Battle at the Beach: Top Offensive 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 offensive 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 offensive players that stood out to me throughout the day.
Disclaimer: I did not get a chance to watch every team at the tournament play.
There were a lot of talented quarterbacks at the tournament and one that jumped out to me was Valencia’s Tyler Voss Tyler Voss 6'3" | 185 lbs | QB Valencia | 2022 State CA . He is tall and skinnier in person than I expected, but he has a big arm. He throws hard into tight windows and made some impressive deep throws on wheel routes.
Tyler Voss to Duhron Goodman for a 19-yard Valencia touchdown, tying it at 7 with 4:38 left in the first. pic.twitter.com/VoWJ02GdXQ
— Vincent Nguyen (@ReporterVince) March 20, 2021
Santa Margarita won the tournament and earlier I highlighted the top players. Quarterback Jaxon Potter Jaxon Potter 6'4" | 180 lbs | QB Santa Margarita Catholic | 2023 State CA looked good and tight end Niko Lopez may have been the MVP of the day. He was beating guys in man coverage and his size created a lot of mismatches.
#alldaylong pic.twitter.com/Xlv0zfiDDF
— CoachBFoye (@CoachBFoye) July 4, 2021
Mission Viejo was playing without star receiver Mikey Matthews Mikey Matthews 5'10" | 180 lbs | WR Mission Viejo | 2023 State CA who has a hamstring injury. In his absence, Jackson Holman was the standout receiver for Mission Viejo. He seemed to always be open and had the strength to come away with balls when he was heavily covered. He is lengthy, athletic and will be a great No. 2 receiver for the Diablos.
Another receiver that looked pretty good for the Diablos was Roman Hardin. He made an impressive diving catch against Valencia and runs good routes.
It wasn’t the best day for Mission Viejo quarterback Kadin Semonza Kadin Semonza 6'0" | 190 lbs | QB Mission Viejo | 2023 State CA , and he will be the first person to tell you that. He was overthrowing a lot of guys and wasn’t as accurate as I have seen him before. He still threw one of the tightest spirals of any of the quarterbacks on the day and made good decisions.
It’s somewhat of a rebuilding year for Culver City, but they have some good young talent, particularly on offense. Freshman quarterback Alonzo Esparza made some big throws. He has funky mechanics but a lot of that is due to him being a smaller freshman. Culver City coach Jahmal Wright praised Esparza and said he has a higher upside than previous quarterback Zevi Eckhaus, who is playing at Bryant University this fall.
Elijah Adams and Ethan Harris were the two stand out receivers for the young Culver City team. Adams had eight catches this spring which was the most for any returning player.
St. John Bosco was playing without quarterback Katin Houser Katin Houser 6'3" | 195 lbs | QB St. John Bosco | 2022 State CA who was competing at the Elite 11 finals. Pierce Clarkson Pierce Clarkson 6'1" | 195 lbs | QB St. John Bosco | 2023 State CA looked very good on Saturday which is impressive because as coach Jason Negro noted, a lot of his game involves his legs and zone reads, which aren’t available in a passing tournament. Clarkson has put on some muscle and was the clear leader of the offense.
Jahlil McClain Jahlil McClain 5'10" | 180 lbs | WR St. John Bosco | 2023 State CA was effective on offense and Rayshon Luke Rayshon Luke 5'9" | 170 lbs | RB St. John Bosco | 2022 State CA was as fast as any player on the field all day. Matayo Uiagalelei Matayo Uiagalelei 6'5" | 265 lbs | DL St. John Bosco | 2023 State CA caused a lot of mismatches in the early games but Servite was well-aware of him and often double covered him.
Mater Dei quarterback Elijah Brown looked a little bigger than he did in April and has a big arm. He sometimes goes for the home run ball instead of taking the easy 10 yards, but in a real game he makes the right choices more often than not.
CJ Williams CJ Williams 6'2" | 195 lbs | WR Mater Dei | 2022 State CA was one of the MVPs of the day. Nobody could cover him in man coverage and he made a lot of guys miss after the catch. He was clearly Brown’s favorite target he popped off 20 yard catches like they were easy.
Mater Dei coach Bruce Rollinson was impressed with Cooper Barkate Cooper Barkate 6'1" | 185 lbs | ATH Mater Dei | 2022 State CA , who hasn’t really been healthy since arriving at Mater Dei. He was a star player at St. Margaret’s his first two years and earned a ton of scholarship offers and missed a lot of spring action due to injury. Rollinson said he was really impressed with his jumping ability and athleticism. He blends right in with the Trinity League competition.
'22 WR Cooper Barkate should be on every school's radar. 👀 @CBarkate pic.twitter.com/hqPf14MzZ5
— Football Recruit. (@FootballRecruit) September 3, 2020
The Monarch’s running backs got a lot of targets on Saturday. Raleek Brown Raleek Brown 5'9" | 185 lbs | RB Mater Dei | 2022 State CA was the obvious star of the group and made big plays after the catch. Ajon Bryant Ajon Bryant 5'7" | 160 lbs | RB Mater Dei | 2024 State CA and Kai Remigio also made nice plays out of the backfield and will be a big part of Mater Dei’s offense this fall.
Servite was the team that impressed me the most besides champion Santa Margarita. Noah Fifita Noah Fifita 5'10" | 175 lbs | QB Servite | 2022 State CA is one of my favorite quarterbacks to watch in the state and throws a beautiful ball. He has the strength to fit it into tight windows on short routes and throws a good deep ball.
Servite QB and Arizona commit Noah Fifita throws a nice out to USC commit Keyan Burnett. Burnett has been causing mismatches all day. @PrepRedzoneCA @ocvarsity @ServiteFootball @keyan_burnett @thenoah_fifita1 @FifitaLes pic.twitter.com/nDhkHHWY1z
— Michael Huntley (@mikehuntley63) July 3, 2021
Keyan Burnett Keyan Burnett 6'5" | 225 lbs | WR Servite | 2022 State CA was my MVP of the day and he drew attention from every spectator at the tournament. He is massive at 6-foot-5 and is over the 215 pounds he is listed at. He was verbally committed to USC but sent a cryptic tweet the other day which indicated he is opening up his recruitment and experts think Arizona is the favorite to land him. Nobody could cover him and he made the best catch I had ever seen in person while double covered by St. John Bosco.
😲😲😲 6'5 220 | @keyan_burnett | Servite High (CA) pic.twitter.com/G9kwX5p4aA
— Under the Radar (@UTRScouting) July 5, 2021
Hosts Edison looked good on the day and made it to the quarterfinals. Quarterback Tyler Gioia Tyler Gioia 5'10" | 165 lbs | QB Edison | 2022 CA is recovering from injury and played a little but Mater Dei transfer Parker Awad took the majority of snaps at quarterback. Star receiver Nico Brown Nico Brown 6'0" | 180 lbs | ATH Edison | 2022 State CA did not play due to injury and state long jump champion Tyler Hampton picked up the slack as the lead receiver. Hampton made numerous highlight reel catches and Mater Dei transfer Ashton Hurley looked good as well.
Parker Awad (@AwadParker) finds Tyler Hampton (@Tyler_Hampton_) for his second TD pass of the morning. Edison leads Cathedral Catholic 14-0.
Awad has looked SHARP thus far. pic.twitter.com/b3nCK6CMgE
— Sunset Rewind (@Sunset_Rewind) July 3, 2021
Los Alamitos was playing without a lot of star power, but two good performers on offense were Bosco transfer Nygel Osborne Nygel Osborne 5'11" | 190 lbs | RB Millikan | 2023 State CA and receiver Ethan O’Connor Ethan O’Connor 6'1" | 165 lbs | ATH Los Alamitos | 2023 State CA . Osborne made a lot of plays after the catch and O’Connor was the top target of Los Alamitos’ backup quarterbacks.
Downey’s quarterbacks Aidan Chiles Aidan Chiles 6'4" | 195 lbs | QB Downey | 2023 State CA and Noah Paez both looked good. Chiles throws a good deep ball and has good command of the huddle. Paez throws hard and is accurate.
I didn’t get to watch a lot of Cathedral Catholic, but quarterback Charlie Mirer Charlie Mirer 6'6" | 225 lbs | QB Cathedral Catholic | 2022 State CA looked good. He stands tall in the pocket and has great chemistry with his receivers. Rex Haynes Rex Haynes 6'4" | 200 lbs | WR Cathedral Catholic | 2022 State CA was the top receiver in the game I watched the Dons play. He made a big touchdown catch against Santa Margarita.