Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. I’m Eric Sondheimer. It’s looking like the game of the year this week in high school football: No. 1 Santa Margarita at No. 2 St. John Bosco.
Assistants in spotlight
Kuika Moaalii, a 6-foot-5 sophomore, makes tough catch for St. John Bosco. He had four catches for 119 yards and one touchdown in 28-14 win over Orange Lutheran.
(Craig Weston / For The Times)
Santa Margarita (7-0) at St. John Bosco (6-1) on Friday night has all the makings of your typical Trinity League title decider. Great coaching, great players, great atmosphere.
While many will focus on the head coaching matchup of Santa Margarita’s Carson Palmer vs. St. John Bosco’s Jason Negro, the real spotlight should fall on the highly respected coordinators who will need to be smart, creative and be ready to improvise and adjust.
For Santa Margarita, that will be offensive coordinator Lenny Vandermade and defensive coordinator Steve Fififa. For St. John Bosco, offensive coordinator Steve Lo and defensive coordinator Chris King have lots of respect for their counterparts. Don’t expect any to be dismissed in the middle of the game.
All need to figure ways to get the ball to their star athletes on offense and prevent big plays on defense.
It’s the defensive chess match that will be most interesting. Santa Margarita has been getting excellent production from a group of freshmen and recorded three shutouts. This will be their biggest game yet. St. John Bosco has fixed some secondary issues with the addition of Kingston Fatu, who has two interceptions in two games. This will come down to which defensive line can apply enough quarterback pressure without having to blitz.
The winner should be in good position to be the Trinity League champion.
Cleveland’s offensive line has been a strength, including right tackle Carlos Gomez (left), right guard Carter Fitzgerald, center Pedro Castaneda, center Adam Garbisch, left guard Jovanni Orellana and left tackle Josue Fonseca.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times )
In case you haven’t noticed, history is being made at Cleveland High, which is 7-0 and has the inside track to win the West Valley League title under 34-year-old third-year head coach Mario Guzman. It has been decades since a young coach at not one of the City Section power schools has guided his team to contention at the highest level in City football.
Franklin and Eagle Rock had their Northern League game postponed Friday because of continuing fallout dealing with the death of a Franklin student. The game will be played Monday night at L.A. Wilson.
There’s a season-long competition to be the best running back in the City Section among Brandon Hernandez of Panorama, Ceasar Reyes of Garfield and Tru Warrior Casas of Fairfax. All are well past 1,000 yards rushing and closing in on 2,000.
Elisha Mueller of St. John Bosco shows off his blocking skills against Orange Lutheran.
(Craig Weston / For The Times)
St. John Bosco set up its showdown with Santa Margarita with a hard-fought 28-14 win over Orange Lutheran. Here’s the report.
Inglewood rallied to defeat Palos Verdes and move to win the Bay League title. Here’s the report.
El Modena knocked off Laguna Beach in the Delta League. Here’s the report.
Crespi junior quarterback Chase Curren became the school’s all-time leader in touchdown passes with 54 by passing for three touchdowns in a 49-0 win over Harvard-Westlake. The old record was 53 held by his offensive coordinator, Bryan Bennett. His standout receiver Bru McFarland, called the record-breaking TD.
There are still 23 unbeaten teams left in the Southern Section and City Section. Here’s the report.
Here’s a look at this week’s top 25 rankings by The Times.
Here’s top individual performances.
Here’s week eight schedule.
The week ahead
Week eight in high school football has the chance to be one of the dramatic in the regular season with many big games.
Besides Santa Margarita at St. John Bosco, there’s Mission Viejo at San Clemente, Bishop Amat at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, King/Drew at Crenshaw, Hamilton at Palisades, Bellflower at Paramount and Mater Dei vs. Servite at Cerritos College,
Pualani Olotoa-Le’au, a sophomore, has been contributing to Carson in flag football and softball.
(Courtesy Olotoa-Le’au family)
Last week’s heat wave caused lots of postponed flag football games in the City Section. The powerful Northern League needs to catch up. Wilson is 2-0 and Eagle Rock 1-0.
Carson and Narbonne are 4-1 in the Marine League with San Pedro at 3-1. Here’s a look at a two-sport contributor for Carson.
JSerra is 23-0 and few teams are giving the Lions much competition. Here’s this week’s top 10 flag football rankings by The Times.
A big Monday showdown has Huntington Beach facing Newport Harbor.
Roommates at UCLA
Linebacker Scott Taylor (left) and receiver Shane Rosenthal, graduates of Loyola and Newbury Park, have become roommates and contributors for UCLA’s football team.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
Former Loyola High star Scott Taylor and former Newbury Park star Shane Rosenthal are roommates and teammates on UCLA’s football team.
They explain how important it is going off to college to explore and find someone with similar ideas and principles.
Here’s a look at why things are working out.
Water polo
Harvard-Westlake made a big move in the water polo rankings this week with consecutive wins over JSerra and Santa Margarita.
Harry Siafaris was a key player with his scoring skills.
Newport Harbor had a big league win over rival Corona del Mar. Here’s the report.
Notes
Junior pitcher Carlos Acuna of Birmingham, the City Section player of the year, has committed to UC San Diego….
Dezi Delgado from Sherman Oaks Notre Dame has committed to CSUN baseball….
King Rachal of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame has committed to Utah State for basketball….
Standout guard Gene Roebuck of La Mirada has committed to Cal….
Former Monroe High and Cal State Northridge pitcher Lew Lerner has died. He was 74. He was a first-round draft pick of the Twins and led CSUN to a national championship in 1970….
JSerra cross-country star Reese Holley has committed to North Carolina….
Bob Hitchcock, who built the Temple City High football program into a powerhouse, has died. He was 97. He won seven Southern Section championships in the 1970s….
Guard Omar Cuffie from Loyola has committed to play basketball at Navy….
Michael Scarince of South Pasadena won the cross-country invitational race at the Clovis Invitational in 15:01….
Track and field athlete Aidan Antonio of Woodbridge has committed to Georgetown….
Guard Pierce Thompson of Harvard-Westlake has committed to Utah….
The JSerra girls volleyball team claimed the Division 1&2 Diamond Bracket at the Southern California Volleyball Invitational at Alliant University in San Diego….
Here are the latest Southern Section girls volleyball rankings.
From the archives: Cooper Barkate
Cooper Barkate playing for Mater Dei in 2021. He’s now at Miami.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
In Cooper Barkate’s senior season in 2022 at Mater Dei, the team went 12-1 and he was a vey good receiver who chose academics and the Ivy League, attending Harvard for three years and graduating with a degree in economics. Then he transferred to Duke for one season and is now at Miami, where entered the national discussion after catching five passes for 98 yards and one touchdown against Clemson.
His father, Harold, was a punter for UCLA who grew up in the high desert.
Here’s a story from 2023 from Harvard’s school newspaper.
Here’s a story from 2021 from the New York Times explaining Barkate’s decision to go to Harvard.
Recommendations
From Indianapreps, a story on the changing landscape in covering high school sports.
From KGET in Bakersfield, a story on a private eye uncovering ineligible players.
From Oregonlive, a story on former Crenshaw running back De’Anthony Thomas turning to disc golf.
From Axios, a story on how youth sports is affecting Sunday worship.
Tweets you might have missed
Until next time….
Have a question, comment or something you’d like to see in a future Prep Rally newsletter? Email me at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com, and follow me on Twitter at @latsondheimer.
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