Two of this week’s SoCal/NorCal honorees are Los Angeles High QB Kaymen Cureton and Porterville High RB Isaiah Jones. Photos: #D1Bound.com & CentralValleyFootball.com.
Porterville’s Isaiah Jones rushes for more than 700 yards and 11 TDs in two weeks and earns one of this week’s six statewide honors. Others collecting this honor this week are from Los Angeles, San Diego, Granada Hills, Milpitas and Fresno.
Note: For purposes of this feature, we are considering the CIF Central Section to be in the north.
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Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Offensive Player of the Week
Kaymen Cureton (Los Angeles) Jr.
Making sure there would not be a letup after the Romans notched a huge win the week before against Crenshaw of Los Angeles, Cureton passed for 295 yards and two touchdowns while also rushing for two scores as the Romans remained undefeated with a 34-21 win over Dorsey of Los Angeles.
One of the oldest public schools in the state that has been playing football since before 1900, L.A. High could be on the way to having one of the best seasons ever.
Cureton began to make his mark last season as a sophomore. He led the team to the Division III section title (the Romans are D2 this year) with 1,844 yards passing and 17 TDs and showed he could pretty much do anything on a football field. He was eventually named to the All-State Sophomore Team.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Defensive Player of the Week
Grant Ruthenberg (University City, San Diego) Sr.
Led by his performance on defense, the Centurions didn’t allow a point in the second half and that allowed them to get a come from behind 20-19 win over Bishop’s of La Jolla.
Credited on MaxPreps with 25 tackles and 19 of them being solo tackles, Ruthenberg was ruthless to ball carriers while also recovering a fumble.
That fumble recovery was significant because he’s already listed with eight of the them for the season. If confirmed, that puts his name in the state record book. The reported state record is 11 set in 1964 by Mark Mitchell from Los Altos of Hacienda Heights.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Special Teams Player of the Week
Daniel Gutierrez (Granada Hills) Jr.
The Highlanders picked up their second win of the season with a 34-26 win over Cleveland of Reseda that saw their kicker set a school record with a 54-yard field goal.
On the night, Gutierrez kicked two field goals and three extra points and is now 18 for 18 on extra points this season. His previous longest field goal was just 30 yards.
Gutierrez did show flashes of being a big-time kicker as a sophomore when he connected for eight field goals and 19 PATs.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Offensive Player of the Week
Isaiah Jones (Porterville) Sr.
After almost selecting Jones for this honor last week for his 33-carry, 302-yard, 6-touchdown outing against Mission Oak of Tulare, we had no choice this week.
According to CIF Central Section historian Bob Barnett, Jones rushed for a school record of 426 yards (which also is sixth best in section history) on 34 carries and scored five touchdowns in a 45-42 loss to Tulare Western. Although it wasn’t enough to get the win, he scored on runs of 52, 60, 77, 60 & 7 yards.
Last season as a junior, Jones piled up 2,103 yards and scored 25 touchdowns.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Defensive Player of the Week
Tariq Bracey (Milpitas) Soph.
Showing why he saw some varsity action last year as a freshman, Bracey did a bit of everything during a 28-14 win by Milpitas over Los Gatos, including two interceptions in the fourth quarter with the Wildcats trying to make it a one-possession game.
It marked the second week in a row that Bracey has had two interceptions in one game. On offense in the same game, he also broke out for 146 yards on 12 carries and he caught a 20-yard pass.
Tariq’s twin brother, Tyree, made an impact on the outcome of the game as well. He intercepted a pass while playing defense.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Special Teams Player of the Week
Luis Pelayo (San Joaquin Memorial, Fresno) Jr.
Somebody had to get something this week from San Joaquin Memorial’s wild-and-wacky 69-63 victory over Madera. It ended up being the SJM kicker.
Pelayo set a school record for kicking points with 15 during the shootout. He did it by going a perfect 9-for-9 on PATs and went 2-for-2 on field goal attempts.
In his first six games this season, Pelayo had 29 PATs and two field goals made.
Thanks to Stockton office assistant editor Paul Muyskens for contributions to this post. 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
