NorCal Defensive Player of the Week Tre Jenkins of Stockton St. Mary’s runs with ball earlier this season in game at Central Catholic (Modesto). Photo: Calixtro Romias/RecordNet.com.
We had not yet picked the sensational Eric Melesio of Riverside Norte Vista and we’ll do that now for SoCal and go over his record-breaking 563-yard rushing outing from last Friday. Others honored for this week are from Antelope, Stockton, Oakland, Huntington Beach and San Marcos.
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Note: Stockton office assistant editor Paul Muyskens also wrote several of these player bios. 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 or to nominate your own favorite player, email markjtennis@gmail.com.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Offensive Player of the Week
Elijah Dotson
(Antelope) Sr.
Showing why he may be one of the top running backs in Northern California, Dotson had a huge night as the Titans pulled off a 29-28 win over Grant of Sacramento in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division II playoffs to advance to the semifinals for the first time in program history.
Rushing for 303 yards and three touchdowns, Dotson’s final touchdown came on a 42-yard run with under two minutes to go to set the stage for a two-point conversion that gave Antelope the lead.
Dotson also went over 2,000 yards rushing for the season with the big night and now had 2,174 and 24 TDs. Beating Grant also was significant since Elijah’s father, Robert, was the first player in Grant’s program history to rush for over 2,000 yards in a season when he did it for the Pacers’ section championship team in 1992.
Dotson reportedly has interest from schools from the Mountain West, Big Sky and Pac-12 conferences.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Defensive Player of the Week
Tre Jenkins III
(St. Mary’s, Stockton) Jr.
While the St. Mary’s of Stockton offense continues to light up the scoreboard, its defense has also been impressive and this junior came away with three turnovers during a 44-7 win over Pitman of Turlock in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division I playoffs.
While leading the team with 14 total tackles, Jenkins also had two interceptions, recovered a fumble and caught a 14-yard pass on offense.
The two interceptions in a game was the first time this season he had more than one in a game but he now has five interceptions and four recovered fumbles on the season.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Special Teams Player of the Week
Jevon Holland
(Bishop O’Dowd, Oakland) Jr.
A 6-foot-2, 180-pounder who is getting D1 offers as a defensive back from Arizona, UCLA, Utah State and others, Holland also is forcing teams not to kick it to him in addition to not throwing it on his side of the field.
When O’Dowd advanced to the CIF NCS Division III semifinals with a 28-0 win over Encinal over Alameda, Holland returned a punt for a touchdown for the fifth time this season. He also caught a 19-yard TD pass and had an interception in the same game.
The Dragons (11-1) are playing Rancho Cotate of Rohnert Park (9-3) in this week’s game.
This is the cover illustration from the seventh edition of the Cal-Hi Sports State Record Book.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Offensive Player of the Week
Eric Melesio
(Norte Vista, Riverside) Sr.
We had to wait to get official totals from the school since there were different totals after the game in different newspapers, but Melesio is now being credited with 563 yards rushing on 43 carries in his team’s 62-56 victory last Friday over St. Margaret’s of San Juan Capistrano in the CIF Southern Section Division IX playoffs.
Melesio also scored eight touchdowns in the contest and just as importantly the Braves’ season will continue Friday in the semifinals vs. St. Paul of Santa Fe Springs.
The official total was important for the Cal-Hi Sports state record book since the No. 2 total on the all-time list since 2001 has been 555 yards for Dallas Bernstine of Vallejo Bethel. Melesio therefore goes in at No. 2 and trails only the 619-yard state record total set in 1995 by Ronney Jenkins from Hueneme of Oxnard.
Last Friday’s outing actually might not have even been Melesio’s season best. Earlier, he had 487 yards on just 22 carries in a 55-7 victory vs. Patriot of Riverside.
With just 55 yards against St. Paul, Melesio also will become just the third running back in state history to reach 4,000 yards for the season. He needs only 92 to pass Jacob Taylor from Rim of the World (Lake Arrowhead) for the No. 2 spot on the all-time state season list but may need an extra game to get close to the state record of 4,495 set in 2000 by Tyler Ebell of Ventura.
To see updated single-game all-time state leader list, CLICK HERE.
Note: This is a Gold Member list on our site and requires subscription to check it out. Cal-Hi Sports also is the only place to find California high school records.
Kenny Carmichael also set Edison’s single-season sack record after game that he had against Buena Park. Photo: edisonchargerfootball.com.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Defensive Player of the Week
Kenny Carmichael
(Edison, Huntington Beach) Sr.
Making sure that retiring head coach Dave White will coach at least one more game, Carmichael also helped make sure he will be practicing this week on his birthday, Thanksgiving Day, with an impressive defensive performance during a 38-21 win over Buena Park in the CIF-SS Division III playoffs.
Leading the defensive effort during the Chargers’ seventh win in a row, Carmichael recorded 4.5 sacks, forced a fumble that was returned for a touchdown and intercepted a pass that also set up a score.
Kenny’s brother, Jack Carmichael, also rushed for two touchdowns in the win with him up front helping to block the way for him into the end zone.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Special Teams Player of the Week
Isaac Anderson
(Mission Hills, San Marcos) Soph.
The 5-foot-10, 260-pound defensive lineman blocked two kicks that ended up being the difference in a wild-and-wacky 49-48 win by the Grizzlies over Grossmont of La Mesa in the CIF San Diego Section Open Division playoffs.
Anderson’s first blocked kick came on a PAT after Grossmont scored with six minutes left in the game to take a 48-42 lead. Check the final score to see the significance of that play.
Then on the final play of the game, Grossmont’s Cristopher Garcia attempted to make a 31-yard field goal that would have won the game. Anderson instead got his hand on the ball, which according to EastCountySports.com “misdirected a low kick below the goal post.”
Mission Hills (7-4) advanced to play top-seed and state No. 7 Cathedral Catholic (11-0) in this week’s semifinals.
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
