Battle at the Beach Preview (Part 2)
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20 of some of the best programs in Southern California and a program in Washington will gather at Edison High School Saturday for one of the most prestigious passing tournaments of the summer. Mission Viejo won the event last season…
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Continue Reading20 of some of the best programs in Southern California and a program in Washington will gather at Edison High School Saturday for one of the most prestigious passing tournaments of the summer.
Mission Viejo won the event last season by beating St. John Bosco in the championship game.
Here is a look at the teams in Pool C and Pool D of the Battle at the Beach tournament.
POOL C
MATER DEI
Mater Dei finished in second place at the USC passing tournament last weekend and played without some top players: receivers Jack Ressler Jack Ressler 5'11" | 185 lbs | WR Mater Dei | 2024 State CA , Marcus Brown Marcus Brown 5'10" | 170 lbs | WR Mater Dei | 2024 State CA and Marcus Harris Marcus Harris 6'1" | 175 lbs | WR Mater Dei | 2025 State CA and defensive back Zabien Brown Zabien Brown 6'1" | 180 lbs | DB Mater Dei | 2024 State CA . Mater Dei dominated Los Alamitos despite the limited personnel and lost to Warren in the finals. Stanford commit Elijah Brown Elijah Brown 6'2" | 180 lbs | DB Narbonne | 2024 State CA was great at the event in 2021 as a sophomore. Daryus Dixson Daryus Dixson 6'1" | 180 lbs | DB Mater Dei | 2025 State CA , Chuck McDonald III Chuck McDonald III 6'1" | 180 lbs | DB Mater Dei | 2025 State CA and Cory Lavender Cory Lavender 5'10" | 170 lbs | DB Mater Dei | 2026 State CA are excellent young defensive backs. If Mater Dei is limited at receiver personnel wise, expect to see some young faces like Kayden Dixon-Wyatt Kayden Dixon-Wyatt 6'3" | 185 lbs | WR Mater Dei | 2026 State CA , Jonah Smith Jonah Smith 6'1" | 180 lbs | WR Santa Margarita | 2026 State CA and JuJu Parm JuJu Parm 5'11" | 155 lbs | WR Mater Dei | 2026 State CA to get some run. Keep an eye out for running backs Nate Frazier Nate Frazier 6'0" | 210 lbs | RB Mater Dei | 2024 State CA , Jordon Davison Jordon Davison 6'0" | 210 lbs | RB Mater Dei | 2025 State CA and Ajon Bryant Ajon Bryant 5'7" | 160 lbs | RB Mater Dei | 2024 State CA in the passing game as well.
LIBERTY (BAKERSFIELD)
Liberty made a State Championship game last season and lost its three top players from that team, but they have some solid players returning. Quarterback Cole O’Brien Cole O’Brien 6'2" | 195 lbs | QB Liberty | 2024 State CA is back and has an offer from Minot State. TreJon Fulton TreJon Fulton 6'3" | 165 lbs | ATH Liberty | 2024 State CA is a receiver with plenty of offers including Boise State and San Jose State. Tight end Jace Nixon Jace Nixon 6'4" | 180 lbs | TE Bakersfield | 2024 State CA is 6-foot-5 with an offer from Fresno State. Drew Underwood Drew Underwood 6'0" | 215 lbs | LB Liberty | 2024 CA leads the defense after having 98 tackles last season.
WARREN
Warren beat Mater Dei for the championship of the USC tournament last weekend. Madden Iamaleava Madden Iamaleava 6'3" | 205 lbs | QB Warren | 2025 State CA is the junior quarterback for Warren and he has offers from most of the big schools. Jordan Ross Jordan Ross 6'0" | 175 lbs | WR Warren | 2024 State CA is an outstanding two-way player for Warren and will announce his top 10 schools on Friday. Sophomore Jalen Ross Jalen Ross 5'9" | 160 lbs | WR Warren | 2026 State CA has offers from Colorado State and San Jose State. Defensive back Jordan Jones Jordan Jones 6'0" | 185 lbs | DB Warren | 2024 State CA recently committed to UC Davis.
CORONA DEL MAR
Corona del Mar lost its long time head coach but most of the rest of the staff is back leading the Sea Kings. One of my favorite senior quarterbacks in Orange County is Kaleb Annett who got some meaningful reps last season along with former quarterback David Rasor who is now at UC Davis. Russell Weir should be the primary target for Annett and junior tight end Zach Giuliano Zach Giuliano 6'6" | 230 lbs | TE Corona Del Mar | 2025 State CA has offers from Utah and Cal among others. Christian Brooks is one of the better senior linebackers in the county and leads the defense.
ALEMANY
There have been plenty of reports about some players leaving Alemany recently but they still have some talent on campus. Xavier Owens Xavier Owens 6'2" | 150 lbs | WR Narbonne | 2026 State CA is a talented sophomore who recently got an offer from Washington along with his classmate Allen Blaylock Allen Blaylock 5'10" | 160 lbs | WR Bishop Alemany | 2026 State CA . Phillip Bell Phillip Bell 6'2" | 195 lbs | WR Mission Viejo | 2025 State CA was an elite receiver for Christian Brothers of Sacramento last season and is now at Alemany. The question for Alemany entering Saturday is who the quarterback will be. There are reports that Damon Wrighster Damon Wrighster 6'3" | 170 lbs | QB Inglewood | 2024 State CA has transferred to Inglewood but they are not confirmed.
POOL B
LOS ALAMITOS
Los Alamitos has a lot of roster turnover but they have added so much talent at the skill positions that it may not have a negative impact. Alonzo Esparza Alonzo Esparza 6'0" | 175 lbs | QB Los Alamitos | 2025 State CA is the new quarterback for the Griffins after spending last season at Sierra Canyon. The Griffins added Orange transfers Kobe Boykin Kobe Boykin 5'9" | 175 lbs | RB Los Alamitos | 2024 CA and Jett White Jett White 6'1" | 155 lbs | DB Los Alamitos | 2025 CA . They also added Joshua Tuchek Joshua Tuchek 6'1" | 175 lbs | DB Millikan | 2025 State CA from Santa Margarita. Tight end Davon Mitchell may be one of the more physically imposing players in the county. Anthony League Anthony League 6'0" | 205 lbs | RB Millikan | 2025 State CA is another Los Alamitos player that I am very high on.
SANTA MARGARITA
Santa Margarita lost a lot of players to graduation and transfer but we are starting to get a clearer look at the Eagle’s roster for 2023. James Johnson, a transfer from Servite, will get the majority of reps at quarterback for the Eagles Saturday. He has very good targets to throw to in Emmett Mosley Emmett Mosley 6'1" | 180 lbs | ATH Santa Margarita Catholic | 2024 State CA , Sean Embree Sean Embree 6'4" | 170 lbs | WR Santa Margarita | 2025 State CA and Trent Mosley Trent Mosley 5'10" | 165 lbs | WR Santa Margarita | 2026 State CA . Kyle Brody Kyle Brody 6'5" | 230 lbs | TE Santa Margarita Catholic | 2024 State CA is a talented tight end who may see more targets this season. Noah Sulick is a tackling machine and leads the defense.
RANCHO CUCAMONGA
Rancho Cucamonga may have a quarterback competition on its hands between Norco transfer Tyler Dudden Tyler Dudden 6'4" | 200 lbs | QB Rancho Cucamonga | 2024 State CA and sophomore Jordan Chambers. They have a pair of top receivers to throw to in Jason Harris Jason Harris 5'9" | 160 lbs | WR Centennial | 2024 State CA and Jonah Dawson Jonah Dawson 5'10" | 170 lbs | WR Rancho Cucamonga | 2024 State CA . Duke commit Kyren Condoll Kyren Condoll 6'2" | 175 lbs | DB Rancho Cucamonga | 2024 State CA leads the secondary and Elyjah Gordon Elyjah Gordon 6'3" | 180 lbs | DB Rancho Cucamonga | 2024 State CA is a lengthy junior who recently got an offer from USC. Stacy Bey Stacy Bey 6'0" | 215 lbs | ATH Rancho Cucamonga | 2024 State CA is also a talented athlete headed to San Diego State. Rancho Cucamonga is loaded with talent and I am interested to see the quarterbacks on Saturday.
CATHEDRAL CATHOLIC (SAN DIEGO)
Cathedral Catholic is a top 5 program in San Diego. Jack Stevens Jack Stevens 6'1" | 195 lbs | QB Cathedral Catholic | 2024 State CA is the returning quarterback for the Dons with an offer from UNLV. Defensive back Ty Cortes Ty Cortes 6'0" | 190 lbs | DB Cathedral Cathoic | 2024 State CA has offers from Penn and Utah State. Charlie Abts is a receiver to keep an eye on. The Dons lost their two best defensive players from last season, one to graduation and one to transfer, so it will be interesting to see how they fill in the gaps on defense.
CAPISTRANO VALLEY
Capo Valley had a nice showing at the Villa Park event last Saturday. Tommy Acosta Tommy Acosta 6'0" | 190 lbs | QB Capistrano Valley | 2025 State CA is the likely starter at quarterback and he has some inexperienced but talented receivers. Ryan Isenhart Ryan Isenhart 6'4" | 230 lbs | TE Capistrano Valley | 2024 State CA is a big target and the duo of Brayden Saavedra and Ethan Jarvis had big days last Saturday. Kaden Hunter made nice plays at receiver and was all over the field on defense. Jackson Sievers Jackson Sievers 6'2" | 220 lbs | LB Capistrano Valley | 2024 State CA is a big linebacker that can cover a lot of the field on the underneath routes. Cash Moormann is a smaller running back who can make plays in the passing game. Saturday is a big step up in competition for the Cougars, but they understand that and know they will get better by competing against high-level competition.