Leading their teams to section football titles last weekend were senior running back Andrew Segre from Sacred Heart Prep of Atherton and junior quarterback Damion Wright from Jurupa Hills. Photos: Courtesy Sacred Heart Prep & Student Sports.
We will lead off the State Stat Stars every week with the Northern California and Southern California Players of the Week.
As has been customary for many years, we collect the state stat stars in support of the Cal-Hi Sports State Record Book & Almanac. The book has been published seven times (the most recent, though, was 2009) and is as official as a state record book can be since no other exists. To report a State Stat Star of the Week of your own, please email details to markjtennis@gmail.com.
Note: All football state records are in the process of being added to this web site. To join our Gold Club today, please CLICK HERE.
Contributing writeups for this week were Paul Muyskens, Harold Abend, Ronnie Flores, Mark Tennis and CIF Central Section historian Bob Barnett. This honor roll is for games played from Dec. 2 to Dec. 7.
Southern California Player of the Week
Damion Wright (Jurupa Hills)
The junior quarterback led his team to the school’s first section title with a 41-24 win over St. Margaret’s of San Juan Capistrano in the CIF Southern Section East Valley Division final.
Wright completed 18 of 26 passes for 246 yards and one TD and he rushed 13 times for 111 yards and three scores. For the season, Wright went over 2,500 yards passing with 2,512 and also hit exactly 1,000 yards for rushing. He has been the starting quarterback at Jurupa Hills since he was a freshman. At 6-2, 190, he could be a top-notch QB recruit for next season.
Northern California Player of the Week
Andrew Segre (Sacred Heart Prep, Atherton)
The senior running back came into last week’s CIF Central Coast Section Division IV final with just under 1,000 yards rushing, but became more of a solo act for the Gators in leading them past Pacific Grove 56-21.
Segre rushed for 351 yards in the game and scored six touchdowns. His TD runs came on bursts of 57, 49, 15, 17, 10 and 33 yards. Segre, who also plays varsity soccer at Sacred Heart Prep, helped the team win its second straight section title. He and the Gators (12-1) will face El Cerrito on Saturday in the CIF NorCal Division III regional bowl game.
Watch Varsity Roundup at 8 p.m. on Wednesdays on Channel 354 in L.A. and on Channel 825 in San Diego.
PASSING
Jake Browning (Folsom)
It’ll get much tougher this week when he faces No. 1 De La Salle of Concord, but during the Bulldogs’ 49-17 win over Oak Ridge of El Dorado Hills in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division I championship game he completed 24 of his 34 pass attempts for 300 yards and five touchdowns. For the season, Browning’s rather insane totals have him with 402 completions in 523 attempts for 5,393 yards and 74 TDs. Both the yardage and TD totals are state records will be set by a wide margin over the previous records even if Folsom loses to De La Salle. And if Folsom wins and gets a 16th game, Browning probably will break the career state records for passing yards and TDs with one more season to go.
Drew Anderson (Miramonte, Orinda)
His team was on the board for the CIF Division II North Bowl berth, and had they gotten it the 6-foot-4, 192-pound quarterback might have had a chance to become the CIF North Coast Section single season passing leader. Instead, after a 439-yard five-TD performance in 41-28 NCS D2 title game victory over Petaluma Casa Grande, his 4,074 yards (47 TDs) comes in No. 2 all-time in the NCS behind the 4,451 yards put up by Ricky Lloyd of Concord in the 2010 season. The total also earns him a place a few pegs behind Lloyd on the all-time state list.
Brad Kaaya (Chaminade, West Hills)
The University of Miami commit and Elite 11 QB threw a lot of incomplete passes during the Eagles’ game against Serra of Gardena last Friday, but he only suffered one turnover (on a deflected pass) against a ball-hawking defense loaded with Division I athletes and connected on big plays frequently. Kaaya finished 18 of 37 for 311 yards with his only TD coming on a fourth-down play that helped Chaminade tie the score in the fourth quarter.
RUSHING
Tre Watson (Centennial, Corona)
While the Huskies didn’t break state records like they did the week before, they did capture the CIFSS Inland Division championship with a 26-12 win over Vista Murrieta. Watson carried the ball 46 times for 289 yards and two touchdowns. For the season, he has a whopping 3,498 yards and 48 TDs.
Edgar Segura (Mendota)
The Edgar record watch comes to an end against a well-balance Liberty Madera Ranchos team 31-19 in the CIF Central Section Division 5 championship. Edgar rushed for a game-high of 263 yards on 38 carries and scored three touchdowns. Edgar tied the state record set by Lorenzo Booker of Saint Bonaventure 1999-01 with 137 career touchdowns and set a new state record with 900 scoring points, passing Booker’s 874 points.
Bolu Olorunfunmi (Clovis North, Fresno)
Although Bakersfield couldn’t be stopped in a 60-21 win over Clovis North in the Central Section Division I Division final, Olorunfunmi rushed for a game-high 259 yards on 21 carries and scored two touchdowns on runs of 45 & 6 yards for the Broncos. Just a junior, Bolu set two school records for the season by rushing for 2,491 yards and scoring 26 touchdowns.
Matt Ringer (Central Catholic, Modesto)
We were there to see the Raiders at one point hand him the ball on nine straight plays as he finished the afternoon with 38 carries for 243 yards and two touchdowns during a 24-10 win over Hilmar in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV championship game. On the year, he has rushed for 2,260 yards and 33 touchdowns.
Adarius Pickett (El Cerrito)
Pickett didn’t come out of the thicket, he came out of the Wildcat, and on the second play from scrimmage he set the tone with a 69-yard TD run from that formation, in what turned out to be a 54-38 victory over Marin Catholic of Kentfield in the CIF NCS Division III title game. After all was done, the UCLA bound running back and defensive back rushed for 256 yards and four TDs, all from the Wildcat formation, in leading the Gauchos to their first-ever NCS title.
Elijah Porchia (Mission Oak, Tulare)
He capped an outstanding three-year career against Bakersfield Christian in a 35-34 loss for the Central section Division IV championship. Elijah rushed for 243 yards on 32 carries and scored three touchdowns and he finished with 85 career touchdowns, 6th best in the Central Section and the ninth player to surpass 5,000 yards for his career.
Matt Ringer (Central Catholic, Modesto)
We were there to see the Raiders at one point hand him the ball on nine straight plays as he finished the afternoon with 38 carries for 243 yards and two touchdowns during a 24-10 win over Hilmar in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV championship game. On the year, he has rushed for 2,260 yards and 33 touchdowns.
MULTI-PURPOSE
Kai Ross (Huntington Beach)
Not only did he pass for 219 yards and three touchdowns but he also played on defense and intercepted two passes and returned them for touchdowns in the fourth quarter as the Oilers defeated Newport Harbor 42-28 in the CIFSS Southwest Division championship game. One of Ross’ TD passes and both of his picks all took place within minutes of each other to break open a tight game. Don’t be surprised if he’s strongly considered to be one of the Orange County Register’s Players of the Year.
QB Asauni Rufus will lead Bakersfield on Friday night in CIF Division I SoCal regional bowl game.
Asauni Rufus (Bakersfield)
Leading the Drillers to a 60-21 win over Clovis North of Fresno in the CIF Central Section he completed 10 of his 11 pass attempts for 180 yards and two scores while also rushing for 165 yards and three touchdowns in the CIF Central Section Division I finals to help earn a spot in the CIF SoCal Division I Bowl Game.
DEFENSE
Parker Chase (Corona del Mar, Newport Harbor)
Chasing down the quarterback for four sacks in the second half, Chase helped the Sea Kings remain undefeated (14-0) with a 42-21 win over previously undefeated Garden Grove in the CIFSS Southern Division championship game.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Wyatt Durkin (Chester)
This junior big man from up north had a huge first game of the season as he scored 44 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and blocked 10 shots for a triple-double as the Volcanoes defeated Big Valley 81-56.
Marcus LoVett Jr. (San Gabriel Academy, San Gabriel)
No stranger to us, he is now at a new school and starting the season with big offensive performances, including one of 44 points during a 82-66 loss to El Toro.
Daryl Edwards (Fresno)
This Warrior opened the season by scoring 40 points, which is the fourth best in school history as the team ran by Sunnyside of Fresno 92-57.
Lake Lutes (Jesuit, Carmichael)
In the championship game of the Wild West Shootout in Reno, he scored 38 points as the Marauders defeated Bishop Manogue of Reno 84-64.
Stanley Johnson (Mater Dei, Santa Ana)
Scoring at least 31 points in all four games so far this season, the Cal-Hi Sports Mr. Basketball State Player of the Year favorite scored a season-high 35 points during a 69-47 win over Mission Viejo.
Vasilije Saraba (Del Campo, Fair Oaks)
With the Cougars needing overtime to get a 96-86 win over Rocklin, he led the offensive attack with 34 points to go along with six assists, five rebounds and four steals. Del Campo scored 19 points in the one overtime, which prompted the father of a Del Campo student to ask us if that was a record. It’s not a category we keep but it is sizzling.
Jordan Ford (Folsom)
While the Bulldogs’ basketball team doesn’t receive the national attention as the football team does, the Bulldogs did capture the Cartwright Classic championship behind Ford, who was named tournament MVP after a pair of 30+ point performances in the event.
Frankie Ferrari (Burlingame)
The University of San Francisco-bound point guard had a double-double 26 points and 10 assists in a win over San Francisco Galileo.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Destiny Littleton & Imani Littleton (Bishops, La Jolla)
The preseason No. 18 ranked Lady Knights have made an early statement after rolling past everyone in the La Jolla Country Day Sweet 16 tournament, and this pair that despite sharing a last name but are not related, have been the impetus of what was an 8-0 start going into a Tuesday night game with visiting San Marco Mission Hills.
Destiny Littleton, a 5-9 freshman guard that was very impressive over the summer, was even more impressive against preseason state-ranked Archbishop Mitty of San Jose. She finished with a double-double 34 points and 11 rebounds (four steals, three assists) in a 59-50 victory. Destiny followed that up with a double-double 23 points and 11 rebounds (five assists, four steals) in a 70-34 blowout of preseason state-ranked and host Country Day. She only had 13 points in a title-game 57-43 victory last Saturday over preseason state-ranked Mission Hills Alemany, but she followed that up this week with a triple-double 26 points, 10 rebounds and 10 steals in an 85-40 win over Escondido.
St. Johns-bound 6-foot-3 Imani Littleton carried the load against Alemany with a double-double 26 points and 16 rebounds. Already this week, she went for 28 and 11 against Escondido and 30 and 13 versus Torrey Pines.
Ali Engelhardt (Mt. Carmel, San Diego)
No stranger to our weekly state stat stars, she started this season with 33 points and 17 rebounds during a 64-59 win over Granite Hills of El Cajon.
Jessica Curl (Mercy, Red Bluff)
While the Warriors couldn’t open up the season with a win, Curl started her senior season with a big performance as she scored 30 points and grabbed 24 rebounds in a 52-49 loss to Portola.
Natalie Romeo (Carondelet. Concord)
The highly-regarded Nebraska-bound point guard had a triple-double 23 points, 12 rebounds and 16 assists in a 95-63 victory over Stockton Brookside Christian. Then, in the championship game of the Dorothy Speck Tournament at Davis, she almost put another triple-double on the hosts in a 78-35 victory, and probably would have had the game not gone to a running clock. Instead, Romeo finished with 19 points, 10 assists and nine steals.
Katie Lou Samuelson (Mater Dei, Santa Ana)
Named tournament MVP at the Battle at the Beach Tournament in Redondo Beach, Katie Lou had 30 points and 11 rebounds during a 73-49 win by the Monarchs over West Torrance.
Coaching Milestones
Robert Garrett (Crenshaw, Los Angeles)
When Garrett guided Crenshaw to its third L.A. City Section Division I title in five years with a 20-13 victory over Narbonne of Harbor City, it prompted us to take a look at Crenshaw’s grid-log since he took over in 1988.
We figured “The G Man” (as he’s called in L.A. City circles) was near the 200-win career coaching milestone. While Garrett did have some lean years early on, he hasn’t had a losing season since 1997 and the wins have been piling up fast in recent years.
After carefully reviewing the files we share with legendary historian Bruce McIntosh, indeed Garrett is above 200 career wins. In fact, the win over Narbonne was No. 216 and heading into the 2014 season his on-field career mark stands at 216-101-3. He actually hit the milestone with a 57-0 victory over Rancho Dominguez Prep of Long Beach in October of 2012. Garrett has won four L.A. City Section Division I titles since 2005 and has a fifth on the mantle when The Shaw won the 3A title in his fourth season back in 1991.
Mark Tennis is the co-founder and publisher of CalHiSports.com. He can be reached at markjtennis@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow him on Twitter: @CalHiSports
