Prep Rally: It’s time to bring some positive energy to high school sports

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. My name is Eric Sondheimer. It’s getting busy in high school sports. Basketball, soccer, girls water polo begins. The football playoffs are in the semifinals. The City Section has its flag football championships. Girls volleyball is winding down. But first, let’s try something new.

A new beginning

Come on a journey to find something positive each day in high school sports. That’s going to be my mission. It might be short. It might be long. It could get pulled from social media. It could get emailed. It could be from watching a parent hug his son or daughter after a game.

But each day, it’s going to be titled, “Prep talk.” I will seek to point out positives happening among players, coaches and parents.

Here’s the first.

Here’s the second.

Let’s keep it going looking for positive energy. You can find “Prep talk” each day here.

Corona Centennial’s defenders were pursuing all night to come away with a 25-20 win over previously unbeaten Mission Viejo in a Division 1 playoff game. Here’s the report from a great game. On Sunday, quarterback Husan Longstreet announced he was changing his commitment from Texas A&M to USC.

Baldwin Park took a trip to Big Bear, played for the first time in the snow and won. It was mostly fun except for a four-hour delay getting home because of black ice on the road.

Here’s a report.

Edison picked up a shutout win. Here’s the report.

Here’s a look at top performances from last week that included Newbury Park’s Shane Rosenthal becoming the state’s all-time receiving leader.

Here’s this weekend’s playoff schedule.

There’s good news and bad news to report on No. 1-seeded Narbonne.

The good news is after 49 days off, the Gauchos returned to rout Dorsey 47-13 in an opening game of the City Section Open Division playoffs. The bad news is that seven players were declared ineligible by the City Section. Narbonne gets to keep playing without them, but the Gauchos will be banned from next year’s playoffs and more trouble could be brewing. They are set to play Birmingham at home Friday in the semifinals.

Here’s the report.

Palisades received a top performance from quarterback Jack Thomas in a win over North Hollywood to advance to the Division I semifinals against No. 1-seeded Eagle Rock. Here’s the report.

The City Section flag football semifinals will be Wednesday, followed by the championship games on Saturday at Crenshaw High. Here’s the schedule.

The Open Division semifinals have San Pedro hosting Verdugo Hills and Eagle Rock hosting Banning.

Here’s a report from Verdugo Hills handing defending champion Birmingham its first loss in two years of competition.

Basketball

The boys and girls basketball season officially moves into high gear this week. Here’s the link to showcases and tournaments this season.

Here’s the preseason top 25 boys rankings.

Soccer

As part of soccer rules, goalkeepers are required to have a different jersey than their teammates. The color schemes have evolved into a fashion show, with brightness so loud (lime, purple, turquoise) that goalies look ready to be on an aircraft carrier directing fighter jets.

“They’re interesting people, so they deserve brightness,” Harvard-Westlake High coach Mike Erush said.

Perhaps the No. 1 goalie to watch this season is sophomore Jackson Friedman, who had seven shutouts as a freshman for the Mission League champion Wolverines.

Here’s a look at Friedman and top teams and players for boys and girls soccer.

Cross-country

It’s championship week in cross-country Saturday. The Southern Section finals will be held at Mt. San Antonio College and the City Section finals are at Pierce College.

Here’s the results from the City Section prelims.

Here’s the results from the Southern Section prelims.

Water polo

Perfection. That was the Newport Harbor water polo team accomplished, during the regular Southern Section season, rallying for an 11-10 win over JSerra in the Southern Section Open Division championship game to finish unbeaten. It was the school’s 15th water polo title and the team improved to 31-0.

Lucca Van Der Woude scored the game-winning goal. He finished with four goals and is a transfer from Harvard-Westlake. Here’s the report.

Cleveland won the City Section Open Division championship. Here’s the report.

Here’s the pairings for this week’s state regional playoffs.

Notes . . .

Senior Daniel Troncale of Foothill has committed to Cal State San Marcos for baseball. . . .

Linebacker Cory McEnroe of Thousand Oaks has committed to UC Davis. . . .

Nick Baiz has resigned as football coach at Etiwanda. . . .

Shane Gonzales has resigned after four seasons as football coach at Long Beach Cabrillo. . . .

Standout defensive end Jaden Williams of Mission Viejo has changed his commitment from San Diego State to Boise State. . . .

Standout defensive end Hayden Lowe of Oaks Christian has changed his commitment from USC to Miami. . . .

Sophomore Kaleena Smith from Ontario Christian has become the first girls high school basketball player to sign an NIL deal with Adidas. . . .

Emily Song of Santa Margarita led her team with a win at the Southern California girls golf regionals. Santa Margarita advances to this week’s state championships. She shot a 67. . . .

Steve Hagerty has resigned as football coach at Bishop Amat after 17 seasons. . . .

LaRon Johnson has resigned after one season as football coach at Burbank Burroughs. . . .

The state girls volleyball playoffs continue on Wednesday with regional championship matches, followed by state championship on Saturday at Santiago College. Here’s the link to pairings.

From the archives: Peyton Waters

Peyton Waters didn’t play football his freshman year at Birmingham because of the pandemic. He only had time to play basketball. He joined the football team as a sophomore and the rest is history. He became the City Section player of the year, received a scholarship to Washington and won three City Section Open Division titles.

He contributed two tackles playing safety in a win over USC. The freshman is known for his versatility.

Here’s a story from 2023 about his high school football accomplishments.

Here’s a story from 2022 on Waters.

Recommendations

From the Los Angeles Times, a story on how a ban on cellphones will be affecting LAUSD schools.

From the Washington Post, a story on a 16-year-old fencer using hard work to get better.

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