Two of this week’s NorCal/SoCal honorees are Shane Irwin of PV Estates Palos Verdes and Roshawn Livingston from Jefferson of Daly City. Photos: Hudl.com & Willie Eashman.
It’s a Pirate sweep as Pittsburg’s Montaz Thompson and Oceanside’s Max Shuffer are the first honorees on the offensive side of the ball. This week’s other first picks for the 2016 season go to Daly City, Visalia, Palos Verdes Estates and Rancho Santa Margarita.
We hope you enjoy this free story on Cal-Hi Sports.com. For our State Top 25 football rankings package plus weekly Inside the State Record Book column (with record updates) and more exclusive content, please check out our Gold Club membership today. For details, CLICK HERE.
Note: For these honors, we consider CIF Central Section players for Northern California. To find out how your business could benefit by sponsoring these honors each week, email markjtennis@gmail.com.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Offensive Player of the Week
Montaz Thompson
(Pittsburg) Sr.
After the Pirates trailed 7-0 after the first quarter and 14-7 at halftime, Thompson helped them outscore Archbishop Mitty of San Jose 34-0 in the second half for a 41-14 win.
Anytime someone runs for more than 300 yards against a team from the West Catholic Athletic League, that’s impressive and that’s what Thompson did. He carried 28 times, averaging more than 10 yards per carry, for 307 yards and scored three times. He also caught five passes for 41 yards.
As a junior, Thompson rushed for 1,766 yards. He may not get close to the attention of nearby Antioch star Najee Harris, but Thompson is certainly among the top backs in NorCal this season.
Photo: Willie Eashman
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Defensive Player of the Week
Roshawn Livingston
(Jefferson, Daly City) Sr.
It could not have been a better week for Roshawn to have a big-time performance since San Francisco based photographer and longtime friend Willie Eashman happened to be shooting the action.
In a game in which the Grizzlies opened up the season with a 43-20 win over defending AAA champ Mission of San Francisco, Livingston picked off two passes and also made 13 tackles. Doing a bit of everything, he also caught seven passes for 98 yards and one score.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Special Teams Player of the Week
Cooper Allen
(Redwood, Visalia) Sr.
Talk about versatility, Cooper is the man. He’s a baseball star for the Rangers and an all-league safety in football, but gets this NorCal honor for kicking two field goals, with a longest of 41 yards, and making 5-of-5 on PATs in Redwood’s 48-7 win over Reedley.
In the same game as the kicking, Allen caught a 51-yard touchdown pass, had an interception on defense and had a 37-yard run from scrimmage.
In last year’s CIF Central Section Division II baseball final, Allen went 2-for-3 with three runs scored in Redwood’s 14-4 triumph vs. Tehachapi.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Offensive Player of the Week
Max Shuffer
(Oceanside) Sr.
Going into the Pirates’ game against San Clemente, the quarterback more on people’s minds was the Tritons’ Jack Sears, who is a highly regarded dual threat quarterback recently committed to Duke.
It was Shuffer, however, who gets this honor after leading his team to a 51-42 win on opening night.
In a back and forth game that saw the winning touchdown scored with 10 seconds left, Shuffer passed for 426 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions. He also ran for 16 yards in a game that Oceanside trailed 7-0 after the first quarter before scoring 21 in the second quarter.
Oceanside is in its second season under head coach David Rodriguez, who replaced longtime Pirates’ leader John Carroll. The team is coming off of a 9-5 season and a win over San Clemente can only help in its attempt to return to the top of the San Diego Section.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Defensive Player of the Week
Shane Irwin
Palos Verdes (Palos Verdes Estates) Sr.
One of the reasons that Palos Verdes put a 42-20 win against higher-preseason ranked Corona del Mar of Newport Beach was the pass rush of Irwin.
In harassing CdM’s Cal-bound Chase Garbers, Irwin had five tackles, three for loss and two sacks. He had 14 sacks and 27 tackles for loss as a junior.
A game like that could help spark even greater recruiting interest in Irwin. He already is a target of schools like Nevada, San Diego State, New Mexico and Utah State.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Special Teams Player of the Week
Malone Matele
(Santa Margarita, Rancho SM) Sr.
Despite it coming in a losing effort by his team, Matele’s performance was not a losing effort during Santa Margarita’s 48-21 loss to state No. 5 Mission Viejo.
In fact, scoring two of the Eagles’ three touchdowns on the night while playing special teams against such a great foe is deserving of applause. Matele scored those two touchdowns on kickoff returns, bringing one back 97 yards and another 94 yards.
On defense, the junior two-way player also finished with eight total tackles and a pass deflection.
Stockton office assistant editor Paul Muyskens also contributed 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
