SoCo Invitational Tournament Preview

16 teams from Southern California will gather at Newport Harbor on Saturday for the first ever SoCo Invitational Tournament. Group A: Newport Harbor, Garden Grove, Monrovia, Etiwanda Group B: Crean Lutheran, Dana Hills, St. Paul, North Torrance Group C: San Clemente, El Modena, Covina, Redlands Group D: Canyon, Newport 2s, Cerritos, Torrance Here is a look at some of the top players from some of the teams who will be competing on Saturday. <strong>Newport Harbor</strong> Newport Harbor will get to showcase its new quarterback <strong>Colton Joseph</strong>, a senior transfer from San Juan Hills. [player_tooltip player_id="145263" first="Kashton" last="Henjum"] returns at receiver for the Sailors and [player_tooltip player_id="147761" first="Josiah" last="Lamarque"] is a talented two-way player. [player_tooltip player_id="148989" first="Carson" last="De Avila"] is one of the better defensive players in the Sunset League. <strong>Payton Irving</strong> is a versatile running back who can make plays in the passing game and <strong>Billy Ridley</strong> is a sleeper on defense. https://twitter.com/Coachchoate45/status/1544482375588990976?s=20&amp;t=PpFgsbL_-7QkucwWdDwS9Q <strong>Monrovia</strong> Monrovia has one of the best receivers in Southern California in <strong>Carlos Hernandez</strong>. The Washington State commit caught 71 passes for 1,594 yards and 23 touchdowns last season. https://twitter.com/James_Escarcega/status/1520217514701201409?s=20&amp;t=PpFgsbL_-7QkucwWdDwS9Q <strong>Garden Grove</strong> Garden Grove’s best player is returning running back <strong>Malachi Bey</strong>. His skillset might not shine as much in a passing league setting, but the Argonauts have some returning receivers who got quality playing time last season. <strong>Dominick Brito</strong> caught 43 passes for 570 yards and six touchdowns last season. <strong>Jonas Boateng</strong> and <strong>Landon Mendoza</strong> are guys to keep an eye on as well. <strong>St. Paul</strong> Junior receiver <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="338461" first="Aidan" last="Bravo"]</strong> caught 42 passes for 693 yards and 8 touchdowns and has offers from St. Thomas, Adams State and Benedictine College. <strong>Christian Melendez</strong> is an intriguing junior running back for St. Paul. The Swordsmen have Servite transfer <strong>Andrew Maushardt</strong> at quarterback and he has offers from Coastal Carolina and Indiana. https://twitter.com/AndrewMaushardt/status/1525968568046587904?s=20&amp;t=PpFgsbL_-7QkucwWdDwS9Q <strong>North Torrance</strong> North Torrance is led by returning quarterback <strong>Trevor Lagarde </strong>who threw for 2,219 yards with 28 touchdowns and just eight interceptions last season. He had a nice offseason on the 7on7 circuit. He has no offers yet, but I think he has the potential to be a solid lower level college quarterback. https://twitter.com/lagarde_trevor/status/1537639893668548608?s=20&amp;t=PpFgsbL_-7QkucwWdDwS9Q <strong>San Clemente</strong> It will be interesting to see how San Clemente uses its two quarterbacks [player_tooltip player_id="273584" first="Dylan" last="Mills"] and [player_tooltip player_id="195580" first="Broderick" last="Redden"]. 6-foot-4 sophomore <strong>Jack Loper</strong> may gets some reps at quarterback too. [player_tooltip player_id="196026" first="Reid" last="Kotiranta"] and [player_tooltip player_id="224199" first="Jake" last="Poole"] have been having good offseasons at receiver. [player_tooltip player_id="168733" first="Brad" last="Gerken"] leads a defense full of quality linebackers and defensive backs. [player_tooltip player_id="270882" first="Max" last="Kotiranta"] is small but has excellent ball skills at corner for the Tritons. https://twitter.com/Reid_Kotiranta/status/1540555957477863424?s=20&amp;t=PpFgsbL_-7QkucwWdDwS9Q <strong>El Modena</strong> Sophomore quarterback <strong>Xzavior Guess</strong> is a lot of fun to watch and can throw off-platform. His full skillset isn’t on display in a 7on7 setting but he has shown a lot of growth as a pure passer this offseason. <strong>Mayson Hitchens</strong> is a very big two-way player for El Modena and he moves well laterally. <strong>Owen Smith</strong> can make plays out of the backfield and the Vanguards are always well-coached. https://twitter.com/OSmith_5/status/1534647653320970240?s=20&amp;t=PpFgsbL_-7QkucwWdDwS9Q <strong>Canyon</strong> <strong>Anders “Christian” Lundsberg </strong>is a quality quarterback for Canyon and the ball jumps out of his hands. He looks so comfortable in the pocket and can sling it to all three levels with accuracy. <strong>Fox Haugen</strong> is the best receiver for Canyon and they are loaded with basketball players who are athletic and playing football for the first time. https://twitter.com/Chris_Lundsberg/status/1527308238894473216?s=20&amp;t=PpFgsbL_-7QkucwWdDwS9Q