Top 5 teams in the LA City Section

<strong>1. Birmingham </strong> Birmingham gets the nod largely due to two-way star [player_tooltip player_id="25318" first="Arlis" last="Boardingham"]. He is 6-foot-5, 220 pounds and will likely be a 1,000 yard and 10 touchdown receiver this year. He had a pair of sacks and 21 tackles on defense. Boardingham has 14 offers with Arizona State and Texas being the two alleged front runners. We don’t know who their quarterback will be but there is some buzz around freshman <strong>Kingston Tisdell</strong>, but he may not play varsity right away. Two-way lineman<strong> Carlos Rivera</strong> is back from a collarbone injury and is a four-year varsity starter who will be a big contributor. <strong>Delamonte Barnes</strong> is one of the best linebackers in the City Section and will lead the Birmingham defense. https://twitter.com/latsondheimer/status/1388323510838202368?s=20 <strong>2. San Pedro</strong> San Pedro only played two games in the spring due to COVID restrictions but dominated both of them against Banning and Garfield. Quarterback <strong>Aidan Jackson</strong> is extremely accurate and completed 85 percent of his passes in that short spring season with seven touchdowns and no interceptions. <strong>Robert Sarmiento</strong> is a legitimate top receiver and <strong>Christian Phillips</strong> is another offensive weapon to keep an eye on. <strong>Nick Fernandez</strong> is a massive tight end/defensive end at 6-foot-4 and 270 pounds. He moves incredibly well for his size and will be tough for City Section tacklers to bring down. <strong>Andrew Mejia</strong> is a fun defensive player to watch and <strong>Makani Konopka</strong> is a junior who will make an impact. https://twitter.com/latsondheimer/status/1416414340119293960?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1416414340119293960%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fprepredzone.com%2F2021%2F07%2Fmarina-passing-tournament-top-offensive-performers%2F <strong>3. Granada Hills Charter</strong> Granada Hills is a team built around one player but that’s fine when that player is one of the top playmakers in the Section. <strong>Dijon Stanley</strong> is a 6-foot-1, 170 pound junior who ran a 48.54 400 meter in track this spring which was the fastest in the City Section. He rushed for 1009 yards on just 63 carries with 14 touchdowns in just four games in the spring. He has offers from Michigan, Colorado and San Jose State. <strong>Alfredo Luna</strong>, <strong>Myles White</strong> and <strong>Andre Ajemain</strong> are a trio to watch on the Granada Hills defense. Coach <strong>Bucky Brooks</strong> is one of the top coaches in the City Section too. He was a Super Bowl champion with the Green Bay Packers in the 90s and is a writer for Sports Illustrated. https://twitter.com/latsondheimer/status/1405359707259236354?s=20 <strong>4. Banning</strong> Similar to Granada Hills, Banning is a team that heavily relies on one player. [player_tooltip player_id="25285" first="Jakob" last="Galloway"] is one of the top players in the Section and rushed for 318 yards and seven touchdowns in just two games this spring. He is committed to San Jose State and also had offers from Fresno State, Kansas State, Nevada and Utah. Banning has a pair of sophomore quarterbacks in <strong>Robert Guerrero</strong> and <strong>Ryan Deangelis</strong> but they won’t be throwing the ball much. <strong>Emilio Villareal</strong> is another running back to keep track of alongside Galloway. All of Banning’s top defensive players from the spring were underclassmen, led by <strong>Bryan Valenzuela</strong> and <strong>Edward Guzman Jr.</strong> https://twitter.com/latsondheimer/status/1378439905630507008?s=20 <strong>5. Venice</strong> Venice features Alemany transfer quarterback <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="145174" first="Paul" last="Kessler"]</strong> who replaces a very good quarterback in <strong>Sam Vaulton</strong>. <strong>Rashawn Jackson</strong> will be one of the top receivers for the Gondoliers. Defensively, Venice features two-sport athletes <strong>Thomas Kensinger</strong> and <strong>Percy Jackson</strong>. <strong>Robert Lamar</strong> leads the linebackers and <strong>Jamier Flowers</strong> and [player_tooltip player_id="25359" first="Sema’j" last="Baber"] lead the secondary. Venice has one of the toughest schedules in the City Section playing opponents like Edison, Harvard-Westlake and San Pedro. Nobody expects Venice to beat Edison or Harvard-Westlake, but the game against San Pedro is a real litmus test for Venice. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;