Battle at the Beach: Top Defensive Performances
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20 of Southern California’s top programs met at Edison High in Huntington Beach last Saturday. There were some great players at the event. Here were some of the defensive players that stood out to me throughout the day. Disclaimer: I…
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Continue Reading20 of Southern California’s top programs met at Edison High in Huntington Beach last Saturday.
There were some great players at the event. Here were some of the defensive players that stood out to me throughout the day.
Disclaimer: I did not get a chance to watch every team at the tournament play.
St. John Bosco was impressive throughout the day and a few defensive backs caught the eye of coach Jason Negro. Class of 2024 safety Peyton Woodyard Peyton Woodyard 6'2" | 195 lbs | DB St. John Bosco | 2024 State CA was the best defensive player for the Braves that I watched Saturday. He closes to the ball so fast and has good ball skills. Numerous times an opposing quarterback would see an open receiver and throw, only to find Woodyard all over him a second later.
Jahlil McClain Jahlil McClain 5'10" | 180 lbs | WR St. John Bosco | 2023 State CA is being recruited as a receiver but also looked good as a corner Saturday. He was tasked with covering some elite receivers and more than held his own. McClain was the first player Negro told me about when I asked which guys he was most pleased with on Saturday.
Pierce to Jahlil for the score to make it 49-0 with 5:55 left in Q2…Go Braves!#BoscoFootball
@_pierceclarkson @jahlil_mcclain pic.twitter.com/HkeOFn9bWP
— ET ® AMDG (@edwardtorre) April 3, 2021
Mater Dei was playing without the top defensive player in the state, Domani Jackson Domani Jackson 6'2" | 185 lbs | DB Mater Dei | 2022 State CA but still had some talented guys on defense. Outside linebacker David Bailey David Bailey 6'3" | 220 lbs | LB Mater Dei | 2022 State CA is glaring to see in person. He is tall, built like a defensive end and has the speed of a safety. He is primarily known as an edge rusher and usually coaches will drop these edge rushers into zone coverage during passing league, but Mater Dei had him in man coverage on some crossing routes and he held his own with speedy slot receivers.
Levi Sua Levi Sua 6'2" | 225 lbs | LB Mater Dei | 2023 State CA looked good as an inside linebacker for the Monarchs and was praised heavily by head coach Bruce Rollinson. He is a real good athlete with good instincts and made the middle of the field largely unavailable for opposing offenses.
Mater Dei used a bunch of defensive backs and the one that stood out to me was Cam Sidney Cam Sidney 5'10" | 170 lbs | DB Mater Dei | 2022 State CA . He was tasked with covering primary receivers with Jackson not being there and he deflected quite a few passes and made some good clean hits. Josh Hunter Josh Hunter 5'9" | 165 lbs | ATH Mater Dei | 2022 State CA made some big plays as well.
PICK SIX! @Cam_Sidney @MDFootball | #PrepZone pic.twitter.com/XhpGPeenR1
— PrepZone (@prepzone) April 4, 2021
I wrote about the day’s champion Santa Margarita earlier, but the defensive players that caught my eye were Gage Grant and Nick Gallegos. Grant is a transfer from Tustin and Gallegos is a transfer from Orange Lutheran.
Servite’s offense drew a lot of attention but defensively, Emmett Mosley Emmett Mosley 6'1" | 180 lbs | ATH Santa Margarita Catholic | 2024 State CA stood out to me. He has added some size in the short offseason and was effective in multiple coverages.
I only got to see Cathedral Catholic for a short time but Donovan Saunders Donovan Saunders 6'3" | 180 lbs | DB Cathedral Catholic | 2022 State CA looked good in the Dons secondary. He is close to 6-foot-4, built at around 190 pounds and loves playing man coverage. He and Marcus Ratcliffe Marcus Ratcliffe 6'3" | 190 lbs | DB Cathedral Catholic | 2023 State CA are one of the best cornerback combinations in the state.
The player that stood out the most as a physical specimen was Niuafe Tuihalamaka Niuafe Tuihalamaka 6'3" | 240 lbs | LB Bishop Alemany | 2022 State CA of Alemany. He didn’t play a lot, the coaches were trying to keep him healthy, but he is glaring to see in person. He has huge legs, is tall, and covers so much of the field. It is clear why Notre Dame pushed so hard to get him to commit there.
19 prospects in the Class of 2022 #Rivals250 committed in June, @adamgorney offers his take on each one, including Notre Dame's Niuafe Tuihalamaka:https://t.co/Qkr40GHb7m pic.twitter.com/bP4MfdVhB4
— Rivals (@Rivals) July 6, 2021
Edison had some defensive players make big plays throughout the day. Jackson Irwin had multiple interceptions for the Chargers. Peyton Gregory was clearly the team leader at linebacker and Cody Grbic forced turnovers.
Mission Viejo is graduating most of its defense, and the leader of the new defense is Ruben Lopez. He was one of the Diablos leading tacklers last season, had an interception and forced two fumbles. He was all over the field to the Diablos and had a big interception against Culver City.
Wheels falling off for San Juan Hills. Ruben Lopez forces a fumble on a kickoff return and Charles Frum recovers in SJH territory. Semonza throws a 30-yd TD to Matthews. 21 points in around 2 minutes of game time.
Mission Viejo 28, San Juan Hills 7 with 12 seconds left in half.
— Michael Huntley (@mikehuntley63) April 10, 2021