Two of this week’s six honorees are Wyatt Lucas from Corona del Mar of Newport Beach and Carson Floyd from Whitney of Rocklin. Photos: Fernando M. Donado / For OC Sports Zone & Whitney HS Athletics / MaxPreps.com.
A few of this week’s six State football Players of the Week, and one player from a losing team, came close to cracking the Cal-Hi Sports Online Record Book but none made the grade. Besides tracking potential entries for the record book, the second goal of this feature is to uncover hidden talent that normally would only get local recognition, and this week’s honorees more than meet that objective. This week we visit Newport Beach, Santa Clarita and Murrieta in Southern California, and in Northern California our stops are in Half Moon Bay, Morgan Hill and Rocklin.
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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
Wyatt Lucas (Corona del Mar, Newport Beach) Sr.
The South Orange County area is our destination in search of the Southern California Offensive Player of the Week, and it’s on a bluff not far from Upper Newport Harbor that we find our award winner in Newport Beach at Corona del Mar High.
So far this season, Lucas has been the workhorse as the primary running back for the Sea Kings, and in fact of the team’s 816 yards rushing and five TDs on the ground Wyatt has 616 of those yards and all five touchdowns.
Last week, in a 51-38 victory over nearby Trabucco Hills of Mission Viejo that got Corona del Mar over the .500 mark at 3-2 this season, Lucas got a huge chunk of both his rushing yardage and TDs this season when the 5-foot-9, 165-pound senior pranced his way to 352 yards and four TDs via the ground game.
The 352 yards rushing is a significant accomplishment, and although it falls short of getting Wyatt a spot in the Cal-Hi Sports Online Record Book on the Most Yards (Game) list for rushing, it is a school record and breaks the record of 304 yards rushing set in 2011 by Erik Fisher.
With his big outing, and heading into a Bravo League opener on the road at nearby San Juan Hills of San Juan Capistrano, Lucas now has surpassed the 517 yards and two TDs he had last season in 14 games when he was the leading rusher in yardage for Corona del Mar.
Ace Frias did some heavy lifting for the Golden Valley defense in last week’s win against Castaic. Photo: Hudl.com.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Defensive Player of the Week
Ace Frias (Golden Valley, Santa Clarita) Sr.
To find the Southern California Defensive Player of the Week honoree, we head to the far northern reaches of Los Angeles County to the Santa Clarita Valley and end up in the city of Santa Clarita around five miles north of where I-5 and Highway 14 intersect, and it’s at Golden Valley High where we find this week’s honoree, who gets some statewide recognition to go with some local kudos for his outstanding performance.
If there was an exam for pass defense, Ace would have aced it with his performance last week as a defensive back in a 36-28 Foothill League victory on the road at neighboring Castaic High when he picked off three passes including one that sealed the deal.
The first two interceptions helped Golden Valley built a 14-0 lead but by the midway point of the fourth quarter the lead had shrunk to 28-22 and after Castaic forced a punt by the Coyotes, the hosts got the ball back and were driving for a score that would have tied the game and given them the lead with a successful point after.
That’s when Frias, who had helped Golden Valley get out to a fast start, got his third interception with 5:37 left and took it all the way to the house for a 75-yard pick six that put the Coyotes up 36-22 following a 2-point conversion, and pretty much put the game out of reach although Castaic did score a late touchdown.
The three pass interceptions in a game falls short of the five needed to make the Cal-Hi Sports Online Record Book Most Pass Interceptions (Game) list, but its still a formidable feat.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Multi-Purpose/Special Teams Player of the Week
Cam Conner (Murrieta Valley, Murrieta) Sr.
The far southeastern portion of the Inland Empire is where we head in search of the Southern California Multi-Purpose/Special Teams Player of the Week, and we land just around three miles northwest of where I-15 branches off to form I-215 and it’s in Murrieta at Murrieta Valley High where we find this week’s honoree.
This week we don’t have a kicker or punter to honor but someone who returns punts and kickoffs for a Murrieta Valley team that moved up a spot to No. 18 in the latest Cal-Hi Sports state rankings.
Last week, in a 35-25 victory over previous No. 41 and visiting San Clemente, Cam ran back two punts for a total of 104 yards, however Conner, who is becoming the punt return king of California high school football this season, returned his third punt of the season for a touchdown after he romped 96 yards to the house. Conner added a 9-yard pass reception to his Thursday night’s efforts.
That makes it three straight weeks Conner has found paydirt on a punt return after he took one back 55 yards two weeks ago in a 62-6 blowout of at the time unbeaten ML King of Riverside, and 68 yards in a 42-0 shellacking of crosstown Murrieta Valley.
The three punt returns for touchdowns falls short of the five needed to make the Most Punt Return Touchdowns (Season) list in the Cal-Hi Sports Online Record Book, but the 4-1 Nighthawks are only a little over a third into the current season, so stand by.
So far this season and heading into a Big West – Upper League matchup with visiting Norco, Conner has 378 yards on punt returns, and although he hasn’t taken one to the house, Cam is also a kickoff returner and has 178 yards returning kicks.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Multi-Purpose/Special Teams Player of the Week
Carson Floyd (Whitney, Rocklin) Jr.
When we expanded this category last season from strictly Special Teams to include Multi-Purpose, it was meant for weeks like this when we don’t have a standout special teams player to honor, and that opened the door for players like Floyd to be honored, and as such Floyd has been named this week’s Northern California Multi-Purpose/Special Teams player of the week for his most recent performance.
Last week, in a 21-20 victory over neighboring Del Oro of Loomis, Floyd covered all the bases.
On offense, the Wildcats’ 6-foot-2, 180-pound junior quarterback passed for 199 yards and one TD, and he rushed for two TDs as well. On defense, Carson intercepted two passes and he had four tackles.
It’s pretty safe to say that Floyd’s heroics on both sides of the ball pretty much decided the outcome.
The Whitney faithful are hoping Floyd can continue his production and help the team even its record at 3-3 in a Sierra Foothill League opener with crosstown arch rival Rocklin in what is known as the Quarry Bowl.
Adler Halterman of Half Moon Bay scored seven touchdowns in team’s win last week vs Foothill of Pleasanton. Photo: Hudl.com.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Offensive Player of the Week
Adler Halterman (Half Moon Bay) Sr.
We picked the perfect time to make a visit to the San Mateo County coast because pumpkin season has arrived and no place has a bigger celebration for that hard orange squash with its distinctive grooves than Half Moon Bay and its annual October Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival, where the world record 2,749-pound pumpkin was displayed at the 2023 event.
Big pumpkins aren’t the reason we headed to Half Moon Bay this week. The basis for our visit was to honor Halterman, this week’s Northern California Offensive Player of the Week, because big pumpkins aren’t the only thing that’s big in Half Moon Bay and Adler has the numbers to prove it.
The fact Halterman was the hero of the Half Moon Bay 52-45 road win at Foothill of Pleasanton, the numbers we’re about to spout proves that, but the fact Adler was the star of the victory is a story in itself.
Halterman started out the season as a backup to his childhood friend Connor Heath, the Cougars’ senior primary running back, but Heath was out with an injury and first-year head coach Ronnie Elks made the call to Halterman. Adler answered was he was all in.
All he did was rush for 323 yards and a school record seven touchdowns, and Half Moon Bay needed every bit of his production.
According to a report from Joseph Dycus of the Bay Area News Group who was at the game, “Halterman’s chest was heaving as he gasped for air, and his legs burned from fatigue while he lined up behind the left tackle and tight end in Half Moon Bay’s Jumbo formation.”
On his 31st carry and with the ball at the Foothill 2-yard line, everyone in the house knew Adler was going to get the call and he did and dove into the end zone for his seventh touchdown.
For good measure, the 6-foot-2, 210-pound senior who also plays linebacker, had a sack and several tackles on defense.
While the seven TDs falls one short of making the Cal-Hi Sports Online Record Most Touchdowns (Game) list in the scoring section, it’s an amazing achievement for anyone, let alone someone who has been a backup to his friend.
Half Moon Bay has a bye next week before taking its 5-0 record on the road for a Peninsula Athletic League – Bay Division opener in two weeks at Milpitas. Heath is expected to be back after the bye, and it looks like the Cougars will have a double-barrel attack in their drive to the playoffs.
Of note, the huge performance by Halterman in the shootout type contest, offset a huge performance by Foothill quarterback Jason Knight, with Knight’s performance possibly winning the NorCal offensive honors if the Falcons had won. Knight threw for 455 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for two more, with the passing yardage only 15 yards shy of making the record book Most Yards Game (list) in the single game passing section.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Defensive Player of the Week
Rayan Daneshvar (Ann Sobrato, Morgan Hill) Jr.
The search for the Northern California Defensive Player of the Week recipient takes us around 25 miles south of San Jose and just west of Highway 101 to Morgan Hill where we find this week’s honoree at Ann Sobrato High.
Daneshvar had been carving up offenses all season, and in fact his most recent performance isn’t even his high-water mark on defense this season, so this statewide honor is about his body of work this season as much as last Friday night’s matchup with San Jose Overfelt that resulted in a 27-22 victory.
In the Overfelt victory, the Acorns’ junior linebacker recorded 16 total tackles with 13 solo and four for losses. He also forced a fumble and had three passes defended.
Rayan has been in double digits for tackles in all of the Acorns’ games that have resulted in a 4-0 start this season. The top performance for Daneshvar came when he had 21 total tackles with 18 solo and five for losses in a 20-14 victory over crosstown rival Live Oak.
So far this season and heading into a matchup this week in San Jose at Piedmont Hills, Daneshvar has 67 total tackles with a whopping 55 solo and 14 for losses, plus two forced fumbles and four passes defended.
The 67 total tackles are tied for the No. 22 reported mark in the state and is tops in the CIF Central Coast Section.
Now, here’s the twist. His 55 solo tackles are the No. 3 reported mark in the state but all the players ahead of him in total tackles and solo tackles have played at least five and in some cases six games. Daneshvar will start to catch up to the leaders as the season progresses if he keeps up his current pace. Here’s the other twist. This is Rayan’s first varsity season.
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
