SoCal Honor Bowl: Mater Dei Catholic vs. Red Mountain (AZ)

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Taking a look at the SoCal Honor Bowl players to watch in game one this Friday 9/2 at 4pm. Mater Dei Catholic opened the season against two of the top teams in San Diego resulting in losses to Cathedral Catholic and Carlsbad. The reigning CIF state champions are much better than their 0-2 record indicates and will look to start building momentum this weekend. Red Mountain from Mesa, AZ will make their season debut headlined by elite 2023 prospects WR [player_tooltip player_id='42929' first='Ja'Kobi' last='Lane'] and ATH [player_tooltip player_id='42931' first='Lenox' last='Lawson']. </em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Red Mountain (Mesa, AZ)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Red Mountain is led by a top-10 prospect in Arizona in WR [player_tooltip player_id='42929' first='Ja'Kobi' last='Lane'] and PRZ's #1 RB in the state, [player_tooltip player_id='42931' first='Lenox' last='Lawson']. Lane (USC commit) is an elite WR prospect that led the team in every receiving category as a junior with 76 catches for 990 yards and 14 TDs. He creates matchup problems on the outside with his high-level combination of size (6'5”/180), length, and athleticism. Lawson (Central Michigan commit) is a highly versatile playmaker that led the team in rushing and was the second-leading receiver a season ago. The offense also returns starting QB [player_tooltip player_id='165950' first='Carter' last='Crispin'] who threw for over 2,500 yards and 27 TDs as a junior. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The defense is led by NAU 2023 DL commit [player_tooltip player_id='358494' first='Braeden' last='Kaczmarek'] and senior DE/OLB Tanner Demassa. Both were among the top tacklers and sack producers for Red Mountain's defense last season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Other Players to Watch: </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Caleb Heidrick- OLB, 2023&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Mavryck Starks- DB, 2023&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='364261' first='Preston' last='Heap']- WR, 2023&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='358515' first='Jefferson' last='Giles']- OL, 2023&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><br><strong>Mater Dei Catholic</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Mater Dei Catholic should be considered one of the best 0-2 teams in SoCal after tough losses to the top teams in San Diego including a 36-35 2OT loss to Carlsbad last Friday. Led by key returners from last season's state championship team, MDC will look to bounce back against a strong program out of Arizona playing their first game of the season. Senior QB [player_tooltip player_id='145214' first='Dominic' last='Nankil'] leads the offense with multiple D-I playmakers to distribute to including WR [player_tooltip player_id='145133' first='Jeremiah' last='McClure'], WR [player_tooltip player_id='145192' first='Surahz' last='Buncom'] (Kansas commit), and ATH [player_tooltip player_id='25445' first='Chris' last='Snyder'].<br><br>The defense is led by the top LB duo in San Diego with [player_tooltip player_id='25375' first='Tre' last='Edwards'] (UCLA commit) and Anthony McMillian upfront. Elite 2024 CB prospect [player_tooltip player_id='273548' first='Isaiah' last='Buxton'] is an impact player in the secondary along with 2023 Nickel/SS [player_tooltip player_id='25422' first='DJ' last='Overstreet']. Both will be responsible for containing Red Mountain's top wideout [player_tooltip player_id='42929' first='Ja'Kobi' last='Lane'].</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Other Players to Watch: </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='384811' first='Rollin' last='George']- WR, 2023 </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='145244' first='Jaylen' last='Hall']- WR, 2023&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='384781' first='Cruz' last='Estrada']- WR, 2023&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Vincent Friend- LB, 2023&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Kenyon Lepisi- LB, 2023&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Anthony Lopez- DB, 2023</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Pick: </strong>Mater Dei Catholic </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->