Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. My name is Eric Sondheimer. It’s the final week of the high school football season, with state championship games set for Friday and Saturday in Southern California.

Final week

Running back Jordon Davison leads unbeaten Mater Dei.

(Craig Weston)

Southern California will be hosting the state championship bowl games Friday and Saturday at Saddleback College, Veterans Stadium in Long Beach and Fullerton High. Here’s the complete schedule.

The No. 1 team in California and the nation is Mater Dei (12-0), which will try to finish off an unbeaten season on Saturday at 8 p.m. against De La Salle (12-0) at Saddleback College in the Open Division championship game. The Nothern California representative hasn’t scored in this game the last two seasons, so watch to see if the Spartans can at least do that.

On Friday at 4 p.m., Oxnard Pacifica faces Sacramento Grant in the Division 1-A final. Pacifica has blocked four punts in the last two games, scoring three touchdowns.

All the games from Saddelback College will be televised by Spectrum.

Record-setting receiver Shane Rosenthal of Newbury Park is lifted up by teammate Joel Gonzalez.

(Craig Weston)

Newbury Park put up quite a fight before losing for the first time in dropping a 34-27 thriller to San Diego Lincoln at Southwestern College. It brought to an end the record-breaking career of Newbury Park receiver Shane Rosenthal. Here’s the report.

Pacifica came through with great special teams to eliminate City Section Open Division champion Narbonne. Here’s the report.

King/Drew and Portola played an overtime game, and Portola stopped a two-point conversion attempt to win. Here’s the report.

Palos Verdes keeps coming up with big plays on defense and advanced to the state final. Here’s the report.

Edison got back its star running back, Julius Gillick, and he rushed for 240 yards and three touchdowns to send the Chargers into the state final.

Here’s top performers from last weekend.

Corona Centennial had another quarterback signee, making it 18 consecutive seasons producing college quarterbacks. Here’s the report.

Boys basketball

Alijah Arenas of Chatsworth gets an offensive rebound basket against Crenshaw.

(Robert S. Helfman)

Alijah Arenas of Chatsworth announced last week he is reclassifying and will become a member of the class of 2025. He said Thursday during Chartsworth’s 79-32 road victory over Crenshaw that it was like a weight being removed from his shoulder. He can now focus on picking a college and knows this will be his final year of high school.

“It’s my last year. I think we can go far, and I’m excited to see where we can go,” he said of his 5-0 team.

The victory over Crenshaw avenges a defeat his father, Gilbert, had against the Cougars in 1998 when he was playing for Grant. Crenshaw won the playoff game 112-74 despite Gilbert scoring 42 points.

Gilbert would go on to Arizona and the NBA. Arizona is considered the early favorite to land Alijah, but he gave a nice hug at halftime to USC coach Eric Musselman, who is also recruiting him.

Future Harvard teammates Elzie Harrington of St. John Bosco and Douglas Langford Jr. of St. Pius X-St. Matthias put on a show. Harrington scored 41 points. Langford had 22 points. Here’s the report.

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame surged past Los Alamitos. Here’s the report.

Here’s this week’s top 25 rankings by The Times.

Girls basketball

Ontario Christian (9-0) added another impressive win to its resume last weekend, winning the Troy tournament championship by handing Mater Dei its first defeat. Freshman Tatianna Griffin scored 20 points for Ontario Christian.

Ventura has some legendary names around its program. Here’s the report.

Sierra Canyon has played only two games but gets busy this week with games against Lynwood, Redondo Union, Corona Santiago and Bishop Gorman.

Etiwanda is on a three-game losing streak against top competition.

Notes . . .

Huntington Beach quarterback Brady Edmunds (6).

(James Carbone/James Carbone)

Sophomore quarterback Brady Edmunds from Huntington Beach has committed to Ohio State. . . .

Junior linebacker Tristan Phillips from Ventura announced he has committed to Oregon. . . .

James Clark, a junior infielder from St. John Bosco, has committed to Princeton. . . .

The All-Southern Section boys water polo team has been announced. Here’s the link. . . .

Kory Minor, a former Bishop Amat standout at linebacker, has been named the school’s new football coach. He was a star at Notre Dame and did a stint as head coach at St. Margaret’s. He was inducted into the California High School Football Hall of Fame. . . .

Former Thousand Oaks and Westlake basketball player Trent MacLean has committed to West Virginia. His father is former UCLA standout Don MacLean. . . .

Raymond Grajeda has resigned as football coach at Wilmington Banning. . . .

Junior pitcher Madelyn Armendariz of Orange Lutheran has committed to Mississippi softball. . . .

High-scoring guard Anto Balian from Pilibos has committed to Pepperdine. . . .

The state girls tennis championship is set for Monday at Sierra Sport & Racquet Club in Fresno. Palos Verdes will be facing Los Altos. . . .

Top boys soccer teams Cathedral and Loyola will play Tuesday night at Cathedral. . . .

During the summer, brothers Chase and Ryder Dodd earned bronze medals playing for the U.S. Olympic water polo team at the Olympic Games. On Sunday, they earned gold — as in an NCAA championship — in helping UCLA defeat USC in the NCAA final.

From the archives: Bryce Young

Bryce Young during his high school days.

(Mark Boster/For the Times)

Bryce Young is back starting at quarterback for the Carolina Panthers. The former No. 1 pick in the NFL draft, Heisman Trophy winner at Alabama and star quarterback at Mater Dei has received praise for sticking with the process and staying tough despite ups and downs in the NFL.

Here’s a story from 2021 after winning the Heisman Trophy.

Here’s a story from 2022 during his return to Mater Dei.

Here’s a story from 2019 about his growth as a quarterback.

Recommendations

From WTHR.com, a story on Indiana’s winningest high school football coach being forced to resign at age 83.

From the Atlanta Constitution, a story on a running back rushing for 605 yards in a single game.

From the Daily Pilot, a story on the commitment of Edison running back Julius Gillick to honor his best friend who was killed in a shooting.

Tweets you might have missed