Two of the DBs on this year’s first team are Warren Smith of El Cerrito & Easton Peterson from Granite Hills of El Cajon. Smith will play next at Washington State. Peterson was one of state leaders with 9 interceptions for D2-A state champs. Photos: Ben Enos / SportStars & Hudl.com.
We’re now more than halfway done with all of our annual all-state football honors and are pleased to provide recognition for this group of players representing schools that were considered medium schools for the 2022 season. CIF D2-A state champion Granite Hills of El Cajon, CIF 3-AA state champ Grant of Sacramento and CIF D2-AA state runner-up McClymonds of Oakland are among the schools with multiple honorees.
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RELATED ALL-STATE FOOTBALL CONTENT: Small Schools | Juniors (Gold Club) | Sophomores (Gold Club)
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Two of the most exciting CIF state football finals played last December were in D2-A at Saddleback College and for D3-AA at Grant High in Sacramento. In the D2-A championship, Granite Hills of El Cajon needed overtime to top San Ramon Valley of Danville, 31-24. The host Pacers, meanwhile, scored in the final seconds to defeat San Jacinto, 36-34.
Dereun Dortch was the ringleader at QB for CIF SoCal D3-AA state champion San Jacinto. Photo: Fernando M. Donado / For OC Sports Zone.
Both Grant and San Jacinto have more than one player chosen on this year’s Cal-Hi Sports All-State Medium Schools teams. Granite Hills does as well, but it should be noted that San Ramon Valley is from a large school league and its players will be considered for those teams (two SRV players already have been named on underclass all-state teams).
Granite Hills also has already had two players chosen to an all-state underclass team with RB Isaiah Jackson among the sophomores and DE Damarrion White among the juniors. Instead of giving them more recognition and instead looking for seniors in their last chance to be all-state, there were two Eagles named all-state medium schools: DB Easton Peterson and OL Alejandro Tejada. Peterson was among the state leaders in interceptions with nine. Granite Hills also had one of the top kickers in the state with junior Robert Petrich. He’s all-state medium & all-state juniors.
Grant’s leading honors candidate for our evaluations was senior offensive lineman Alani Noa. In fact, he was one of the best blockers up front we saw all season, including those from St. John Bosco and Mater Dei. The three-year standout has signed with USC and had offers from many other major colleges. There were a slew of D1-bound QBs to consider, but it couldn’t be prevented to get Pacers’ QB Joseph “JoJo” McCray up onto at least second team. McCray finished with 4,009 yards passing and 51 TDs. Kingston Lopa was a top player for Grant as well who already was on all-state juniors.
For San Jacinto, there was just no way to keep any of its big three — QB/RB Dereun Dortch, WR Dillon Gresham and WR/DB Vincent Holmes — off of the all-state medium schools teams. Dortch already has been named the Riverside Press-Enterprise Player of the Year. He passed for 3,480 yards and 46 TDs and he rushed for 563 yards and 11 TDs for the 13-3 Tigers. Gresham, a junior, led the state with 2,051 yards receiving and came up three TD catches short of the all-time state record of 34 by finishing with 31. Holmes didn’t put up those kinds of numbers, but as a college prospect showed elite abilities in many ways. He has signed with the University of Washington.
For those seniors on an all-state team or who just missed but who still want to continue playing their sport despite no current offers, check out the upcoming FREE combine on Feb 11 at the Great Park in Irvine. For more info and to sign up, CLICK HERE
A school with even more medium schools honorees than Grant or San Jacinto or even Granite Hills is McClymonds of Oakland. The Warriors lost in the CIF D2-AA state final to Mater Dei Catholic of Chula Vista (which moved up to large schools this year due to competitive equity). They had a no-brainer RB for medium schools in Cal-bound Jaivian Thomas, already named San Francisco Chronicle Player of the Year. They also had two-way standout Ferrari Miller (who had a pick six in the state final) along with a defensive lineman — Malik Richardson — and an impressive kicker — junior Isaac Espinoza (who made a 53-yard field goal) — who all gained all-state medium schools honors.
This is the 44th year of the Cal-Hi Sports all-state football teams (began during 1979-80 school year) and we will conclude all of the selections with first team overall offense, first team overall defense, second team overall, and third team large schools seniors only.
Note: Schools broken down into large, medium and small based on section playoff divisions but also on where they’ve been traditionally. We also will not generally consider a school close to or above 1,500 enrollment small school at all no matter what section or state playoff division that school is placed. This means a school like Lincoln of San Francisco, which won a CIF state title this year, can’t ever be a “small” school. Medium, yes. Small, no. Many of the CIF L.A. City Section playoff teams, including D2 and D3, can’t be small schools, either, for same reason.
Cal-Hi Sports All-State Football
Medium Schools
FIRST TEAM OFFENSE
WR Dillon Gresham (San Jacinto) 6-1, 170, Jr.
WR Xavier Jordan (Cathedral, Los Angeles) 6-1, 170, Jr.
OL Paki Finau (Oak Hills, Hesperia) 6-5, 270, Jr.
OL Alani Noa (Grant, Sacramento) 6-5, 300, Sr.
OL Raymond Pulido (Apple Valley) 6-6, 320, Sr.
OL Tobias Raymond (Ventura) 6-7, 280, Sr.
OL Amos Talalele (Santa Clara) 6-5, 330, Sr.
QB Myles Jackson (Millikan, Long Beach) 6-2, 190, Jr.*
RB Brandon Johnson (Highland, Palmdale) 5-9, 185, Sr.
RB Dijon Stanley (Granada Hills Charter) 6-1, 175, Sr.
RB Jaivian Thomas (McClymonds, Oakland) 5-11, 175, Sr.
PK Robert Petrich (Granite Hills, El Cajon) 6-2, 160, Jr.
*Reclassed to senior after season and has signed with Stanford.
FIRST TEAM DEFENSE
Alani Noa (6-5, 320) was so dominant as a lineman for Grant of Sacramento that he probably was a player of the year candidate for the metro area. Photo: Mark Tennis.
DL Jaeden Moore (Central Valley Christian,
Visalia) 6-4, 230, Sr.
DL Ashton Sanders
(Cathedral, Los Angeles) 6-3, 295, Sr.
DL Omar Staples (Oakland Tech) 6-3, 230, Sr.
LB Chase Martin (Thousand Oaks) 6-1, 210, Sr.
LB Noah Mikhail (Bonita, La Verne) 6-3, 205, Soph.
LB Wyatt Mosier (Yorba Linda) 6-2, 215, Sr.
DB Maliki Crawford (Pacifica, Oxnard) 6-4, 185, Sr.
DB Solomon Davis (Charter Oak, Covina) 6-0, 185, Sr.
DB Jordan Napier (Jurupa Hills) 6-2, 195, Sr.
DB Easton Peterson
(Granite Hills, El Cajon) 6-1, 170, Sr.
DB Warren Smith (El Cerrito) 6-1, 175, Sr.
P Greg Tripathi (Dos Pueblos, Goleta) 5-11, 175, Sr.
FIRST TEAM MULTI-PURPOSE
QB/RB Aidan Chiles (Downey) 6-4, 195, Sr.
QB/RB Dereun Dortch (San Jacinto) 6-0, 200, Sr.
RB/LB Troy Leigber (Laguna Hills) 6-0, 200, Sr.
WR/DB Brockton Lium (Citrus Valley, Redlands) 6-4, 215, Sr.
RB/ATH JayQuan Smith (Cajon, San Bernardino) 5-10, 175, Sr.
WR/DB Salasa Vadrawale (Rancho Cotate, Rohnert Park) 6-0, 175, Sr.
SECOND TEAM OFFENSE
WR Ty Benefield (Crean Lutheran, Irvine) 6-2, 185, Sr.
WR Taeshaun Lyons (Tennyson, Hayward) 6-2, 190, Sr.
WR Matthew Morrell (Cypress) 6-4, 190, Sr.
OL Racin Delgatty (St. Francis, La Canada) 6-4, 310, Sr.
OL Noah Durham (Yuba City) 6-5, 305, Sr.
OL Elishah Jackett (El Modena, Orange) 6-6, 280, Sr.
OL Jack Susnjar (Loyola, Los Angeles) 6-6, 325, Sr.
OL Alejandro Tejada (Granite Hills, El Cajon) 6-1, 315, Sr.
QB JoJo McCray (Grant, Sacramento) 6-1, 180, Sr.
RB Major Givens (Steele Canyon, Spring Valley) 5-9, 180, Sr.
RB Charles Williams (Marin Catholic, Kentfield) 6-2, 180, Jr.
PK Dylan Fingersh (Capistrano Valley, Mission Viejo) 5-11, 175, Jr.
QB Ty Chambers and team at Lemoore were among state’s highest scoring teams this season. Photo: Gabe Camarillo.
SECOND TEAM DEFENSE
DL Mordecai Hines (Highland, Palmdale) 6-6, 275, Sr.
DL Jericho Johnson (Armijo, Fairfield) 6-4, 300, Jr.
DL Deijon Laffitte (Colony, Ontario) 6-4, 280, Sr.
LB Will Clemens
(Marin Catholic, Kentfield) 6-1, 220, Sr.
LB Mayson Hitchens (El Modena, Orange) 6-1, 220, Sr.
LB Chase Lowary (Point Loma, San Diego) 6-1, 195, Sr.
LB Dustin Reynolds (Apple Valley) 6-2, 225, Sr.
LB Jordan Whitney (Pacifica, Oxnard) 6-2, 205, Sr.
DB Vincent Holmes (San Jacinto) 6-0, 180, Sr.
DB Jelani McLaughlin
(Citrus Valley, Redlands) 6-1, 180, Sr.
DB Trevor Monteleone (Cypress) 6-2, 205, Sr.
P Conor Weasler (Redwood, Larkspur) 6-0, 185, Sr.
SECOND TEAM MULTI-PURPOSE
WR/KR Bryant Carey (Downey) 6-3, 190, Sr.
QB/RB Ty Chambers (Lemoore) 6-1, 170, Sr.
QB/LB Samuel Cooper (University City, San Diego) 6-3, 215, Sr.
RB/DB Adam Harper (Northwood, Irvine) 5-11, 200, Sr.
RB/DB Ferrari Miller (McClymonds, Oakland) 5-11, 205, Sr.
QB/RB Richie Munoz (Charter Oak, Covina) 6-0, 195, Sr.
THIRD TEAM OFFENSE
WR Baylin Brooks (Pasadena) 6-0, 180, Sr.
WR Jackson Harris (Berkeley) 6-3, 200, Sr.
WR Robbie Mascheroni (Campolindo, Moraga) 6-4, 200, Sr.
OL Colin Bray (Placer, Auburn) 6-3, 235, Sr.
OL Malik Cleveland (Rancho Cotate, Rohnert Park) 6-3, 305, Sr.
OL Steven Nagy (Palos Verdes, PV Estates) 6-2, 280, Sr.
OL Kyle Stahlecker (Oakmont, Roseville) 6-5, 260, Sr.
OL Jett Thomas (La Jolla) 6-4, 290, Soph.
QB Luke Duncan (Miramonte, Orinda) 6-5, 195, Sr.
RB Beau Bruins (Ramona, Riverside) 5-10, 170, Sr.
RB Jaxson Percoats (Buhach Colony, Atwater) 5-11, 175, Sr.
PK Isaac Espinoza (McClymonds, Oakland) 6-0, 175, Jr.
THIRD TEAM DEFENSE
Dylan Lee from East Union of Manteca had 1,900 yards as a dual threat QB in 2022, caught 69 passes for 1,350 yards as a receiver in 2021 and was recruited and signed by San Jose State as a linebacker. Photo: Sean Kahler / Front Row Preps.
DL Trent Carrade
(Marin Catholic, Kentfield) 6-3, 270, Sr.
DL Michael Hughes (Santa Ana) 6-4, 225, Sr.
DL Dylan Labarbera
(Foothill, Palo Cedro) 6-2, 240, Sr.
DL Philander Lee (Cajon, San Bernardino) 6-3, 245, Sr.
DL Malik Richardson (McClymonds, Oak) 6-3, 275, Sr.
LB Ethan Charpentier (Foothill, Tustin) 6-0, 205, Sr.
LB Phil Cotton (Walnut) 6-2, 215, Sr.
LB Troy Mills (Canyon, Anaheim) 6-0, 225, Sr.
DB Emanuel Karnley
(Las Lomas, Walnut Creek) 6-3, 185, Sr.
DB Jamil Kassab (Ramona) 6-1, 170, Jr.
DB DeMel Turner (Lemoore) 6-1, 175, Sr.
P Jayden Flaig (Yorba Linda) 6-4, 190, Sr.
THIRD TEAM MULTI-PURPOSE
WR/DB Hayden Anderson (Windsor) 6-1, 180, Soph.
LB/RB/P Santino Acevedo
(Cardinal Newman, Santa Rosa) 6-0, 205, Sr.
QB/RB Will Augenstein
(Branham, San Jose) 6-3, 200, Sr.
QB/RB Dominic Ingrassia (San Marin, Novato) 6-2, 190, Jr.
QB/WR/LB Dylan Lee (East Union, Manteca) 6-2, 215, Sr.
QB/RB Darian Mensah (St. Joseph, Santa Maria) 6-3, 215, Sr.
QB/RB Aidan Moss (Cathedral, Los Angeles) 6-2, 195, Sr.
RB/WR Caden Prichard (Aptos) 5-11, 195, Sr.
QB/RB Dashiell Weaver (Campolindo, Moraga) 6-0, 170, Sr.
MEDIUM SCHOOLS STATE PLAYER OF THE YEAR (previously announced):
Troy Leigber (Laguna Hills) Sr.
MEDIUM SCHOOLS STATE COACH OF THE YEAR (previously announced):
Jeff Bailey (Yorba Linda)
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
