Zach Benitez from Granite Hills of El Cajon (left) quarterbacked the team to the CIF San Diego Section Open Division title as a freshman. At right, Jarious Hogan from St. Ignatius of San Francisco shows the form that makes him one of the top runningbacks in Northern California. Photos: @HonorBowl / X.com & Hudl.com.
This week’s honorees include two remarkable kickers, one who kicked his second 50-yard field goal of the season and the other who’s a girl who had game-winning field goal that earned her team a league title. We also have a QB with eight TD passes in a game his team won, 90-46. The six we have are from El Cajon, Yucca Valley and Temecula for Southern California and then San Francisco, Lafayette and Walnut Creek for Northern California.
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Notes: We will continue to have flexibility to one of the honorees by calling it Multi-Purpose/Special Teams. Multi-Purpose is already a category for All State honors. For these honors, we also consider CIF Central Section players for Northern California. To nominate anyone, email markjtennis@gmail.com.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Offensive Player of the Week
Zach Benitez (Granite Hills, El Cajon) Soph.
For the second straight week for head to East County area of the CIF San Diego Section to find the Southern California Offensive Player of the Week and this week we find our honoree just off I-8 and in shadows of a giant piece of granite known as El Cajon Mountain at Granite Hills High in El Cajon.
In this age of spread offenses combined with a few rules changes producing some astronomical numbers that are generating more than a few entries for the Cal-Hi Sports Online Record Book, in his most recent performance the 2023 Cal-Hi Sports State Freshman of the Year that led his team to the San Diego Section Open Division title last season, got a spot for himself. Plus, he was part of a second entry that involved his team – and to top it off there’s even a twist to the saga that involves the record book.
Last week, in a wild 90-46 Grossmont Hills League victory over crosstown rival Grossmont of El Cajon, Benitez completed 28-of-41 passes for 371 yards and eight touchdowns with no interceptions.
The 371 yards passing isn’t really close to making the record book but the eight touchdowns does and earns Zach that previously mentioned spot that will go on the Most Touchdown Passes (Game) list in the Football Individual Records: Single Game Passing section.
The second record book entry Benitez had a hand in was for the total score.
While the 90 points Granite Hills scored in the victory is the highest point total for a team this season, it’s not even close to making the Most Points (Game) since in the old days teams routinely cranked out huge totals. In fact, to make that list takes 125 points and no one has cracked it since 1924. The 136 points combined, however, does get a spot and currently comes in tied for No. 15 all time on the Most Points By Two Teams (One Game) list.
Now here’s the twist. The 371 yards passing for Benitez wasn’t even the most in the game, and it’s the opposition’s senior signal caller Thomas Donovan of Grossmont that had the most passing yardage in the game, and with his 515 yards passing he earns a spot in the record book on the Most Yards (Game) list.
As for the 6-foot-3, 205-pound Benitez, so far this season for 8-2 Granite Hills and heading into a bye week for the CIFSDS Division I No. 3 seed before meeting the winner of the Scripps Ranch (San Diego) at San Diego Torrey Pines winner, Benitez has passed for 1,765 yards and 22 touchdowns and he’s rushed for a score.
Rancho Christian’s Lola Carson kicks her game-winning field goal last week vs Hemet. Photo: myvalleynews.com.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Multi-Purpose/Special Teams
Player of the Week
Lola Carson
(Rancho Christian, Temecula) Sr.
The far southeastern reaches of the Inland Empire is where we venture to find the Southern California Multi-Purpose/Special Teams Player of the Week but we wouldn’t be making the trek to Temecula if not for a nomination by longtime prep sports scribe Eric-Paul Johnson of the Press Enterprise.
Not only that, but when we expended this category last year to include multi-purpose it was because some weeks it was hard to find a kicker or special teams standout, but Johnson sent us a kicker that won a game with her foot, and yes, this week’s honoree is a girl, and while we’ve written up girls that kick, in our recollection one that has gotten a statewide award is an anomaly.
There was around 20 seconds left in overtime of a winner-take-all matchup for the Sunbelt League championship between Rancho Christian and host Temecula when Carson stepped on the field.
The visiting Eagles had fought back from a 28-7 halftime deficit that they were able to cut to 28-14 with less than a minute to go in the third quarter. Two fourth quarter Rancho Christian touchdowns sent the game into overtime and set the stage for Lola to strut her stuff.
With seemingly ice water in her veins, and in anything but a chip shot, the 5-foot-7 junior kicker split the uprights from 30 yards out, and the Eagles flew the 20-miles south back home to Temecula on her wings.
According to Johnson, Carson is a first-year football player who was recruited to the team by coach William Lowe and is the goalkeeper on the girls soccer team.
The Rancho Christian fans aren’t hoping for déjà vu, but if it happens they’ll certainly celebrate another win against their Sunbelt League rivals since despite winning the league and beating Hemet, Rancho Christian is being sent on the road for its CIF Southern Section Division 8 first round match-up, and you guessed it, it’s at Hemet.
So far this season, and heading into the rematch with Hemet, Carson is 3-for-3 on field goals with the 30-yarder the longest, and 36-of-41 on points after.
On a final note: Johnson points out that Carson is continuing in the footsteps of Emma Baker, who had eight field goals and 99 kicking point when Rancho Christian won section and state titles in 2016. Emma also kicked for four years and had 285 kicking points for her career, which is a national record.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Defensive Player of the Week
Brody Herrera (Yucca Valley) Jr.
To find the Southern California Defensive Player of the Week, we head around 125 miles due east of downtown Los Angeles, past San Bernardino on the I-10, and instead of continuing to Palm Springs we make a left turn on Highway 62 and its about 20 miles north of the interstate and just before the vast wilderness area north of the highway that we find this week’s award winner in the center of town at Yucca Valley High.
We had to dig deep to find Herrera since the only major media in the area is the Desert Sun out of Palm Springs, and while they’ve chronicled his exploits in the past, including naming him one of the best high school football players in the Palm Springs area in September, we had to find his most recent award-winning performance on our own.
In last week’s 43-14 road win by the Trojans over neighboring Twentynine Palms, the host Wildcats were thinking yuck-a-doo when the Yucca Valley tackling machine got his arms around one of them since he recorded 18 tackles with two for losses, and on one the bone-jarring tackles by the 5-foot-10, 185-pound junior linebacker, he jarred the ball loose to force a fumble.
The reality with Brody is this is an award for his body of work this season since the 18 tackles was like another day at the office for him and in fact it wasn’t even his season high. That came in a loss to Ontario Chaffey when he had 21 tackles.
So far this season and heading into an opening round CIF Southern Section Division 12 match-up at home with Wilson of Hacienda Heights, Herrera has 128 total tackles with 67 solo and five for losses. Brody also has three forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, four quarterback hurries and two passes defended.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Offensive Player of the Week
Jarious Hogan (St. Ignatius, San Francisco) Sr.
The City by the Bay is where we head in search of the Northern California Offensive Player of the Week, and we end up in the western part of San Francisco in the Sunset District where we have a beautiful view of the Pacific Ocean a little less than a mile west of the school.
We get several nominations each week for out State Football Players of the Week and executive editor and Cal-Hi Sports co-founder Mark Tennis sniffs out most of the winners with his research, but occasionally we personally run into a worthy candidate and Hogan is one them.
His 265 yards rushing on 37 carries and five touchdowns, and his 26 yards receiving on two catches with one touchdown last week, are not each shattering statistics, but they came in a historic rivalry game and had record-setting implications.
There are several rivalry games in the West Catholic Athletic League, but the Bruce-Mahoney Trophy rivalry game named after two World War II veterans of the two schools that lost their lives in the war, Bill Bruce, a 1935 graduate of St. Ignatius, and Jerry Mahoney, a 1944 alumnus of the old Sacred Heart (now Sacred Heart Cathedral), is the grandaddy of them all, and it was in the St. Ignatius 45-28 win last Friday over Sacred Heart Cathedral at historic Kezar Stadium that has earned Hogan a statewide honor to go with several local stories about his exploits in the victory.
The yardage and touchdowns fall short of making the Cal-Hi Sports Online Record Book but the six total touchdowns in a game is a new West Catholic Athletic League record. The previous record was five TDs in a game and was last accomplished last season by Isitolo Tuugamusu of Archbishop Riordan of San Francisco.
So far this season and heading into a WCAL finale this week with Archbishop Mitty of San Jose, Hogan has 959 yards rushing and 15 TDs, and 103 yards receiving and four more scores.
Blayne Ballard has not one but two 50-yard plus field goals this season for Northgate (Walnut Creek). Photo: northgatebroncos.com.
Multi-Purpose/Special Teams Player of the Week
Blayne Ballard (Northgate, Walnut Creek) Sr.
Just like the NorCal defensive honoree this week, the Northern California Multi-Purpose/Special Teams Player of the Week in from Central Contra Costa but he’s from Northgate in Walnut Creek and the school derives its name because its actually on the northwestern foothills of majestic Mt. Diablo.
At Northgate they might be starting to call Blayne the blaster and last week was a perfect example of the prowess of his foot. In a 37-14 Diablo Athletic League – Valley Division win over visiting Alhambra of Martinez, Blayne blasted a 51-yard field, and that’s not all. He was also the leading receiver and the 6-foot-2, 185-pound senior had three pass receptions for 137 yards and three touchdowns.
It was the second 50-yard or longer field goal this season for Ballard. The first one was a 50-yarder that came in a 39-12 victory over San Francisco Lincoln. Blayne also connected on a 44-yard field goal in a loss to Bishop Diego of Santa Barbara.
Of note is we have only seen four reported field goals of 50 or more yards in the state so far this season and Ballard has two of them.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Defensive Player of the Week
Finley Rivera (Acalanes, Lafayette) Soph.
To find the Northern California Defensive Player of the Week we head to the Central Contra Costa portion of the CIF North Coast Section and we land on the other side of the Caldecott Tunnel from Oakland just off Highway 24 and not far west of majestic Mt. Diablo in Lafayette.
The Dons lost a lot of players to graduation from the 2023 team that won both the CIF North Coast Section Division IV championship and CIF Division 3-AA Bowl Game state title, and from a team that delivered head coach Floyd Burnsed a Cal-Hi Sports State Coach of the Year award, but Rivera has been a real bright spot on defense for a team that despite all the players that are gone is still in first place in the Diablo Athletic League – Foothill Division, and in his most recent performance Finley helped keep them in the catbird’s seat.
Last week, in a 21-12 victory on the road in Moraga at league archrival Campolindo, Rivera picked off two passes, and the 5-foot-11, 170-pound sophomore defensive back also had four tackles.
So far this season and heading into a league finale, Finley has six interceptions, 44 tackles and a fumble recovery. Rivera only had one catch against Campolindo but on the season he has 13 receptions for 145 yards and two touchdowns, and he has a third TD on a kickoff return.
Harold Abend is the associate editor of CalHiSports.com and the vice president of the California Prep Sportswriters Association. He can be reached at marketingharoldabend@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow him on Twitter: @HaroldAbend
