Surf City Passing Tournament Preview: Players to Watch

The last big passing tournament in Orange County will take place on Saturday at Huntington Beach High. 16 teams from as far south as Rancho Santa Margarita and as far north as Hueneme will participate at the Surf City passing tournament and lineman competition. Let’s take a look at some of the field and some players to watch. Host Huntington Beach is a much-improved team by all accounts. They won the inaugural Nike 11-On passing and linemen competition hosted by the Los Angeles Chargers at Long Beach Poly a couple of weeks ago. <strong>AJ Perez</strong> is back at quarterback for the Oilers after splitting reps last season. This year he is expected to get all the snaps and his arm is solid. <strong>Hideo Ray</strong> is a fun player to watch because he can play all over the field: running back, the slot, split out wide, defensive back. He is a little undersized as a college prospect but he looks bigger than the 170 pounds he is listed as. He was a First Team All-Sunset League guy and will be one of the top players on the team this fall. https://twitter.com/HideoRay/status/1414435454892462081?s=20 <strong>AJ Vandermade</strong> is one of the top defensive players back for the Oilers. <strong>Caleb Kelly</strong> is a 6-foot-5 receiver who transferred from Orange Lutheran who is getting rave reviews. Inglewood is a fun team to watch with Cal commit [player_tooltip player_id="25247" first="Justyn" last="Martin"] at quarterback. He is 6-foot-4 and will have the best arm of any player in the tournament. I think he is one of the top three senior quarterbacks in the state and he makes really difficult throws look easy. https://twitter.com/C_Morrissette/status/1408828107541270533?s=20 [player_tooltip player_id="25263" first="Tomarion" last="Harden"] is another elite Inglewood player who will be there Saturday. He is a running back committed to UCLA and a big body who is impossible to bring down when the pads come on. His game doesn’t translate as well to 7-on-7 football but when real football happens, he is one of the best players in the state. Another Inglewood star committed to UCLA is [player_tooltip player_id="25250" first="Clint" last="Stephens"] who transferred from Wilson. He gets really good reviews from scouts I talk to on a 7-on-7 and camp circuit. https://twitter.com/ClintStephens_/status/1392948488476921857?s=20 [player_tooltip player_id="119141" first="Brody" last="Jones"] is the quarterback at Foothill and he is finally getting a chance to be the lone starter at Foothill. He has the arm talent but it will be interesting to see how he does at Foothill this fall against much better competition than he faced when he was at Crean Lutheran. Linebacker <strong>Gavin Griswold</strong> is the best defensive player for the Knights. Orange is a super fun team to watch, particularly in passing league. Transfer [player_tooltip player_id="141934" first="Zachary" last="Siskowic"] is a real star at quarterback. [player_tooltip player_id="115424" first="Kobe" last="Boykin"] is back in town and a top 15 player in the state for his class in my opinion. Orange also has class of 2025 stars like <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="149316" first="Arron" last=""Jett" White"]</strong>. https://twitter.com/kobe_4thawin/status/1383656305999585285?s=20 [player_tooltip player_id="141889" first="Sam" last="Mason"] of Charter Oak is a super fun receiver to watch who has offers from San Diego State among others. He is 6-foot-2 and can create separation. [player_tooltip player_id="142007" first="Noah" last="Priddy"] is a lineman to keep an eye on during the lineman competition. Western (Anaheim) is loaded with talent at the skill positions. <strong>Drew Faulkner</strong> is a really intriguing two-way guy who coach Dan Davidson raves about as a teammate and competitor. <strong>Michael Sutton-Shy</strong> and <strong>Tywon Mitchell Jr.</strong> are intriguing receivers to keep an eye on. https://twitter.com/TjMitch901/status/1414408279988465664?s=20 Sophomore <strong>Anthony Luna</strong> is at quarterback for Western and gaining some momentum in the high school media community. Tesoro is a fascinating team to watch with its quarterback battle between juniors <strong>Gavin Shaigineik</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="169106" first="Evan" last="Pierce"]</strong> after both transferred from Santa Margarita. They have been splitting reps at practice lately despite Pierce transferring a little earlier and having a better understanding of the offense. Tesoro made the finals of the Lakeside passing tournament last week and lost to Temecula Valley. https://twitter.com/evanpierce22/status/1416766682480193537?s=20 <strong>Lucas Pesak</strong> is a really good running back for Tesoro and <strong>Mason Wolfe</strong> is a receiver to keep an eye on. Brodie Garrett is  defensive guy I like for Tesoro. &nbsp; &nbsp;