State Stat Stars of the Week

Quarterback Carlos Lopez from California School for the Deaf (Fremont) takes part in a post-game prayer after a game last season. Lopez is in the midst of an outstanding senior season this fall.

We collect these highlights in support of the Cal-Hi Sports state record book, which is the exclusive home for state records and has been published seven times since 1980.
These highlights are for games played from Oct. 11 through Oct. 13.
To send in a stat star of your own, email highlights to markjtennis@gmail.com.
For game reports, please go to our twitter page @CalHiSports and for other updates please visit our Facebook page.

Cade Apsay (Canyon, Canyon Country)
Extending his streak of throwing at least four touchdown passes in a game to six, Apsay completed 19 of his 23 pass attempts for 318 yards and the four scores while also carrying the ball nine times for 47 yards and two more scores in a 41-14 win over Saugus. The buildup continues for Canyon’s game on Nov. 2 against Hart of Newhall.

T.J. Ashmeade (Katella, Anaheim)
Despite not reaching the end zone, Ashmeade gained 255 yards on 29 carries as the Knights defeated Santa Ana Valley of Santa Ana 34-0.

Cameron Birse (San Ramon Valley, Danville)
The 6-foot-3, 220-pound senior passed for 391 yards and two TDs and rushed for two more scores, but his hard luck preseason state-ranked Wolverines fell to 3-4 in a 41-38 defeat by visiting California of San Ramon.

Zach Boyett & De’Angelo Hernandez (Salesian, Richmond)
Quarterback Boyett was 10 for 10 passing with four TDs and running back Hernandez ran for 204 yards and a score to lead the Pride past rival St. Mary’s of Berkeley 42-26.

Wayne Brooks (Stagg, Stockton)
Becoming a stat star regular, Brooks again used his feet and arm to lead the Delta Kings, this time in a 41-29 triumph over McNair of Stockton. In lifting the team to a 7-0 start, Brooks completed 9 of 20 passes for 211 yards and one touchdown. He also rushed 16 times for 122 yards and four scores.

Marcel Brown (Rio Linda)
Handed the ball 22 times, this sophomore saw lots of green running room as he ran for 204 yards and four touchdowns during a 33-27 win over Christian Brothers.

Jake Browning (Folsom)
Big passing numbers are nothing new from this talented signal caller in charge of the Bulldogs’ well known offensive attack. Browning passed for 367 yards and six touchdowns in last week’s 56-35 win over Jesuit of Carmichael.

Roger Contreras (Watsonville)
On a night when his team broke a four-game losing streak and piled up an amazing 722 total yards of offense in the effort, it was all 5-foot-5 and 130 pounds of Contreras that did most of the damage. He rushed for 379 yards and five touchdowns on 24 carries in the Wildcatz’ 65-50 win over visiting North Salinas. He was also the leading receiver with three catches for 80 yards, including a sixth TD on a 47-yard score. The 379 yards by Contreras breaks the Santa Cruz County rushing record of 362 yards set last month by Pajaro Valley of Watsonville’s Anthony Cantrell. North Salinas also had 505 reported yards of offense in the same game for a two-team total of 1,227. That looks like a new CIF Central Coast Section record, surpassing the total of 1,106 that shows up in our state record set in 2008 by San Jose Leland (82) vs. San Jose Piedmont Hills (54).

Anthony Cota (Sierra, Manteca)
The CIF Sac-Joaquin Section reported scoring leader added six more touchdowns to his season total (he had seven in another game) and dashed for 300 yards on 24 carries when the Timberwolves beat Kimball of Tracy 58-45 in a Valley Oak League shootout. Cota entered this week with 27 touchdowns in seven games.

Ian Davis (Nevada Union, Grass Valley)
As the leading target in the passing game, he caught nine passes for 186 yards in a 45-7 win for the Miners against Woodcreek of Roseville.

Nick Davis (Pacifica, Oxnard)
He only had one touchdown pass in Pacifica’s 35-17 win over Rio Mesa but it was running the ball where he made his biggest impact with 205 yards and two scores.

Devon Dunn (Alemany, Mission Hills)
The Warriors remained at No. 10 in the state as he passed for 384 yards and four touchdowns while also running for two scores in their 56-35 win over Bishop Amat of La Puente.

Tanner Duron (Hughson)
With the Huskies in desperate need of a win, he rushed for 260 yards and three touchdowns on 20 carries in a 25-6 road win over Orestimba of Newman. The win ended Hughson’s three-game losing streak.

Adam Espinosa (Oxnard)
Making the most of his 12 carries, Espinoza ran for 168 yards and five touchdowns as the Yellowjackets defeated Hueneme of Oxnard 62-0 in a Pacific View League game.

Ryan Esslinger (Whittier Christian, La Habra)
Slinging the ball all over the field, he completed 19 of his 25 pass attempts for 225 yards and six touchdowns in a 47-21 win for the Heralds over Heritage Christian of North Hills.

Casey Eugenio (JSerra Catholic, San Juan Capistrano)
After starting out 5-0, the Lions have now lost two in a row despite Eugenio catching nine passes for 150 yards and a touchdown in a 44-41 loss at St. John Bosco of Bellflower.

Justin Ewing (Capuchino, San Bruno)
After setting the CIF Central Coast Section single-game rushing record in Week 3 and getting his name in the Cal-Hi Sports Record Book for the effort, the Mustangs’ senior workhorse runner is back in the feature again after rushing for 240 yards on 39 carries with one score in a 26-12 win over El Camino of South San Francisco. In six games this season, the CCS reported rushing leader is averaging just over 35 carries a game for 1,557 yards. And in all those carries, he’s only lost two fumbles.

Romero Flores (Aquinas, San Bernardino)
With the Falcons’ three-game winning streak on the line, Flores made sure to do his part in getting it to four as he rushed for four touchdowns and 250 yards on 15 carries in a 58-12 win over Western Christian of Upland.

DeVaughn Gaines (Chowchilla)
He rushed for a career high of 298 yards, the second best in school history, and scored five touchdowns on runs of 2, 5, 2, 1, and 50 yards (which also ties a school record) as Chowchilla held on for a 47-44 win over Washington Union.

Tony Gates (Narbonne, Harbor City)
Leading the now No. 2 in the state Gauchos’ running attack, Gates ran for 218 yards and three touchdowns in a 54-7 win over Banning of Wilmington.

Sty Hairston (Banning)
For the third time this season, Sty made defenders cry as he rushed for over 300 yards in a game. Hairston’s latest came when he ran for 347 yards and three touchdowns on 27 carries in a 49-42 win over Rubidoux of Riverside.

Jorge Hernandez (North, Torrance)
Our friend Evan Barnes sent this one in from the South Bay after he watched Hernandez complete 23 of 31 passes for 416 yards with five touchdowns when the Saxons defeated Lawndale 49-21. He also had just one interception and rushed for 37 yards on three carries with one score. “He has a very good arm with precision in an air-it-out offense,” Barnes said. “He is only 5-foot-11, but he might be the most underrated QB in the South Bay.”

Noel Hernandez (Piner, Santa Rosa)
Although the Prospectors are 1-6, their junior quarterback has been putting up big enough numbers to make his 1,707 yards the reported top passing mark in the CIF North Coast Section. Despite losing the past two games, he’s had big numbers in both. We missed him but three weeks ago in a 41-26 loss to Sebastopol Analy when he threw for 323 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for a fourth score. Two weeks ago in a 47-26 loss to Sonoma Valley, Hernandez passed for 345 yards and two TDs and rushed for two more.

Richard Hoppe (St. Helena)
Hoppe has the Saints and their fans hopping after leading the team to a 7-0 start. Last week in a 42-21 win over visiting Middletown, the senior quarterback passed for 337 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for two more scores.

Ryan Hunley (Bellflower)
Despite rushing for 262 yards and two touchdowns on 38 carries, Hunley didn’t even have the highest rushing total in his game, which belonged to fellow state stat star Rashaad Penny of Norwalk. Hunley was happier after the overtime thriller, however, because his team won 45-44.

Matt Jimison (Vista del Lago, Folsom)
Nearly half of his completions went for scores as he completed 13 of his 18 pass attempts for 276 yards and six touchdowns in a 68-13 win for the Eagles over Galt. Vista del Lago (6-1) plays 6-1 Cosumnes Oaks in this week’s game.

Josiah Johnson (Sacramento)
Making sure the Dragons would come away with a 41-21 win over Rosemont in Metro Conference play, Johnson completed 28 of his 37 pass attempts for 408 yards and five touchdowns while also rushing for a score.

Karris Johnson (California, San Ramon)
His first name is spelled a little different than the last name of Alex Karras, the football, TV, movie and comic great that passed away last Thursday. This Karris, however, ran the ball the next night the same way the beloved Karras played menacingly as a defensive lineman. In an exciting 41-38 win at East Bay Athletic League rival San Ramon Valley, the Grizzlies’ versatile running back rushed for 347 yards on 26 carries and scored four touchdowns. He also had a 65-yard punt.

Chad Kanoff (Harvard-Westlake, North Hollywood)
For the second time season, Kanoff eclipsed the 400-yard passing mark but this time it came in a winning effort as he completed 35 of his 47 pass attempts for 407 yards and six touchdowns with no interceptions in a 41-36 win over St. Francis of La Canada. Kanoff and his team go up against state-ranked Chaminade of West Hills in this week’s game.

Line Latu (San Mateo)
Line not only did the lion’s share of the work in a 34-21 win over crosstown host Hillsdale, he held up the family lineage as well. The youngest of three brothers that have run the ball for the Bearcats finished with 235 yards and three touchdowns, caught a screen pass that turned into a 62-yard TD, and recovered a fumble and had a pass interception on defense.

Forrest Lohman (Saddleback Valley Christian, San Juan Capistrano)
Running past the defenders like they were trees, Forrest ran for 354 yards and five touchdowns in a 49-14 win over Capistrano Valley Christian.

Carlos Lopez (California School for the Deaf, Fremont)
A returning standout from last season, Lopez was the top player in last week’s annual game between CSD of Fremont and CSD of Riverside. He led the NorCal team to a 40-0 win by completing 14 of 21 passes for 237 yards and two scores, adding two touchdowns on the ground and making three tackles on defense. In his previous game against Tomales, Lopez had 11 tackles and one interception.

Zimari Manning (Woodrow Wilson, Long Beach)
The Bruins have now won two games in a row after starting the season 0-5 as he caught five passes for 247 yards and three touchdowns in a 55-12 win over Compton.

Jaloni Miller (Frederick Douglass Academy, Los Angeles)
Despite catching seven passes for 275 yards and two scores, it wasn’t enough to prevent the Lions from dropping their third straight game 26-20 against Sherman Oaks CES of Reseda.

Kyle Millwee & Derrick Barton (Shafter)
The junior quarterback set four new school records against Bakersfield Christian in a 52-42 losing effort on October 6.. That night Millwee passed for 487 yards on 26 of 50 and had six touchdowns. Teammate Barton also set two school records with 277 yards on nine receptions and four touchdowns.

Joe Mixon (Freedom, Oakley)
In a wild 49-48 Freedom victory over Pittsburg that was decided by a blocked PAT, the highly regarded Falcons’ 6-foot-1, 195-pound running back caught three touchdowns passes, ran for a fourth, and threw a 77-yard pass from the Wildcat formation for a fifth score.

Nick Modar (McClatchy, Sacramento)
Not only did he pass for 295 yards and five touchdowns but Modar nearly rushed for the century mark with 95 yards and a touchdown as the Lions defeated Hiram Johnson 51-40.

Robert Murtha (Estancia, Costa Mesa)
With the Eagles’ offense centered around running the football, Murtha had 50 carries for 222 yards and two touchdowns in their 48-14 loss to Laguna Beach.

Rashaad Penny (Norwalk)
He caught a 21-yard touchdown pass and rushed for 311 yards and three more touchdowns on 15 carries but the Lancers came up a penny short as they lost to Bellflower 45-44 in overtime.

Cedrick Phillips (McNair, Stockton)
It was a 41-29 shootout loss by McNair to unbeaten Stagg of Stockton, but Phillips still shined in rallying his team. The junior quarterback completed 29 of 46 passes for 435 yards and three touchdowns. A pair of interceptions and the loss itself was all that spoiled a strong effort.

Jake Poindexter (Clovis)
The fine kicker for the Cougars set a new section record earlier this season by making 63 consecutive conversions, but he missed his second attempt against Stockdale of Bakersfield on Sept. 14. Poindexter broke the former section record held by George Williamson of Bakersfield when he made 60 in a row in 1920.

Oscar Reyes (Tulare)
It wasn’t close to his top passing performance of the year, but Reyes still made history when he went 20 of 30 for 280 yards and two scores in Tulare’s 41-16 victory against Delano. The yardage put Reyes’ career total at more than 8,000 (8,149 in three seasons and counting) and according to CIF Central Section historian Bob Barnett moved into second-place on the all-time section list. Reyes moved past previous No. 2 Tyler Bray, the former Kingsburg star and now playing at the University of Tenessee. Teammate wide-receiver John Pimental also tied a school record in the same game with 13 receptions.

Daniel Robbins (Chico)
In a game that needed two overtimes to decide a winner, Robbins passed for 288 yards and five touchdowns as the Panthers with a two-point conversion picked up a 36-35 win over Paradise. The Bobcats are the two-time defending CIF Northern Section champions.

Ramsey Romano (Valhalla, El Cajon)
He’s the same quarterback who had 404 yards in the air earlier this season in a loss to state-ranked El Toro. Last week in a 45-17 triumph over West Hills of Santee, Romano connected on 22 of 31 for 376 yards and four touchdowns. He also went over 2,000 yards for the season.

Nate Romine (Upland)
Glendora struggled to stop Romine from running or passing as he passed for 287 yards and two touchdowns while running for 137 yards and four touchdowns on nine carries in a 47-26 home win for the Highlanders.

DeVonte Smith (Harker, San Jose)
It’s a good thing DeVonte decided to show up big on both sides of the ball in a 14-12 victory over Los Altos. In his first action of the season, the Eagles’ sophomore running back and defensive back rushed for 160 yards on 14 carries with a 56-yard touchdown run, and also had 10 tackles on defense.

Thomas Sperbeck (Jesuit, Carmichael)
Doing all he could against Folsom and fellow state stat star Jake Browning, Sperbeck passed for 128 yards and two touchdowns while also rushing for 252 yards and two touchdowns in a 56-35 loss to the Bulldogs.

Aleric Stone (Arcata)
Aleric wasn’t allergic to the end zone in a 28-7 victory over neighboring arch-rival McKinleyville, he just didn’t find it, however his 219 yards rushing on 21 carries set up almost every score.

Nate Tago (Tesoro, Rancho Santa Margarita)
Tago had to be disappointed after his career-best night as he ran the ball 39 times for 320 yards and four touchdowns but the Titans suffered a 41-31 loss to El Toro. It was a matchup of state-ranked unbeaten teams.

Olito Thompson (Concord)
After making it in Week 1 and then falling out of the feature for five weeks, but only going under 100 yards in a loss to Walnut Creek Northgate two weeks ago, the Washington State-bound running back got the Minutemen to 6-1 with a six-TD, 306-yard performance in only 12 carries, in a 54-12 blasting of crosstown Ygnacio Valley. He’s way off last year’s record pace but still has 1,262 yards and 17 TDs this season.

Matt Toscano (Willow Glen, San Jose)
The Rams’ elusive junior quarterback passed for 169 yards and one TD and rushed for 209 yards and three more scores in a 42-26 win over crosstown Independence.

Travis Valdez & Corbin Covey (Camarillo)
Valdez not only completed 28 of his 43 pass attempts for 357 yards and two scores but he also ran for two touchdowns in a 50-7 road win over Channel Islands. Covey was the leading receiver as he caught 13 passes for 156 yards.

Marqus Valenzuela (San Gabriel)
For the second time this season, the Matadors scored 41 points in a game but it wasn’t enough to get them their second win. The 48-41 loss to Montebello showed Valenzuela completing 26 of his 40 pass attempts for 436 yards and four touchdowns.

Darren Walker (St. John Bosco, Bellflower)
Besides rushing for 191 yards, it still took Walker’s fifth and final touchdown on the night to be the game-winner in overtime for a 44-41 win over JSerra.

Jonathan Walters (Saratoga)
The junior quarterback makes the feature for the fourth time after throwing for 326 yards and seven touchdowns in a 56-7 win over Cupertino Homestead. The CCS reported passing leader now has 1,890 yards and 24 TDs for the 4-2 Falcons.

Brandon Weaver (Justin-Siena, Napa)
The 6-foot-2, 220-pound senior linebacker spent a lot of time for the Braves in the San Marin backfield, recording five sacks and batting down a pass in a 42-15 victory. Weaver also had two 40-plus yard punts.

Nick White (Beckman, Irvine)
The Patriots were unable to win their second game in a row despite White catching six passes for 188 yards and a score in a 24-16 loss to Woodbridge of Irvine.

Justin Williams (Calvary Christian Academy, Chula Vista)
He rushed for a season-best of 281 yards on 25 carries and scored three times to lead his team past Julian 40-6. Williams ranks as one of the top five rushers so far this season in the CIF San Diego Section.

Joey Wittlake (South Fork, Miranda)
His team broke a five-game losing streak, got its first league win since 2008, and the first homecoming win in 14 years, and they wouldn’t have done it without Wittlake. The junior quarterback passed for 363 yards and four TDs and rushed for a fifth score in a 38-28 win over Hoopa Valley.