State Stat Stars of the Week

Presented by ATHLETETRAX, some of this week’s prolific QBs are done for the season, except the most prolific of them all may still have three games left. Others getting extra attention include Corona Centennial receiver Javon McKinley (newly added to the state record book) plus one performance that was witnessed by one of the best running backs in the NFL.

Attention athletic directors, parents and coaches: ATHLETETRAX is your athletic hub to manage every team and every league from every community in California. For more, CLICK HERE.

Thanks to Paul Muyskens, Harold Abend, Ronnie Flores and CIF Central Section historian Bob Barnett for contributing items this week. This honor roll is for games played from Nov. 26 to Nov. 29.

PASSING

Braxton Burmeister (La Jolla Country Day)
Just a sophomore, he was named our SoCal Offensive Player of the Week after he passed for 421 yards and three touchdowns during a 42-0 win over Vincent Memorial of Calexico in the CIF San Diego Section Division V championship game. For the season, the Arizona commit passed for 3,112 yards and 30 touchdowns while also rushing for 553 yards and 13 scores.

Clarence Williams (Sylmar)
He completed 14 of his 22 pass attempts for 392 yards and five touchdowns as the Spartans advanced to the L.A. City Section Division II championship game with a 70-28 win over Eagle Rock of Los Angeles.

Will Smith (Analy, Sebastopol)
While he passed for 389 yards and three touchdowns, he was likely wishing he had completed more than just 27 of his 47 attempts that included four interceptions in the mix since the Tigers’ season came to an end with a 62-46 loss to Campolindo of Moraga in the CIF North Coast Section Division III semifinals.

Anthony Gordon (Terra Nova, Pacifica)
As expected in a 52-49 final score, there were several state stat star worthy performances and Gordon’s was one of them. He completed 18 of his 23 pass attempts for 385 yards and six touchdowns as the Tigers advanced to the CCS Division IV championship game with the win over Carmel. Gordon now has 4,647 yards and 46 TDs for the season. He could get to 5,000 in the title game vs. Monte Vista Christian of Watsonville.

Michael Nava (Chavez, Delano)
Despite Nava completing 27 of his 33 pass attempts for 359 yards and three touchdowns, it wasn’t enough to prevent a 38-35 loss to Central Valley Christian of Visalia in the CIF Central Section D4 semifinals.

Noah Davis (St. Bernard’s, Eureka)
No stranger to having his name listed here, Davis probably would trade this spot for the St. Bernard’s season to still be going. He completed just 28 of his 59 pass attempts for 357 yards and two scores during a 37-14 loss to St. Helena. Davis thus finishes with 4,919 yards and 53 TDs, totals that will easily make it into the Cal-Hi Sports state record book. His 59 attempts is another new record book entry. To see that updated list by getting your Gold Club membership, CLICK HERE.

Caden Voges (Sacramento)
Another signal caller who passed for 357 yards and two touchdowns in a loss, Voges did it against Inderkum of Sacramento. The 51-34 loss came in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division III semifinals. The junior finished the year with 56 TD passes, one of the highest totals in Sac-Joaquin Section history but becoming a sub-par total if you’re from Folsom.

Jake Browning (Folsom)
Speaking of Folsom, it’s another week and another six touchdown passes for this Mr. Football State Player of the Year front runner. Browning completed 22 of his 33 pass attempts for 352 yards and six touchdowns during a 56-14 win over Monterey Trail of Elk Grove in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division I semifinals. He now has 76 touchdown passes for a new state record and has passed for 4,652 yards this season with a potential of three more games to come.

Brad Cagle (El Capitan, Lakeside)
In leading the Vaqueros to their first section final since 1993, Cagle went 16 of 22 for 292 yards and four TDs in a 34-7 victory over Brawley in the CIF San Diego Section Division III semifinals. Cagle also now 430 completions, 7,156 yards and 75 TDs for his career, which are totals that according to the San Diego Union-Tribune are all among the top five in section history.

Randy Post (Sutter)
We remember him well from last year in baseball as a stat star and he’s now quarterbacking an unbeaten football team. In Sutter’s 42-7 victory against Lassen of Susanville for the CIF Northern Section Division II crown, Post connected on 15 of 19 passes for 289 yards and five TDs.

Nick Brown (Rancho Alamitos, Garden Grove)
He passed for 259 yards and three touchdowns, but it was his running that really ruined the dreams of Anaheim Canyon in the CIFSS Southern Division playoffs. Brown rushed for 94 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries, including the game-winning run in overtime as the Vaqueros defeated the Comanches 34-28.

Daniel Prieto (Newbury Park)
He’s not the big-time recruit as some of his teammates, but Prieto put up more strong numbers when the Panthers edged Atascadero 49-48 in the CIFSS Northern Division semifinals. He hit on 22 of 27 passes for 250 yards and four scores and added 72 yards on the ground.

Jacob Lowrie (Winters)
Watching this game online the night before Thanksgiving, we were impressed with Jacob’s play. He passed for 129 yards and three touchdowns while also rushing for 143 yards and three scores on 13 carries as the Warriors captured the CIF Northern Section Division IV championship with a 42-12 win over East Nicolaus.

Mitch Daniels (Concord)
Despite passing for an almost season-low 248 yards, he had six touchdown passes during a 56-28 win over Pinole Valley of Pinole to earn a rematch with Clayton Valley of Concord in the NCS Division II championship game this week. Daniels also heads into that game with 54 TD passes on the season.

Jason Voter (Bear River, Grass Valley)
There won’t be a vote for Bear River at the CIF bowl game meeting, but the Bruins can thank their Voter for being on the board. In a 28-17 win over Colfax in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division V championship game, Voter had a part in all four touchdowns as he passed for three touchdowns and rushed for a score.

Nathan Nelson (Madera)
According to CIF Central Section historian Bob Barnett, the senior became the seventh player in section history to pass for 7,000 yards in a career after he went 14 of 24 for 195 yards and two touchdowns in a 31-28 double-overtime win over Mission Oak of Tulare in the D3 semifinals. Both touchdowns went to receiver Kris Bueno, but the hero of the game was junior kicker Evan Rios. He kicked a 32-yard field goal for the win, which also was his 12th of the season. Senior De’Andre Jefferson of Mission Oak also ended a fine season by scoring on a 90-yard run to push his three-year total to 65 touchdowns.

RECEIVING

Javon McKinley (Centennial, Corona)
Breaking his own school record that he set earlier this season, McKinley caught 11 passes for 282 yards and three touchdowns to help the Huskies advance to the CIFSS Pac-5 Division championship game with a 38-37 win over Bishop Amat of La Puente. Some reports had McKinley with 274 yards, but the final official total is 282. That may only be eight yards, but 280 gets you into the Cal-Hi Sports state record book. To see McKinley’s new entry in our on-line book, CLICK HERE to become a Gold Club member to our site.

Cole Thompson (Folsom)
He has had some big weeks catching passes from Jake Browning and last week was yet another as he caught seven passes for 149 yards and four touchdowns during a 56-14 win over Monterey Trail of Elk Grove in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division I semifinals. It was Thompson’s third game this season with four touchdown catches and he now has 29 TD catches on the season along with a total of 67 catches for 1,421 yards. With four more TDs, Thompson would tie the Cal-Hi Sports state record of 33 set in 2011 by Deontay Greenberry from Washington of Easton.

Johnny Arzola (Oceanside)
When the ball went in the air for the Pirates’ passing attack, it was this senior that was likely going to be on the receiving end. Arzola caught 12 passes for 125 yards while also rushing for 35 yards on four carries during the 38-31 win over Mission Hills of San Marcos in the CIF San Diego Section Open Division semifinals.

RUSHING

Rome Innocenzi (Mission Viejo)
Named by OCSidelines as its offensive player of the week, Rome burned for a season-high 314 yards and five touchdowns on 39 carries as the Diablos defeated Great Oak of Temecula 41-36 in the CIFSS West Valley Division semifinals.

Rolando Arrona (Kennedy, Delano)
He led his team to the school’s first section championship, which came in the Central Section D6 final with a 41-20 win over Avenal. Arrona rushed for a game-high of 235 yards on 18 carries and scored four touchdowns on runs of 3, 60, 68 and 45 yards.

Andre Bannister & Zikel Reddick (Grace Brethren, Simi Valley)
Putting on as impressive of a tandem running back performance in a game all season, Bannister and Reddick helped Grace Brethren get to 13-0 with a 41-38 win over St. Anthony of Long Beach in the CIFSS East Valley playoffs. Bannister rushed for 232 yards and two touchdowns on 30 carries while Reddick rushed for 200 yards and three touchdowns on 27 carries. Bannister rushed for 137 yards in the fourth quarter alone, including the game-winning touchdown with under 10 seconds remaining.

Dante Campagna (Terra Nova, Pacifica)
Named by the San Jose Mercury News as its San Mateo County boys athlete of the week, he normally plays outside linebacker but an early injury during the Tigers’ 52-49 shootout win over Carmel in the CCS Division IV semifinals pushed him into running back duties. He responded in a big way, rushing for 207 yards on 44 carries.

Charles Hillary (Salesian, Richmond)
With the Seattle Seahawks’ Marshawn Lynch (the former Oakland Tech star) watching from the opposite sidelines, Hillary picked a great time for a career-high rushing performance. He carried 23 times for 207 yards and two touchdowns as the Pride defeated Stellar Prep of Hayward 41-14 to advance to the NCS Division V championship game.

Miles Harrison (Clayton Valley, Concord)
A simple handoff to this talented running back can turn into a big play, which we have witnessed in person earlier this season. Harrison had more big plays last week as he finished with 200 yards rushing and a touchdown on just 10 carries during a 55-3 win over Casa Grande of Petaluma in the NCS D2 semifinals.

MULTI-PURPOSE, DEFENSE & MORE

Evan Telliard (Poly, Riverside)
The captain of the unbeaten Bears, Telliard set a school record with 30 tackles in a 28-20 win against Heritage of Menifee that snapped Heritage’s 22-game win streak (which was the longest in the state) and put Poly into this week’s CIFSS Inland Division final opposite Redlands East Valley. Evan reached 30 tackles on 16 solo 14 assists. He also had two for loss with three hurries and one fumble recovery. We sometimes wish we had state records for tackles, but the information is too scattered historically and too unreliable in some cases. Telliard’s totals have been confirmed by the school.

Connor Marden (Carmel)
While completing 22 of his 30 pass attempts for 217 yards was good during a 52-49 loss to Terra Nova of Pacifica in the CCS D4 semifnals, his rushing totals alone were what played the biggest part in getting him listed here. Marden, who has been a standout for three years for the Padres, also rushed for 180 yards and five touchdowns on 23 carries.

Kareem Coles (Madison, San Diego)
Kareem was no puff in leading the Warhawks past La Costa Canyon of Carlsbad 49-34 in the CIF San Diego Section D1 semifinals. The three-year starter completed 11 of 15 passes for 257 yards and one TD and rushed 13 times for 115 yards and two scores. Teammate Isaiah Osborne also had a huge outing with 23 carries for 198 yards and three TDs.

Khalil Dorsey (Colony, Ontario)
Already chosen to be our SoCal Defensive Player of the Week, Dorsey had three interceptions and returned one for a touchdown during a 35-26 win over Charter Oak of Covina in the CIFSS Central Division semifinals.

Mykal Tolliver (St. John Bosco, Bellflower)
With it looking like the Braves would be heading into halftime trailing Long Beach Poly, he intercepted a pass and returned it 36 yards for a score and a 20-14 lead to turn the momentum in a 33-21 win by the Braves in the CIFSS Pac-5 Division semifinals.

Dakari Monroe (Archbishop Mitty, San Jose)
Playing all over the field during a 59-21 win over Wilcox in the CCS Division II semifinals, he had four tackles, rushed for 52 yards, caught a 13-yard touchdown pass and his biggest play of the night saw him intercept a pass and return it 99 yards for six points. Starting QB Brett Foley also had 175 yards rushing with four TDs and passed for 73 yards and an additional score.

Larry Hardy (Inderkum, Sacramento)
Standout junior scored on long runs on offense and special teams when the Tigers topped Sacramento 51-34 in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section D3 playoffs. Hardy rushed for two touchdowns on offense, including a 60-yarder, while he also added a 90-yard kick off return for a score.

As has been customary for many years, we collect the state stat stars in support of the Cal-Hi Sports State Record Book & Almanac. The book has been published seven times (the most recent, though, was 2009) and is as official as a state record book can be since no other exists. To report a State Stat Star of the Week of your own, please email details to markjtennis@gmail.com.

Note: All football state records are in the process of being added to this web site. Some of them already have been added. They will be part of our Gold Club membership. To join our Gold Club today, please 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