Huntley’s Semifinal Picks

<strong>Huntley’s regular season record: </strong>52-15 <strong>Huntley’s playoff record: </strong>11-3 <strong>LA CITY SECTION</strong> <strong>Open Division</strong> <strong>Palisades vs. San Pedro</strong> Analysis: I saw San Pedro with another media member at the Marina passing league tournament in the summer and we both agreed that they had a chance to win the City Section championship. They are big, physical and were hanging with good Southern Section programs like San Clemente. <strong>Aidan Jackson</strong> is one of the top quarterbacks in the City Section with 27 touchdowns and two interceptions. <strong>Roman Sanchez</strong> is a good redzone back and  is a playmaker. <strong>Sammy Silvia</strong> has been a great sophomore quarterback for Palisades. <strong>Daniel Anoh</strong> has 20 touchdowns at running back and <strong>Moses Ross</strong> is guaranteed to score at least once per game. <strong>The pick: </strong>San Pedro https://twitter.com/palihsfootball/status/1459434516343246853?s=20 <hr /> <strong>SOUTHERN SECTION</strong> <strong>Division 1</strong> <strong>Mater Dei vs. Centennial</strong> Analysis: Centennial is coming off a blowout win over Mission Viejo on television. [player_tooltip player_id="25365" first="Izzy" last="Carter"] was great running the ball and throwing it and [player_tooltip player_id="25368" first="Carson" last="Conklin"] led scoring drives too. <strong>Jayson Cortes</strong> ran the ball well and <strong>Nathan Jimenez</strong> and<strong> [player_tooltip player_id="25434" first="Malachi" last="Riley"]</strong> were dominant at receiver. Mater Dei was dominant against Norco and [player_tooltip player_id="147708" first="Elijah" last="Brown"] had a career-night at quarterback. [player_tooltip player_id="25224" first="CJ" last="Williams"] and [player_tooltip player_id="25278" first="Cooper" last="Barkate"] were making big plays at receiver. Those two will match up with really good Centennial corners in [player_tooltip player_id="25243" first="Jaden" last="Mickey"] and [player_tooltip player_id="25459" first="Aaron" last="Williams"]. Mater Dei’s front seven is loaded and I don’t think Centennial will be able to run the ball as well as they did last week. <strong>The pick: </strong>Mater Dei https://twitter.com/prepzone/status/1461137077454749708?s=20 <strong>Servite vs. St. John Bosco</strong> Analysis: I broke this game down in detail in <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2021/11/servite-vs-st-john-bosco-preview-players-to-watch/">this piece for Prep Redzone</a>. These are the number two and three teams in the state playing a rematch from a few weeks ago. It’s the game of the week and I expect it to be closer than it was in the previous game. <strong>The pick: </strong>St. John Bosco https://twitter.com/prepzone/status/1461118201991811076?s=20 <strong>Division 2</strong> <strong>Alemany vs. Inglewood</strong> Analysis: This game is loaded with star power on both teams. [player_tooltip player_id="25290" first="Floyd" last="Chalk"] is an elite running back who had 293 yards and five touchdowns against Bishop Amat last week. [player_tooltip player_id="25262" first="Jaylen" last="Thompson"] is a big play threat at running back and [player_tooltip player_id="141912" first="Dylan" last="Gebbia"] is a quality quarterback. [player_tooltip player_id="25237" first="Ephesians" last="Prysock"] is a good two-way player. [player_tooltip player_id="25231" first="Niuafe" last="Tuihalamaka"] and [player_tooltip player_id="25244" first="Damonic" last="Williams"] lead the Alemany defense. UCLA commit [player_tooltip player_id="25247" first="Justyn" last="Martin"] is an elite quarterback for Inglewood and [player_tooltip player_id="25256" first="Taariq" last="Al-Uqdah"] is a great two-way star. Alemany is the biggest and best team Inglewood has played this season. <strong>The pick: </strong>Alemany https://twitter.com/prepzone/status/1461439569719488512?s=20 <strong>Division 10</strong> <strong>St. Anthony vs. Salesian</strong> Analysis: St. Anthony appears to have gone through a change of identity on offense lately. <strong>Sone Aupiu</strong> has been a dominant running back all season but the passing game has shined in recent weeks. <strong>Conor Hochberg</strong> has been outstanding at quarterback against Harvard-Westlake, Schurr and Katella. <strong>Marcus Martin</strong> has been one of the better quarterbacks in the Southern Section all season long for Salesian and <strong>Aaron Santos</strong> has been hot lately. These two teams met earlier in the season and Salesian won a shootout 43-41. Martin threw five touchdown passes that game. I may be off on this, but I think Hochberg’s hot play may change the expected outcome of this game. <strong>The pick: </strong>St. Anthony https://twitter.com/SAHS20Athletics/status/1461522338562723840?s=20 <hr /> <strong>SAN DIEGO SECTION</strong> <strong>Open Division Championship</strong> <strong>Cathedral Catholic vs. Carlsbad</strong> Analysis: These are unquestionably the two best teams in San Diego. [player_tooltip player_id="141906" first="Lucky" last="Sutton"] is the best running back in the county and had a massive semifinal game against Mission Hills. [player_tooltip player_id="141935" first="Charlie" last="Mirer"] is more than a game manager at quarterback but when Sutton is rolling, he isn’t asked to do much. [player_tooltip player_id="25296" first="Rex" last="Haynes"] is one of the best athletes on the field and [player_tooltip player_id="25320" first="Jaxson" last="Moi"] is arguably the best defensive player in San Diego. Carlsbad quarterback [player_tooltip player_id="115456" first="Julian" last="Sayin"] is the best quarterback prospect in the county and one of the best in the state. <strong>Josh Davis</strong> and <strong>Matt Moore</strong> are good athletes at receiver. This will be a close game but I think Cathedral Catholic is deeper and has a better senior class. <strong>The pick: </strong>Cathedral Catholic https://twitter.com/Cbad_Football/status/1460026266673770499?s=20