State Stat Stars of the Week

Madera South’s Jonah Johnson didn’t just do something to become a stat star, he did it to help end state’s longest current winning streak. Also in the spotlight this week are players who did a lot in losing efforts, including QBs from the Modesto area with 440 and 430 yards and a receiver from Novato who caught 14 passes.

Note: We will collect totals from MaxPreps, newspapers, tweets and from those sent in to us. We also will compile single-game highs from this post throughout the season and of course we use our weekly State Stat Stars collection as an aid for the Cal-Hi Sports State Record Book. That is the only state record book anyone has ever done and we have published it seven times with full copyright protection. To report totals to us for this feature and for the record book, email markjtennis@gmail.com or call 209-463-9050. You can also text to 209-608-1317.

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(All players listed in alphabetical order)
(For games played through Saturday, Oct. 3)
(Thanks to CIF Central Section historian Bob Barnett for contributions)

To read about the six players featured as our NorCal/SoCal Players of the Week, CLICK HERE.

Jacob Bravo (St. Bonaventure, Ventura)
Responsible for over half of the Seraphs’ points during a 40-20 win over Garces of Bakersfield, Bravo deserved applause with two touchdown catches, two field goals made and five PATs converted.

Nick Chapman & Kyle Daggett (Aliso Niguel, Aliso Viejo)
Despite Chapman passing for 440 yards and two touchdowns and Daggett catching 10 passes for 194 yards and one touchdown, it was the Wolverines who came up just short of picking up their third win of the season as they suffered a 47-46 loss to Sonora of La Habra.

Shane Coleman (Tesoro, Rancho Santa Margarita)
We are a fan of big-time performances in close, competitive games and that was the case last week for this junior wide receiver. Coleman caught nine passes for 205 yards and two touchdowns during a 31-22 win over San Clemente.

Travis Dye (Norco)
The Cougars improved to 4-1 on the season behind a career-best performance from this sophomore running back. He rushed for three scores and 240 yards on just 13 carries during a 50-34 win over Serrano of Phelan. Victor Viramontes also had a nice night as he passed for 171 yards and three touchdowns while also rushing for 113 yards and a score.

Rashaan Fontenette (Oak Grove, San Jose)
On just nine carries, Fontenette once again put up a state stat star worthy performance when the Eagles crushed Pioneer of the San Jose 55-7. He finished with 210 yards and three touchdowns for a team that has rolled twice following tough losses to higher ranked St. Francis and Valley Christian.

Max Gilliam & Kevin Howell (Thousand Oaks)
Completing all but four of his 24 pass attempts, Gilliam passed for 391 yards and five touchdowns while Howell caught 10 passes for 167 yards and two scores in a 62-34 win by the unbeaten Lancers over Agoura.

Demontauz Gray (Hoover, San Diego)
It’s been a bittersweet three weeks for Gray as he’s been over 200 yards rushing in all three of Hoover’s games but they’ve all been losses. His best outing yet came in last week’s 34-27 loss to Scripps Ranch. Gray carried 36 times for 323 yards and three TDs. This followed 210 and 210 yards in each of Gray’s previous two outings.

Jay Green (Beyer, Modesto)
Handed the ball a season-high 30 times, he rushed for 240 yards and three touchdowns as the Patriots defeated Gregori of Modesto 28-14. Now with 1,005 yards rushing this season, Green has three straight seasons with over 1,000 yards rushing and has become the school’s career rushing leader.

Romello Harris (Tulare)
He’s back from a finger injury two weeks ago and rushed for a game high of 243 yards on 37 carries and scored three touchdowns on short runs (7, 7, 1) to lead the Redskins past Dinuba 35-19. Harris has now rushed for 6,558 yards in his career and becomes the 12th player in CIF Central Section history to score 80 career touchdowns. Teammate quarterback Josh Guerrero also had a fine game by passing for 258 yards on 21 of 31 with one TD pass and one TD run.

Armando Herrera (Redlands East Valley)
The junior QB helped make sure the Smudge Pot is staying at his school with 320 yards passing and four TDs in a 52-14 romp past Redlands. Two of Herrera’s TDs went to Gabriel Clark. Teammate Joey Harmon also had 188 rushing yards.

Isaiah Hodgins (Berean Christian, Walnut Creek)
The Eagles have now won four straight games after a 58-6 win over Richmond that saw this junior wide receiver and defensive back find the end zone for four touchdowns. Scoring on half of his receptions, he caught six passes for 136 yards and three touchdowns while also returning a punt for six points. It was the second week in a row Hodgins returned a punt for a score after catching a touchdown pass, returning a punt for a score and getting a pick six in his previous game.

Jonah Johnson (Madera South)
The junior QB put on a show when the Stallions beat Liberty of Madera Ranchos and ended Liberty’s 23-game winning streak. Johnson scored five touchdowns on runs of 23, 3, 8, 1, & 31 yards and had 24 carries for 160 yards. He also passed for 177 yards and one touchdown, completing 12 of 18 attempts.

Ryan Johnson (Hanford)
The junior QB who started as a sophomore went 23 of 34 for 244 yards and passed for a season high of four touchdowns as Hanford rolled by El Diamante of Visalia 42-14 to remain unbeaten. Johnson also scored on a 18-yard run.

Brandon Labry (Gustine)
Outscoring Waterford on his own, Labry rushed or 243 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries as the Redskins moved to 5-0 on the year with a 42-7 over the Wildcats.

Michael Lawson (Patterson)
The Tigers improved to 5-0 on the season with a 42-26 win over Central Valley of Ceres as he caught four passes for 162 yards and three touchdowns while also returning a punt for six points. That punt return also was from long distance (85 yards).

Chris Lubinsky & Austin Stiles (Ceres)
Scoring with some style, Lubinsky put the ball up into the sky for six passing touchdowns with four of those touchdown passes going to Stiles during a 64-36 win over Livingston. Four of Lubinsky’s six touchdown passes also came during a second quarter that saw the Bulldogs score 37 points. Lubinsky went 21 of 28 for 390 yards.

Ledre McCullough (Amador Valley, Pleasanton)
With the Dons trailing entering the fourth quarter, he led the fourth quarter charge and finished with 229 yards and three touchdowns on 29 carries during a 29-22 road win over Granada of Livermore.

Nathan McCullough (El Cajon Valley, El Cajon)
On 21 carries, McCullough tore up the defense of Escondido Orange Glen to the tune of 281 yards and four TDs as the Braves beat the Patriots 32-13. McCullough also went over 1,000 yards for the season in just his fifth game.

Nick Nazarian (San Marin, Novato)
Despite catching 14 passes for 227 yards and two touchdowns, it wasn’t enough for the Mustangs to come back and prevent their second loss this season when they fell 34-20 to Justin-Siena of Napa.

Brett Neves (Downey, Modesto)
Reports had him slowed with an ankle injury but it didn’t prevent him from throwing the football all over the field last Friday night during a 42-34 loss to Modesto. Neves completed 31 of his 51 pass attempts for 430 yards and three touchdowns.

Leki Nunn (Serra, San Mateo)
He passed for 175 yards and two touchdowns while also rushing for 141 yards but it wasn’t enough to prevent a 36-28 loss against Bellarmine of San Jose.

Patrick O’Brien & Jacob Huff (San Juan Hills, San Juan Capistrano)
These two have been connecting in big ways all season long for the undefeated Stallions and they did once again last week during a 61-24 win over Beckman of Irvine. O’Brien went 19 of 26 for 346 yards and four touchdowns with Huff on the receiving end for 12 receptions for 249 yards and three touchdowns.

Ben O’Lena (Bear River, Lake of the Pines)
Not only did he catch touchdown passes of 57 and 64 yards but he also returned a fumble for a touchdown, accounting for all three Bruin TD in their 21-14 win over Sutter.

Humberto Pantoja (Arroyo, El Monte)
This QB made defenders from El Monte pant after he shredded them with six TD passes in a 49-14 win by the Knights (4-2) over their crosstown rivals. Pantoja completed his TDs to six different receivers and finished 22 of 33 for 281 yards.

Alex Puga (Caruthers)
He became the first player in school history – and Caruthers goes back nearly 100 years — to rush for more than 300 yards in one game as he had 347 yards on 24 carries and three scored three touchdowns in a 42-14 victory against Farmersville.

Devan Quesada (John Swett, Crockett)
He had over 200 yards receiving and also intercepted two passes on defense during a 21-20 win over Salesian of Richmond. Swett broke into the D5 state rankings as a result of the win.

Branden Rankins (Aquinas, San Bernardino)
Breaking free for a 65-yard touchdown run in the second half, he finished with 221 yards and the one score on 22 carries during a 44-7 win for the Falcons over Saddleback of Santa Ana.

Ryan Robards (Elk Grove)
Once again a Friday night turned into the Ryan Robards show and we were there to see it as he rushed for 187 yards and three touchdowns, returned a fumble for a touchdown, intercepted a pass and returned it for six points and last but not least returned a punt for a score, finishing with six touchdowns, during a 42-7 win over Grant of Sacramento. Robards has now scored 20 TDs on the season.

Martell Taylor (South East, South Gate)
While he may not be the biggest guy on the field at a listed 5-foot-6, that doesn’t stop Taylor from having a huge impact on the game as he rushed for 278 yards and four touchdowns on 23 carries during a 49-41 win over Huntington Park.

Dylan Thigpen (Damien, La Verne)
Returning standout from last season broke loose for 348 yards rushing (carries not reported) and scored three times to lead the Spartans past Ayala of Chino Hills 34-21. Thigpen’s TDs came on bursts of 40, 86 and 66 yards.

Matt Torres (Folsom)
Along with linebacker Roger Neal, Torres has been a standout for Folsom’s defense this season. He had another big-time outing for the Bulldogs in their 31-0 shutout last week of Loomis Del Oro. Torres, who plays safety, led the way with 13 tackles with one interception and one fumble recovery.

J.P. Traverso (Terra Linda, San Rafael)
One of the top rushing performances last week in the CIF North Coast Section came from Traverso, who rushed for 269 yards and two touchdowns during a 20-17 win over Tamalpais of Mill Valley.

Alec Trujillo (Exeter)
Just a freshman, Trujillo continues a hot hand as he passed for a game high of 310 yards on 14 of 23 and had five touchdown passes as Exeter beat Wasco 38-7.

C.J. Verdell (Mater Dei Catholic, Chula Vista)
Bishop’s of La Jolla is a pretty stout team that had only lost to St. Margaret’s (SJ Capistrano) coming into last week, but the Knights got torched last week by Verdell and his his team. The promising junior piled up 381 yards on 21 carries and scored on his first two carries (78 and 80 yards) in a 42-21 triumph. He later scored on a 36-yard scamper.

Cardell Walder (M.L. King, Riverside)
It would be hard to have a much bigger difference in height and weight than this 5-foot-4 tailback running behind giant 7-footer John Krahn, who also weighs more than three times as much as Walder. Still, in a 49-0 romp past Canyon Springs of Moreno Valley, Walder rushed for 223 yards and three touchdowns.

Ss’ven Walker (Weed)
This one required some double-checking, but if Kevin Askeland (the CIF Northern Section guru who also does features for MaxPreps) is reporting it, that’s good enough. In a 51-48 loss by Weed to University Prep of Redding, Walker caught five passes and scored touchdowns on all five of them for a total of 300 yards. One of the TDs was on a 90-yarder. Walker’s 60.0 per catch average for one game is a state record with a five-catch mininum and it’s No. 2 on the list with a four-catch mininum.

Damian Wallace (Cardinal Newman, Santa Rosa)
He caught passes on both sides of the ball, finishing with seven receptions for 193 yards and four touchdowns from his own quarterback while intercepting two passes on defense during a 47-14 win over Maria Carrillo of Santa Rosa.

Maurice Washington (King’s Academy, Sunnyvale)
He’s just a sophomore but is making a name for himself. In last week’s 59-18 victory against Oakland Tech, Washington rushed for 230 yards and three touchdowns on 17 carries as the Knights moved to 4-0 on the year.

Paul Muyskens is the Stockton office assistant editor of Cal-Hi Sports. 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