Trinity League Media Day Coverage (Part Two)

The six head coaches of the Trinity League teams and select players gathered at The Grand in Long Beach last Friday to promote their programs and field questions from the media. A dozen media members attended and here were my thoughts from the event. The big topic of conversation with Mater Dei was the schedule or lack thereof. Centennial backed out of the season opener against the Monarchs due to Covid and not being able to have enough practices to play a game by CIF standards. The game against Mililani (HI) is in jeopardy due to Mililani perhaps not being able to leave the state of Hawaii. The Monarchs players and coaches will take Covid tests three days prior to their scheduled trip against Duncanville (TX) and there is a chance that game may not be played as well. Mater Dei only has six guaranteed opponents on the schedule right now. A media member asked each of the players which players in the Trinity League that they look forward to facing the most. [player_tooltip player_id="25224" first="CJ" last="Williams"] mentioned that [player_tooltip player_id="25084" first="Noah" last="Avinger"] of Servite last season was a tough matchup. This season he looks forward to facing the Bosco corners [player_tooltip player_id="25252" first="Tayvion" last="Beasley"] and [player_tooltip player_id="25410" first="Jahlil" last="McClain"]. Cornerback [player_tooltip player_id="25264" first="Josh" last="Hunter"], who committed to San Diego State shortly after the press conference, said his favorite players to play against were Servite quarterback [player_tooltip player_id="25286" first="Noah" last="Fifita"] and Bosco running backs [player_tooltip player_id="25233" first="Rayshon" last="Luke"] and [player_tooltip player_id="25266" first="Jabari" last="Bates"]. [player_tooltip player_id="25223" first="Domani" last="Jackson"] said his favorite matchup is against [player_tooltip player_id="25227" first="Tetairoa" last="McMillan"] because they are two of the top players in the nation. Edge rusher [player_tooltip player_id="25234" first="David" last="Bailey"] said he looks forward to matching up with [player_tooltip player_id="25226" first="Earnest" last="Greene"] because he wasn’t 100 percent healthy for the game in the spring. Williams and Jackson talked about what it’s like playing against each other in practice. “He’s a very, very physical receiver,” Jackson said of Williams. “Going up against each other every day is amazing.” Head coach <strong>Bruce Rollinson</strong> praised sophomore quarterback [player_tooltip player_id="147708" first="Elijah" last="Brown"]. "The young kid was advanced when he came in," Rollinson said of Brown. "I’ve watched his arm talent develop. We pride ourselves on sophisticated offense and each year you can take it to the next level and let the kid have more responsibilities which only showcases him more." "I was nervous knowing that we were going to play Trinity League teams only (last spring) and I was going in with a true freshman. He passed that test just like (Matt) Barkley did and JT (Daniels) did." Williams committed to Notre Dame the Sunday after the press conference. I asked him about his recruitment and wanting to make the decision before the season started. "The biggest thing for me was to get through that decision and focus on football season. I’m very excited to get it out of the way and play this season with my guys and win one for coach Rollinson." Williams said. "Whatever school I go to gets a football player, a good person, student and a big recruiter for the 2022 and 2023 class. I’ll be making sure we are stacked for years to come." https://twitter.com/mikehuntley63/status/1423698809234755588?s=20 Servite didn’t bring McMillan, Fifita or [player_tooltip player_id="25242" first="Keyan" last="Burnett"], but it brought senior leaders who were enthusiastic about the team and represented the program well. Defensive lineman <strong>Maxx Silao</strong> is unlikely to play this fall after injuries suffered in a car accident. He is staying with the team in a coaching and leadership role. “This guy set a new standard for leadership for guys who are playing and aren’t playing,” Servite coach <strong>Troy Thomas</strong> said. “I’m glad he’s still with us; I wouldn’t want to do this without him.” A name that came up a lot among the Servite players was lineman [player_tooltip player_id="145257" first="Vaka" last="Hansen"]. He plays on both sides of the ball but a lot of recruiters like him as a defensive lineman. He is a junior who is 6-foot-5 and 305 pounds. Running back Houston Thomas gave the credit to Servite’s offensive success to the offensive line. "All the credit goes to the offensive line. Those guys are great," Thomas said. "[player_tooltip player_id="141891" first="Mason" last="Graham"], <strong>Josiah Laban</strong>, <strong>Oskar Madrigal</strong>, <strong>Matthew Toilolo</strong>, [player_tooltip player_id="145257" first="Vaka" last="Hansen"]. I know those guys are going to do their best and give it everything they’ve got. I love those guys." The team recently did their annual camp tradition where they spend the night in the school’s gym for team bonding. It’s apparent that the Servite players have a bond stronger than a lot of teams. [player_tooltip player_id="143131" first="Jacob" last="Manu"] was at the media day and he has offers from Penn, Dartmouth and Charlotte. https://twitter.com/ocvarsityguy/status/1423886590884024325?s=20 JSerra coach <strong>Scott McKnight</strong> acknowledged that the team is very young once again and may struggle at points this season. Two-way lineman [player_tooltip player_id="25454" first="David" last="Tuliau"] was at the event and talked about how excited he is to match up with some of the best in the Trinity League. Defensive lineman <strong>Justin Joiner-Greer</strong> was there and said he was proud to be a JSerra Lion and is excited to play for coach McKnight. He is a big junior at 310 pounds. Sophomore quarterback <strong>Dylan Mills</strong> is the lone starting quarterback after splitting time last season. He said the game is slowing down for him and those live reps in the spring were crucial in his development. https://twitter.com/mikehuntley63/status/1423725773983080448?s=20 &nbsp;