hatcher will be missed on offense after his graduation, but it would be a shock if head coach Matt Logan doesn’t have a running back churning out big yardage. The top returnee based on yardage from last season will be 6-foot, 200-pound Malachi Roby. Logan became the winningest head coach in Inland Empire history last season and is on a fast track to 300 career wins.

Last year’s one-point loss to St. John Bosco in the CIFSS D1 semifinals was the closest the Huskies have come to getting a win over either the Braves or Mater Dei since the 2015 CIFSS D1 championship. It’s going to take a lot more depth at many positions and even more big plays than Longstreet can make to pull off a win. Other players returning with major accolades and/or D1 offers include senior wide receivers Cory Butler Jr. and Noah Westbrook, senior offensive linemen Drew Hill and Daniel Shipp, junior defensive end/linebacker J.D. McKinley and senior defensive back LaRue Zamorano.

After facing Mater Dei, Centennial plays its first home game the following week against another Trinity League team, Santa Margarita, and then will have two games against top Utah team (Timpview and Lone Peak) and then there will be another matchup with Liberty of Peoria, Ariz. That team only lost to the Huskies, 42-35, last season and didn’t lose again, finishing 12-1 with an Open Division state title in Arizona. Guess which team that Liberty beat to win its state title? Centennial of Peoria, Ariz.

4. SIERRA CANYON (CHATSWORTH)
2023 Record & Final TOP 75 Rank: 11-1, No. 4.
First Game: Friday, Aug. 16 at Punahou (Honolulu, Hawaii)

This is the second straight season that the Trailblazers have begun in Hawaii, this time at Punahou and they also are starting out one week before almost all of the other CIFSS teams play their first games. If teams opening up in Hawaii later this week were not ranked that high like Sierra Canyon and Mission Viejo, we could have waited several more days to get out preseason rankings.

As has seemed the case for the last couple of seasons, the Sierra Canyon program has been doing the same types of things that Mater Dei and St. John Bosco have been doing, including the addition of key transfers and building up a group of linemen in which 300-pounders are the almost absolute across the board. It paid off last season with the team’s first trip to the CIFSS Open Division semifinals. While that showed more work is still needed to reach the tip top level of the first two it still was a major step in that direction.

We’re going with Sierra Canyon in the same place it finished last season, first because the returning starters warrant it and second because the team is playing JSerra, St. John Bosco and Orange Lutheran before the Mission League part of the schedule starts. The rankings order will easily take care of itself.

The offense will again be directed by QB Wyatt Becker, who passed for 2,660 yards and 30 TDs and rushed for 240 yards and four more scores in his first season with the Trailblazers after coming over from Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks). Wyatt has committed to Utah. RB Dane Dunn, the State Sophomore of the Year from two years ago, shared more of the load running the ball season but may revert to 2022 numbers. The offense also will have WR Jae’on Young (21 catches, 384 yds, 4 TDs) plus massive OL Ashdon Wnetrzak (6-9, 350), who has committed to San Diego State.

Sierra Canyon has one of the nation’s top Class of 2027 recruits on defense with DE Richard Wesley. He had 50 tackles and 9.5 sacks starting last season as a freshman. USC commit Madden Riordan (four interceptions) also is back in the secondary along with another sophomore, Havon Finney Jr., who is getting tons of D1 offers. Yet another plus for the Trailblazers is having perhaps the nation’s No. 1 kicker in Ashton Zamani (committed to UCLA).

5. MISSION VIEJO
2023 Record & Final TOP 75 Rank: 13-1, No. 6
First Game: Saturday, Aug. 17 at Kamehameha Kapalama (Hawaii).

The next two teams for our order were easily the Diablos and Orange Lutheran. Head coach Chad Johnson’s team at Mission came off of its CIF D1-AA state title and had an impressive spring and summer, including title wins over Mater Dei at the South County passing tourney and St. John Bosco at the 24th annual Battle at the Beach tourney in Huntington Beach. This doesn’t show that the Diablos would be any closer to the top two in an actual game, but they are loaded with top returning players from a team that at the end of last season was playing great ball.

Johnson used both sophomore QB Luke Fahey and junior QB Draiden Trudeau at key moments in every game last season and it was a formula that certainly worked. Fahey passed for 2,184 yards and 26 TDs and added 496 yards rushing. The offense also welcomes back leading rusher Hinesward Lilomaiava, an absolute load to bring down at 230 pounds, but the real strength is at receiver. Vance Spafford was first team all-state sophomore and broke all of the school records with 83 catches for 1,576 yards and 22 TDs. He’s run 4.35 in the 40 and 10.69 in the 100 and runs perfect routes. Phillip Bell is the other All-American type candidate at receiver. He had 56 catches for 644 yards as a junior and is regarded as 5-star by ESPN. If there’s a question for the offense, it’s up front where the best and biggest players graduated.

None of those offensive players are even Mission’s most heavily recruited player. That would be senior cornerback Dijon Lee. Based on a review of the three major recruiting services, in fact, the Alabama commit would be the No. 1 consensus overall recruit in the state for the Class of 2025. He also should see a lot of time catching passes on offense. The defense also has a beast back up front in senior defensive end Jaden Williams. Committed to San Diego State, he had 139 tackles, 40 tackles for loss and 18 1/2 sacks last season. Another key returnee in the secondary is junior Jeron Jones, who had six interceptions and 78 tackles last season.

Mission Viejo comes back from its first game in Hawaii to face a big South Orange County showdown on Saturday, Aug. 24, vs Santa Margarita.

6. LUTHERAN (ORANGE)
2023 Record & Final TOP 75 Rank:
5-6, No. 7
First Game: Friday, August 23 at Serra (Gardena)

We’ve seen some national rankings that have Folsom from Northern California ahead of both Mission Viejo and the Lancers. Results from last year still carry some weight with us, however, and Folsom had a loss last year to De La Salle while both Mission and OLu beat De La Salle.

One thing’s clear with the program that head coach Rod Sherman is building up at OLu and that is that it is getting closer to the top two tier in the CIFSS D1 ranks. This year, for example, there isn’t much consensus around Orange County about the Lancers being third in the Trinity League. In previous years, it was more of a toss-up.

This also is the first time in perhaps 10 or 15 years that the Lancers have the top returning quarterback in the Trinity League. That would be senior T.J. Lateef, who passed for 1,965 yards and 13 TDs last season and then in the spring was the only QB from the league who participated in the Elite 11 quarterback event. The Nebraska commit also has power-packed running back Steve Chavez, leading receiver Chris Flores Jr. (just a sophomore) and impressive TE A.J. Ia also returning. Everyone is back on the offensive line as well, led by the two who were on our preseason All-Orange County team — Samuelu Utu and Arion Williams.

Sherman doesn’t have the DBs like Mater Dei and Bosco, but on the front lines of the defense there certainly are some returning standouts to send out there. Leading the list is Talanoa Ili, one of the top five junior LBs in the nation, 300-pound tackle Auma Jennings, DB Ben Alefaio and DL Keelan Togia’I.

Orange Lutheran’s schedule after the first two games against SoCal teams Serra (Gardena) and Rancho Cucamonga is almost borderline insane. A four-game stretch will be against teams all highly ranked in the nation — St. Frances Academy of Baltimore, Bishop Gorman of Las Vegas, Sierra Canyon and then the Trinity League opener against St. John Bosco.

7. FOLSOM
2023 Record & Final TOP 75 Rank: 13-2, No. 10.
First Game: Friday, Aug. 23 vs. Long Beach Poly at home

In the last three CIF Open Division state finals it was Serra of San Mateo that earned and easily deserved to be the team from the north that got the honor of sharing the field and being the huge underdog against the team from the south. With the Padres hit hard by graduation and Folsom adding a couple of big transfers to an already stacked group of returning players, it is the Bulldogs who are the preseason choice to be the top team from the north. They’ve actually never been in this position before.

The tricky part of Folsom starting out in this position is that this year the team is not playing the De La Salle of Concord team that was NorCal preseason No. 1 from 2010 to 2022. They have played in the regular season from 2018 through last year. Serra has played both teams as well, making the choice about the NorCal Open Division berth easy to decide. Serra is playing both again this year, but there is a possibility that both the Bulldogs and DLS go unbeaten through the regular season and section playoffs. Who’s going to the Open game then? Folsom would likely be the higher ranked team, but DLS also would have a 7-2 edge in head-to-head games, including wins in 2023 and in the 2022 regional playoffs.

Folsom’s returnees are led by junior quarterback Ryder Lyons. For different reasons, he was as impressive as a sophomore last year as when national record breaking QB Jake Browning was starting as a sophomore. Lyons led a game-winning comeback drive in the CIF D1-A state title game vs. St. Bonaventure of Ventura and ended with 3,578 yards passing and 38 TDs. The State Sophomore Player of the Year also rushed for 929 yards and 23 scores. Leading receiver Jameson Powell (also a junior), tight end Nela Tupou (committed to Utah) and offensive linemen Luke Sorensen (6-2, 280), Colin Redhead (6-4, 330) and Vlad Dyankonov (6-7, 260) and others also are back.

One part of the Folsom offense last season that wasn’t as great was at running back. That’s where Granite Bay transfer Carter Jackson steps in. He had back-to-back 1,500-yard seasons there and has committed to Nevada. Jackson had previously been at Folsom as a freshman. He’s proven himself to be one of the top running backs in NorCal.

The other major transfer is on defense and up front as Josiah Sharma (6-4, 325) has come on board from Inderkum of Sacramento. He’s been one of the fastest rising recruits in the nation and recently committed to Texas. Folsom also returns DL Theo Greule and DB Jaron Hudson on defense, who joined Sharma on the preseason all-Sac-Joaquin Section squad.

We are planning to see the first game at home against Long Beach Poly, winningest school in state history, and then the team will host Serra. One of the reasons that Folsom and DLS are not playing is that the Bulldogs are in a Sierra Foothill League that now has eight teams in it so they have seven league games and only three non-league games to fill out the regular season schedule.

8. DE LA SALLE (CONCORD)
2023 Record & Final TOP 75 Rank: 11-3, No. 8.
First Game: Friday, Aug. 30 vs Grant (Sacramento) at home

Right behind Folsom and probably very capable of pushing the Bulldogs for the No. 1 ranking in the north all season is the Spartans. This should be one of the fastest teams in the school’s storied history. If the offensive and defensive lines can play well and stay healthy, it’s a group that could be better than last year’s team that won another CIF North Coast Section title, blanked Clovis North in the CIF NorCal D1-AA final and then lost to Mission Viejo in the state final.

All you need to know about the speed is that three of the four members of a 4×100 relay team that was among the best in the state last spring were football players Toa Faavae, Jayden Nicholas and Jaden Jefferson. Faavae is the returning QB who had nearly 1,800 combined yards rushing and passing a year ago with 24 combined TDs. Jefferson was fifth in the CIF 100-meter final as a sophomore and was all-state sophomore in football as a receiver, return man and corner. Nicholas also returns in the secondary.

The DLS running game not only returns Derricke Blanche (969 yds, 10 TDs last year) and Dominic Kelley (877 yds, 10 TDs) but also has talented sophomore Duece Jones-Drew. He was out with a knee injury last season and is the son of former NFL leading rusher Maurice Jones-Drew. Look for WR/DBs Ant Dean, Robert Santiago and TE/DE D.J. Asiasi to be more of a factor on both sides of the ball. The DLS defense that didn’t have Santiago (D1 offers) or DL Matthew Johnson (committed to Oregon) available in the state final really hurt against that very good Mission offense.

Head coach Justin Alumbaugh’s club isn’t facing Folsom this season, but still has Serra (San Mateo) on the schedule. The highlight of the regular season will be in early October when the Spartans are going international to play the NFL Academy of London on Tuesday, Oct. 8 at famous Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. It will be the first-ever game for a California high school team vs a team from Europe. We had previously booked a London-Paris trip that happens to be at the same time and will be looking for a way to cover the game while there.

9. LINCOLN (SAN DIEGO)
2023 Record & Final TOP 75 Rank: 9-4, No. 12.
First Game: Saturday, Aug. 24 vs Arbor View (Las Vegas)

The Hornets get our nod to be No. 1 to start out of the CIF San Diego Section. Unlike Folsom in the Sac-Joaquin, it’s not a consensus of local media observers as defending SD Section Open champ Granite Hills also is a choice by many.

Lincoln, which fell to Granite Hills in overtime in last year’s title game, happens to have one of the top quarterbacks in the nation with Akili Smith Jr. The son of the former NFL QB who was once the third overall pick in the draft threw for 2,431 yards and 25 TDs last season after transferring from the previous season at Vista Murrieta (Murrieta). Akili, who has committed to Oregon, also will have a key transfer to throw to in former Del Norte of San Diego star Ty Olsen. He had 39 career TD catches at his previous school and has numerous D1 offers. Head coach David Dunn’s offense also will have D1 recruit Aden Jackson at RB, plus three-year starter Journey Tala anchoring the offensive line.

The Hornets’ defense lost some players to graduation, but still has senior Eugene Rice available to get the opposing QB plus they have one of the top sophomores in the section in 6-foot-3, 245-pound LB/DE Prince Tavizon. Junior Cameron Purnell and senior Keontae McClay are back to lead the secondary.

Lincoln has games against CIFSS heavyweights Long Beach Poly and JSerra after its opener vs Chaparral. The game on the schedule we have circled will be Friday, Sept. 27 at Grant of Sacramento (not far from our home office in Stockton).

10. PITTSBURG
2023 Record & Final TOP 75 Rank: 13-1, No. 15
First Game: Friday, Aug. 30 at Monterey Trail (Elk Grove)

The Pirates are doing everything they can to finally break the streak of De La Salle winning CIF North Coast Section top divisional titles. The Spartans haven’t lost an NCS game since 1991 when Pitt famously got a win that stopped a 34-game win streak. DLS then went on its national record 151-game win streak that stretched from 1992 to 2004.

Head coach Charlie Ramirez not only has the returning star power that can finish the job, but the school has gone out and tried to schedule as tough as possible, especially with its trip in September to play at mighty St. John Bosco. The goal there obviously isn’t to win (although that would be nice) but it’s to play an opponent that can get the boys more prepared when they hopefully do get to face off with the Spartans.

The Pirates may in fact have their top collection of returning top recruits and offensive weapons in many, many years. The leading recruits are DB Jadyn Hudson (53 tackles & 6 interceptions last year) and DE Jewelous “JuJu” Walls (86 tackles, 9 sacks). Hudson has committed to UCLA. Walls may join him there, but also is considering Washington, Arizona and more.

QB Marley Alcantara lacks some size for the recruiting part of it for now, but is one of the most productive returnees in the state with 2,675 yards and 37 TD passes. Three-year starter Elijah Bow (1,296 yds rushing) is back to carry the ball, but later last season the explosive Jamar Searcy (971 yds rushing) emerged and it became a true thunder and lightning duo. Also back is WR Makari Kenion (38 catches, 583 yds, 11 TDs), LB Etienne Pritchard Jr. (74 tackles) and junior DB Ameer Thompson (74 tackles).

Another weapon should be WR/DB Tim Edwards. He was the one who ran a sensational final leg for the Pirates in the 4×100 relay at the CIF state meet. They not only beat De La Salle in that race, but Long Beach Poly and everyone else. Edwards isn’t the only member of this year’s football team who hopes that winning in that race also translates into this upcoming football season.

TO SEE PREVIEWS FOR TEAMS RANKED FROM NO. 11 TO NO. 30, CLICK HERE.

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