State Football Players of the Week

Mateo Mojica (left) is a two-way standout at Bradshaw Christian of Sacramento. At right, sophomore QB Dane Weber from Chaparral of Temecula is enjoying a great start to the season. Photos: Bradshaw Christian Athletics / MaxPreps.com & Hudl.com.

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Notes: We will continue to have flexibility to one of the honorees by calling it Multi-Purpose/Special Teams. Multi-Purpose is already a category for All State honors. For these honors, we also consider CIF Central Section players for Northern California. To nominate anyone, email markjtennis@gmail.com.

Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Offensive Player of the Week

Dane Weber (Chaparral, Temecula) Soph.

The far southeastern reaches of the Inland Empire just east of Highway 79 and not far south from where the I-15 and I-215 intersect is where we land, and it’s at Chaparral High in Temecula where we find this week’s Southern California Offensive Player of the Week honoree.

Talk about some big shoes to fill.

With previous starter Dash Beierly having transferred to Mater Dei after leading the Pumas to a respectable 7-4 record and a spot in the CIF Southern Section playoffs last season, the starting quarterback job fell into the hands of sophomore Weber, and so far he’s performed more than admirably and led Chaparral to a 2-0 start this season.

Last week, and in the performance he’s being honored for, the Pumas’ signal-caller was 26-of-45 passing for 362 yards and six TDs in a 49-28 victory over Apple Valley. For good measure, Weber also carried the ball 14 times for 102 yards and a seventh score.

In his first start against a San Clemente team that was 9-2 last season before losing to St. John Bosco (Bellflower) in the CIFSS playoffs, Weber only passed for 66 yards but he rushed for 77 yards and the important thing is the Pumas pulled out a 17-16 victory against a team that came into the game state-ranked.

Now, after getting Chaparral to 2-0 Weber and his Pumas teammates have risen to No. 39 in this week’s Cal-Hi Sports state rankings.

On a side note we’re not sure of the exact date but a big shout out and congratulations to Chaparral head coach Andrew Ramer and his wife who recently brought a child into this world.

Jake Silverman of Torrance had 15 tackles in his game last week, but did more than that on offense and special teams. Photo: Twitter.com.

Jake Silverman (Torrance) Sr.

The South Coast area of the metropolitan area of Los Angeles is where we find this week’s Southern California Defensive Player of the Week award winner, and while Silverman has been known as a tackling machine since his freshman season at Torrance, the 6-foot-1, 210-pound senior linebacker could well have been this week’s Multi-Purpose/Special Teams Player of the Week award winner. Still, it’s on defense that he earns statewide honors to go with local kudos.

It’s a cliché, and we like to use them in this feature, but in the case of Jake last week in a 30-24 victory over cross-town rival West of Torrance, Silverman was much more than the “man.”

First off, he had 15 tackles and that is what he’s being honored for, but he did much more than make tackles. Jake blocked a field goal near the end of the fourth quarter that sent the game into overtime.

Can you guess who scored the winning touchdown on a short run? Of course, it was Silverman, and not only that, it was his second TD rushing in the game.

After last season, Silverman was named the South Bay Daily Breeze Defensive Player of the Year as well as a CIFSS divisional defensive player of the year. He has committed to Nevada.

Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Multi-Purpose/Special Teams Player of the Week

Kiki Sanchez (Oceanside)

The search for the Southern California Multi-Purpose/Special Teams Player of the Week takes us to the North County area of the CIF San Diego Section and we find ourselves at Oceanside High, a school steeped in high school football tradition and a school that counts the late Junior Seau as an alumnus.

The way his stats have been reported are a bit confusing and on MaxPreps he’s listed with a different name but with somewhat correct stats. Still, we found the performance we’re honoring Sanchez for in the San Diego Union Tribune where he is being rewarded as a true special teams performer.

Last week, in a 26-14 victory over Santa Fe Christian of Solana Beach, the newspaper reported that Sanchez booted four field goals of 42, 40, 35 and 17 yards and he was perfect on both PATs.

Two weeks ago, in a season-opening loss to San Juan Hills of San Juan Capistrano, Kiki didn’t attempt any field goals but he did make both PATs he attempted so it appears he’s both 4-for-4 on field goals and PATs this season.

It was close but it takes five field goals in a game to make the Most Field Goals (Game) list in the Cal-Hi Sports Online Record Book.

Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Offensive Player of the Week

Mateo Mojica (Bradshaw Christian, Sacramento) Sr.

To find the Northern California Offensive Player of the Week we head around 15 miles south of the state capital a couple of miles east of Highway 99 and not far from where Sacramento and Elk Grove share a border.

It’s on Calvine Road at Bradshaw Christian where we find this week’s award winner, and while his numbers weren’t off the charts, they were solid enough to garner a statewide honor to go with local accolades.

Last week, in a 50-48 victory over Vista del Lago of Folsom that got the Pride to 2-0 this season, Mojica was the main man in an offense that rolled up 607 yards of total offense after he rushed for 223 yards on 25 carries with two TDs and he caught three passes for 31 additional yards.

Mateo, a 5-foot-9, 210-pound senior running back who also plays linebacker, had five tackles on defense in the big win.

Two weeks ago, and in a 27-6 win against a Woodland Christian (Woodland) team that went 15-0 last season and won a CIF state title, Mojica rushed for 101 yards and one touchdown and he also registered 10 tackles.

Derek Keeley has been a defensive standout for the last two seasons at Rocklin. Photo: @RocklinFootball / Twitter.com.

Derek Keeley (Rocklin) Sr.
 
To find the Northern California Defensive Player of the Week, our journey takes us east of Sacramento on the I-80 corridor to Placer County and it’s at Rocklin High where we find this week’s award winner.

This is another case where our honoree was a multi-purpose star in his most recent performance because not only was Derek the leading tackler but Keeley wheeled in the most yards rushing as well.

In a convincing 48-17 victory over a Bishop Manogue of Reno, Nevada team that had dealt Stockton St. Mary’s a 21-14 loss two weeks ago, Keeley, a 5-foot-10, 180-pound senior linebacker and halfback, only recorded four tackles but two of them were sacks, plus he had two interceptions. On offense, he also led the way with 95 yards rushing on 13 carries with two touchdowns.

Two weeks ago in a 41-28 victory over Turlock, Keeley had 10 total tackles and he rushed for 85 yards and two touchdowns.

Last season, on a Rocklin team that won the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division 2 title, Keeley had 97 total tackles with nine for losses including five sacks, plus two pass interceptions. Derek also rushed for 1,070 yards and 20 TDs plus he had 165 yards receiving and two more scores.

Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Multi-Purpose/Special Teams Player of the Week

Brody Smith (Serra, San Mateo) Jr.

It’s not often that we honor a player from one of the teams that is in the upper echelon of the Cal-Hi Sports rankings but as we were searching for this week’s Northern California Multi-Purpose/Special Teams Player of the Week we could not overlook current No. 8 ranked Serra and its star placekicker.

In last week’s season-opener against a home standing Folsom team that came into the matchup with Serra as a decided favorite against a Padres’ team with only a handful of returners off the CIF Open Division Bowl Game runner-up, the game basically came down to the foot of Smith.

With 10 seconds left and Serra trailing 21-19 after it had scored with two minutes to go but failed on a 2-point conversion that would have tied the game, Smith stepped onto the blue artificial gridiron at Folsom and with the crowd roaring to try and throw him off, Brody calmly booted home a 38-yard field goal that silenced the Bulldogs’ crowd and sent the Padre’s players into a dog pile after it produced a 22-21 victory.

While everyone was focused on a game-winning field goal that will be remembered for a long time by the Serra faithful, the game-winner may never have been possible had not Smith executed a perfect onside kick that bounced high in the air and was recovered by the Padres after the TD that got it to 21-19.

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