State Championship Games: SoCal Players to Know: Pt. 1

<em><strong>As the California football season enters into the final weekend, many state championships across multiple divisions will be played and there are some key players to watch across Southern California. Below, we will name and bre</strong></em><em><strong>akdown some of the players that are worth watching as they lead their team to a potential state title. </strong></em> &nbsp; <strong>LB [player_tooltip player_id="25375" first="Tre" last="Edwards"], Mater Dei Catholic</strong> Mater Dei Catholic’s offense gets a lot of publicity and rightfully so, but the defense is good too and has a star at middle linebacker. Edwards is the best blitzing middle linebacker I have seen in the 2023 class. He hits hard, has good football instincts and clearly studies film. You don’t become such an effective blitzer with a high success rate without thoroughly studying your opponent and their blocking schemes. He leads the Crusaders in tackles and has offers from 13 schools with USC being the front runner. https://twitter.com/CoachVMAKASI/status/1468766096249421827?s=20 <strong>RB [player_tooltip player_id="147716" first="Cincere" last="Rhaney"], Serra</strong> Rhaney was one of the top players who had a mass exodus from St. Bernard of La Playa when its coach was fired. I have him as the third ranked "athlete" in the 2024 class and he has emerged as one of the best sophomore running backs in the state. He has rushed for nearly 1,000 yards and 12 touchdowns. Rhaney has offers from Georgia, Arizona State and Utah. https://twitter.com/Scott_Schrader/status/1467364801420554240?s=20 https://twitter.com/latsondheimer/status/1446679925511966727?s=20 <strong>RB, Ray Warhop, Arlington</strong> Arlington wants to run the ball down your throat. They have an old school offense with 22 personnel and they run lead zone, power, dive and counter and that’s about it. Warhop is a downhill runner who lowers his shoulder and drives his legs through contact. He makes one cut and gets up the field instead of trying to get a home run on every play. He is the kind of guy who can make a four yard run out of nothing. https://twitter.com/JHWreporter/status/1464452417781592067?s=20 <strong>RB [player_tooltip player_id="141906" first="Lucky" last="Sutton"], Cathedral Catholic</strong> I’ve written <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2021/12/southern-california-top-offensive-performers-dec-3-4/">earlier this week</a> that Sutton is a top five senior running back in the state. The senior ran for 435 yards and had 7 total touchdowns in a 71-62 win over Orange Lutheran in the Regional Championships last week. He is bigger than other top running backs in the 2022 class. He has tree trunks for legs and once he gets into the open field he is gone. Sutton has offers from San Diego State, Army, San Jose State, Colorado State and Nevada. He is worthy of Power 5 offers and may get some now that he is performing on the highest stage. https://twitter.com/latsondheimer/status/1466988530190618625?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1466988530190618625%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fprepredzone.com%2F2021%2F12%2Fsouthern-california-top-offensive-performers-dec-3-4%2F <strong>RB, Cheo Medina, Northview</strong> Medina stands out when you watch Northview on film. He isn’t massive at 6-feet and 190 pounds but he looks like the biggest skill player on the field on film. In 10 personnel they give him the ball on zone read and power plays and he gets up the field quickly. When he lines up in the wing position, he is almost always getting the ball on an end around. Somehow it still shocks defenses when he gets the ball on sweeps from the wing position. He has 1,876 yards and 18 touchdowns this season on the ground. https://twitter.com/SGVNSports/status/1464473786401505286?s=20 <hr /> <em><strong>Other Top Players To Watch…</strong></em> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="145214" first="Dominic" last="Nankil"], Mater Dei Catholic</strong> <strong>Nico Mosley, Mater Dei Catholic</strong> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="145133" first="Jeremiah" last="McClure"], Mater Dei Catholic</strong> <strong>Cruz Estrada, Mater Dei Catholic</strong> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="145192" first="Surahz" last="Buncom"], Mater Dei Catholic</strong> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="25445" first="Chris" last="Snyder"], Mater Dei Catholic</strong> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="25228" first="Maalik" last="Murphy"], Serra</strong> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="190271" first="Rodrick" last="Pleasant"], Serra</strong> <strong>Tanu Sosa, Serra</strong> <strong>D’Angelo Davis, Serra</strong> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="25296" first="Rex" last="Haynes"], Cathedral Catholic</strong> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="25320" first="Jaxson" last="Moi"], Cathedral Catholic</strong> <strong>Romeo Mageo, Cathedral Catholic</strong> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="145201" first="Victory" last="Johnson"], Cathedral Catholic</strong> <strong>Tano Letuli, Cathedral Catholic</strong> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="25319" first="Harmon" last="Savaiinaea"], Cathedral Catholic</strong> <strong>Ronal Tebo Jr., Northview</strong> <strong>Lewis Madrigal, Northview</strong>