Vance Spafford of Mission Viejo had 23 TD catches last season as a sophomore in what probably will be the first of many state record entries in his prep career. Photo: Scott Kurtz / Cal-Hi Sports.
All of our exclusive state football records in all categories team and individual are updated and ready to go for the 2024 season. Will there be any single-game totals in the first week of games that will be worthy of a future entry? Go inside to see new entrants from last season in the wide receiver position plus QB sacks and total offense.
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If one could narrow it down to two receivers from last season who had the most impact on the state receiving records maintained by Cal-Hi Sports it would be Newbury Park junior Shane Rosenthal and Sunnyside of Fresno junior C.J. Jones. Not only are both players back this season, both of their quarterbacks are as well — Brady Smigiel of the Panthers and Tanner Wilson of the Wildcats.
CJ Jones had 55 catches for 804 yards and nine TDs in his freshman season at Sunnyside of Fresno. Photo: fresnosportsmag.com.
Rosenthal, who also led the state with 12 interceptions playing on defense, had 122 catches in 14 games last season. That total ranks in tie for seventh on the all-time state list and also is in the top 10. Shane didn’t go in as high on the all-time list but made it as well for TD season catches with 21. He also got into the book for a single-game best of 290 receiving yards on 12 catches with three TDs in a win vs Moorpark. Another similar year like that coming up also could push Rosenthal quite high in career categories.
Jones didn’t have any single season totals that went into the state record book after last season. The standout pass catcher, however, has been putting up high totals since his freshman season.
With one season still to go, C.J. amazingly already has career totals of 249 catches for 3,389 yards and 41 touchdowns. All three are already on the all-time career state lists. For receptions, Jones would seem to have the best chance to break the current state record of 297 set in 2016 by current NFL player Isaiah Hodgins from Berean Christian of Walnut Creek. He’d need a big year but could get close to the state career receiving yards record of 5,268 yards set in 2014 by another current NFL player, Trent Irwin, from Hart of Newhall. Jones’ current total is actually tied on the all-time state list with the legendary John McKay Jr. of La Puente Bishop Amat, who had 3,389 career yards from 1969 to 1971. Jones is likely not going to get close to the current state career record of 78 TD catches set in 2019 by John Humphreys from Corona del Mar of Newport Beach.
FOR THE UPDATED ALL-TIME STATE RECORD LIST FOR CAREER RECEIVING (GOLD CLUB LIST), CLICK HERE.
Here are some more returning receivers for the 2024 season who already have their names showing in the all-time state records.
Cameron Brewer (Bishop Montgomery, Torrance)
He had 21 TD catches last season for the Knights, which is the same total in fewer games that Shane Rosenthal had for Newbury Park.
Isaiah Dillon (Pacifica, Oxnard)
After a 2022 season in which no one in the state had five TD catches in a game, there were six in 2023. One of them was by Dillon, who is one of the state’s leading grid-hoopers, in a big win by Pacifica over San Marcos of Santa Barbara.
Porter Fischer (Enterprise, Redding)
Four of the six players who had five TD catches last season to gain a state record entry were juniors and Porter was the first. He did it when the Hornets beat Orland early in the season and snapped the Trojans’ win streak that included a CIF state title from the previous season.
Mike Lawson (Perris)
The five TD catches that Mike had in his team’s game with A.B. Miller of Fontana last season were all needed in a 48-37 shootout victory. The junior also had 15 catches for 211 yards.
Vance Spafford (Mission Viejo)
Supremely talented route runner who catches anything close to him racked up 23 TD catches last season. Yes, he got to play 16 games for a team that won the CIF D1-AA state title, but the records are based on the highest total and not any sort of average.
LaMason Waller (Sultana, Hesperia)
The pride of the High Desert doesn’t yet get up onto any career lists, but he almost for sure will end toward the top of many of them after this season. Waller had five TD catches in a shootout 48-47 win last season vs Riverside Poly.
FOR THE UPDATED ALL-TIME STATE RECORD LIST FOR SINGLE-GAME RECEIVING (GOLD CLUB LIST), CLICK HERE.
CAREER SACK RECORD ADDED
Every year when going through all of the records in any of the five sports we do (football, boys hoops, girls hoops, baseball, softball) we add a category that previously had not been in the archives.
Ratumana Bulabalavu from Army-Navy of Carlsbad ended his career last season with 60.5 sacks. Photo: Daygofootball.com.
For football prior to this year the category ended up being career sacks by defensive players. The impetus was provided by recent Army-Navy of Carlsbad grad Ratumana Bulabalavu, who had 23.5 sacks as a junior, added 19 last season and ended his career with 60.5. Bulabalavu, who is now at Washington, ended up fourth on the new all-time list.
The top two totals when we last published our records in a book (which was now more than 15 years ago) are still the top two and that would be the duo from Los Altos of Hacienda Heights that followed each other from 1998 to 2003. The first was former NFL lineman Shaun Cody, who had 69.5 career sacks for the Conquerors. Cody last played in the 2000 season. The very next year, Brigham Harwell, started getting those sacks. Harwell ended his career in 2003 and was reported with 69.0 sacks.
Current NFL star Kayvon Thibodeaux of the New York Giants also went up high on the all-time list with 54.0 career sacks from his years at two L.A. City schools and then two at Oaks Christian (Westlake Village).
The only player in the state after last season to get added into the record book for single-season sacks was senior Mario Crocitto from Marin Catholic of Kentfield, who had 24.5 sacks in the team’s 15 games.
FOR THE UPDATED ALL-TIME STATE RECORD LIST FOR MOST SACKS FOR ONE SEASON & CAREER (GOLD CLUB LIST), CLICK HERE.
STATE TOTAL OFFENSE RECORDS
These categories were added last year during the season and the mininums, including 11,000 career yards passing and rushing for a career, also were set quite high.
The only single season entry for 2023 was for 61 combo touchdowns accounted for by Folsom sophomore quarterback Ryder Lyons. In leading Folsom to the CIF D1-A state title, Ryder passed for 38 touchdowns and rushed for 23 touchdowns. No other player in California had more than 60.
We expect several players still going to end up with career totals above the cutoff mininums, but there were none added after the 2023 season.
There were some players from last season in single-game total offense that did go into the book. The highest total of 631 yards was from Jerod Bubba Smith of Fowler, a junior who is looking to have a huge senior season coming up. Smith had 602 yards passing (eight touchdowns) plus 29 yards rushing in a 60-24 win over Parlier. He also got points accounted for credit by kicking six PATs in that game. Another junior going in was Jarret Nielsen from Jordan of Long Beach. Nielsen had 576 yards passing plus 40 yards rushing for 606 total yards in a win vs North of Torrance.
Sometimes, the total offense part of it also can be cruel. A case in point was Hudson Herber last year from Grossmont of El Cajon. Herber passed for 552 yards in a win over Steele Canyon of Spring Valley and would have made it above the cutoff of 541 yards for total offense if he hadn’t even added even one yard rushing. Unfortunately, Hudson got sacked for minus 20 yards so his total offense number of 532 fell below the cutoff line.
FOR THE UPDATED ALL-TIME STATE RECORD LIST FOR MOST TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS IN ONE GAME (GOLD CLUB LIST), 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
