Dana Hills Air Strike Tournament Highlights

<p>I attended the playoff rounds of the Air Strike Passing Tournament at Dana Hills High on Saturday. </p>   <p>Crean Lutheran won the event, beating San Juan Hills 24-12 in the championship game. </p>   <p>Disclaimer: I did not get to see every team or talk to every coach in attendance. Here are some top performers at the event</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>CREAN LUTHERAN</strong></h2>   <p>One of the top stars of the day was Crean Lutheran quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='1197336' first='Caden' last='Jones']. The 6-foot-3 class of 2027 QB was consistently hitting receivers in stride and fitting the ball into tight windows. He was fresh off a visit to Texas A&M and recently was offered by Auburn.</p>   <p>Paraclete transfer [player_tooltip player_id='780464' first='Dillon' last='Booth'] got high praise from coach <strong>Rick Curtis</strong>. Defensively, Curtis praised every one of the Saints' defensive players, particularly corners <strong>Troy Hill</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1158487' first='Robert' last='Smith']</strong>. The stars also played very well including Cal commit [player_tooltip player_id='282721' first='Carter' last='Jones'], [player_tooltip player_id='282778' first='Taurian' last='Nash'] and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1262743' first='Ben' last='Byszewski']</strong> along with <strong>Mason McCullough</strong>.</p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/CreanFootball/status/1791929891790958884 </div></figure>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>SAN JUAN HILLS</strong></h2>   <p>San Juan Hills quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='283687' first='Timmy' last='Herr'] is a dual threat guy but looked sharp Saturday with his arm. He consistently was getting the ball out on time and was very accurate outside the numbers. The Stallions are young at receiver and coach <strong>Rob Frith</strong> said that <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1858610' first='Ryan' last='Matheson']</strong> is a class of 2027 guy who had a good day. </p>   <p>Defensively, the two stars that stood out to me were UCLA commit [player_tooltip player_id='155848' first='Weston' last='Port'] and cornerback [player_tooltip player_id='406736' first='Chris' last='Williams']. Opposing coaches pointed out Williams as a top player they saw all day. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1257397' first='Grant' last='Kittredge'] </strong>got praise from Frith along with <strong>Jake Vuoso</strong> who recently returned the team after baseball season. </p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/chris3_williams/status/1788397928098492735 </div></figure>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>LAGUNA BEACH</strong></h2>   <p>I think people were surprised at how good Laguna Beach was at the skill positions Saturday. Everybody knows [player_tooltip player_id='484412' first='Jackson' last='Kollock'] is the engine that drives the car for Laguna Beach and he was impressive as expected. Kollock is a Power 5 quarterback and he showed it with his velocity and accuracy down the field. </p>   <p>Class of 2027 receiver <strong>Wyatt Bogdon</strong> drew praise from the coaching staff and he is 6-foot-3. Coach <strong>John Shanahan</strong> said he will slide into the role that BYU signee [player_tooltip player_id='398386' first='Ryner' last='Swanson'] left. <strong>Wyatt Degner</strong> and <strong>Grant Regal</strong> also played well Saturday and like most Laguna Beach skill players, they are two-way guys. Class of 2027 quarterback <strong>Jack Hurst</strong> got some playing time behind Kollock and looks like he has the tools to be a college quarterback as he matures.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>TESORO</strong></h2>   <p>Tesoro is under first year head coach <strong>Mike Zangl</strong> and the Titans are still figuring out personnel at some spots. The offense will go as far as three-year starting quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='984743' first='Cash' last='O'Byrne'] takes them. In his last two seasons, he had the luxury of a 1,000-yard rusher, but this year it's possible he will be asked to do a lot more with the offense. [player_tooltip player_id='1150213' first='Campbell' last='Schamel'] will be the team's top receiver and he played well Saturday according to Zangl.</p>   <p><strong>Sammy Peterson </strong>is one of the few returning starters on defense for Tesoro and Zangl said he had a great performance Saturday. He is the only returning player who had an interception for Tesoro last season. [player_tooltip player_id='1149072' first='Wyatt' last='Owens'] is a class of 2026 linebacker who saw a little varsity playing time last season and is expected to be a starter this season.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>SAN CLEMENTE</strong></h2>   <p>San Clemente was missing some key players Saturday but still performed well. The two-way players who were heavily praised were [player_tooltip player_id='1149017' first='Max' last='Bollard'] and [player_tooltip player_id='270882' first='Max' last='Kotiranta']. Both are defensive backs with a nose for the ball who can also make plays at receiver. </p>   <p>Tritons receiver <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1582147' first='Cole' last='Herlean']</strong> was offered by Air Force this week but did not play Saturday. </p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/KotirantaMax/status/1791720887533908069 </div></figure>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>CAPISTRANO VALLEY</strong></h2>   <p>Capo Valley is very active on the passing league circuit and had some success Saturday. The Cougars had three consecutive shutouts at one point in the morning. Coach <strong>Sean Curtis </strong>gave a lot of credit to corners <strong>London Aaron</strong> and <strong>Jack Schwenn</strong>. The team's best defensive player is Reily Walker who made plays on both sides of the ball.</p>   <p>The Cougars have returning quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='595827' first='Tommy' last='Acosta'] and upcoming star class of 2027 athlete [player_tooltip player_id='1197373' first='Talon' last='Spencer'] who rotate reps at quarterback. Spencer can play receiver as well and will likely get a lot of playing time there this season. <strong>Kaden Hunter</strong> is another two-way player who is a deep threat at receiver. Tight end <strong>Colin Hooper</strong> also received praise from Curtis and he is a freshman. </p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/capofootball/status/1791856036426686537 </div></figure>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>DANA HILLS</strong></h2>   <p>Dana Hills was the host team and has some intriguing returning players as well as some new faces. [player_tooltip player_id='368941' first='Vanden' last='Dugger'] is a transfer quarterback from Saguaro High in Arizona. He is 6-foot-2, near 200 pounds and had a good showing at the Under Armour Camp in March. Dugger attended junior day at Boise State. <strong>Charlie Eckl</strong> is 6-foot-4 and got praise from coach <strong>Tony Henney</strong>. [player_tooltip player_id='797112' first='James' last='Leicester'] is a class of 2026 receiver to keep an eye on for the Dolphins as well.</p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/CoachBenBlake/status/1789012260486279603 </div></figure>

I attended the playoff rounds of the Air Strike Passing Tournament at Dana Hills High on Saturday.