Huntley’s Week 1 Picks

<p>Each week I will pick and break down seven of the top games in Southern California.</p>   <p>I had a mediocre start to the season goign 4-3 last week.</p>   <p>Here is a look at some of the best games this week:</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>CHAMINADE VS. VALENCIA</strong></h2>   <p>Chaminade held Oaks Christian to 48 yards of total offense in an 18-0 shutout win last week. [player_tooltip player_id='1611212' first='Kingston' last='Williams'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1611410' first='Hudson' last='Manning'] were dominant on the defensive front and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1698878' first='Josiah' last='Rand']</strong> had a big game with a blocked punt. The Eagles ran for 250 yards but struggled to move the ball through the air. Valencia has a much better offense than Oaks Christian right now. [player_tooltip player_id='2065947' first='Evan' last='McCalister'] completed 20 of his 25 passes for 321 yards with four touchdowns in a win over Simi Valley last week. <strong>Michael Wilder</strong> had three touchdown catches and <strong>Nico Funez</strong> added a pair of touchdown runs. Valencia won this game last year but I think Chaminade is better in the trenches despite losing Notre Dame commit [player_tooltip player_id='1611242' first='Jackson' last='Hill'] for the season.</p>   <p><strong>The pick: </strong>Chaminade</p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-x wp-block-embed-x"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/HudsonManning10/status/2091725831857205435?s=20 </div></figure>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>TORRANCE VS. REDONDO UNION</strong></h2>   <p>Torrance had an excellent offensive game against Mira Costa last week and established itself as a top five team in the South Bay. <strong>Gibson Turner</strong> threw for 325 yards with four touchdowns and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1605660' first='Vaughn' last='Reinert']</strong> had 223 yards of offense with three touchdowns. Torrance had nine sacks against Mira Costa with <strong>Joseph Monteverde</strong> had three of them with <strong>Mathieu Silverman</strong> added two. <strong>Rocky Martinez</strong> had two rushing touchdowns for Redondo last week in an easy win over El Segundo. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2106872' first='Kyle' last='Westbrook']</strong> had a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and a punt return for a touchdown. The two teams met twice last year with Torrance winning in the regular season and Redondo Union winning in the playoffs.</p>   <p><strong>The pick: </strong>Torrance</p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-x wp-block-embed-x"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/gibsonturner19/status/2091312199956602889?s=20 </div></figure>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>YORBA LINDA VS. LONG BEACH POLY</strong></h2>   <p>Yorba Linda had one of the most impressive wins in Orange County last week with a convincing win over a strong Laguna Beach team. <strong>Noah Trujillo</strong> had a big game at quarterback in his first game as the full time starter with 230 yards on just 9 completions with two touchdowns. <strong>Vince Aguilar</strong> and <strong>Aiden Gutierrez</strong> each had two touchdowns and [player_tooltip player_id='2100424' first='Isaiah' last='Trujillo'] ran for a score. Poly had a nice win over Downey and and had big offensive contributions from <strong>Jeron Johnson II</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='691313' first='Jayden' last='Coley']. Elijah Day</strong> had two sacks for the Jackrabbits. </p>   <p><strong>The pick: </strong>Yorba Linda</p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-x wp-block-embed-x"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/ylhsfootball/status/2092043864051974292?s=20 </div></figure>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>DOWNEY VS. CAPO VALLEY</strong></h2>   <p>Downey's early turnovers cost them the game against Long Beach Poly and an early deficit was too much to overcome. The Vikings started <strong>Chase Watkins</strong> at quarterback and also played [player_tooltip player_id='1717982' first='Kalé' last='Murphy'], who I expected to be the starter. New Mexico commit [player_tooltip player_id='1611185' first='Damani' last='Porras'] was held to 17 yards on just four receptions. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1044406' first='Jordan' last='Robinson']</strong> had an interception to lead Downey's defense and <strong>Jaycee Moore</strong> had three sacks. Capo Valley had a bye last week after a dominant win in Hawaii in week 00. Capo's defense had four interceptions and gave the Cougars a lot of short fields to work with. [player_tooltip player_id='1197373' first='Talon' last='Spencer'] threw for 145 yards yards with a touchdown and had three rushing touchdowns. [player_tooltip player_id='1279271' first='Colin' last='Hooper'] had a good game on both sides of the ball and Capo has a lot of guys that play two ways. Porras is a tough matchup for Capo Valley's secondary but I don't know if Downey's quarterbacks can get him the ball enough.</p>   <p><strong>The pick: </strong>Capo Valley</p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-x wp-block-embed-x"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/capofootball/status/2091947595463786788?s=20 </div></figure>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>ORANGE LUTHERAN VS. CATHEDRAL CATHOLIC</strong></h2>   <p>Orange Lutheran had a heartbreaking late loss to Miami Central last week. The quarterback duo of [player_tooltip player_id='1197615' first='Reagan' last='Toki'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1506318' first='Ezrah' last='Brown'] combined for just 130 yards passing, but [player_tooltip player_id='1197219' first='Chris' last='Flores'] had a nice day with 79 yards receiving and a touchdown. The Lancers have the best tackle duo in the state with [player_tooltip player_id='1197206' first='Lucas' last='Rhoa'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2124163' first='Austin' last='Attalah']. Cathedral Catholic is the top-ranked team in San Diego entering the season and hasn't played a game yet. USC commit [player_tooltip player_id='1197204' first='Honor' last='Faalave'] is the best player in the state and is equally effective at safety or running back. Quarterback is a mystery for the Dons but [player_tooltip player_id='1284695' first='Koa' last='Smith-Mayall'] and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2263748' first='Gavin' last='Rossi']</strong> both played at the Battle at the Beach tournament. [player_tooltip player_id='2106842' first='Isaac' last='Cook'] is a top receiver in San Diego and it will be interesting to see Orange Lutheran's versatile secondary match up with him. </p>   <p><strong>The pick: </strong>Orange Lutheran</p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-x wp-block-embed-x"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/_Chris_Floresjr/status/2044935132147273942?s=20 </div></figure>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>CARLSBAD VS. OCEANSIDE</strong></h2>   <p>Carlsbad had a nice win over Arbor View of Las Vegas last week. [player_tooltip player_id='1197620' first='Darian' last='Webb'] ran for 161 yards with two touchdowns for the Lancers and [player_tooltip player_id='1566773' first='Antonio' last='D'Alessandro'] threw for 138 yards. Cornell commit [player_tooltip player_id='2263191' first='Trent' last='Kellas'] leads Carlsbad's defense. Oceanside shocked a lot of people last week with a decisive win over Granite Hills and led by 23 points at halftime. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1635562' first='Neke' last='Letuli']</strong> ran for 153 yards with three touchdowns for the Pirates and [player_tooltip player_id='1203247' first='Anthony' last='Barquinero'] threw for 208 yards. <strong>Jameson Garrison</strong> had three sacks to lead the defense and Oceanside held Granite Hills to negative rushing yards. Oceanside is an Open Division candidate this year, but Carlsbad is better than Granite Hills.</p>   <p><strong>The pick: </strong>Carlsbad</p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-x wp-block-embed-x"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/DarianWebb2/status/2092007569569239511?s=20 </div></figure>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>SANTA MARGARITA VS. CENTENNIAL</strong></h2>   <p>This is the game of the week in the state and is a rematch of the Division 1 championship game last season. Santa Margarita dominated that game but the best player in that game is now playing at USC. <strong>Fletch Palmer</strong> had a nice debut at quarterback last week in a win over Jones of Florida with two touchdowns. Santa Margarita got big contributions from newcomer receivers <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2252136' first='Kiyan' last='Callis']</strong> and [player_tooltip player_id='1654657' first='Grant' last='Van Raaphorst']. <strong>Aydan Steen</strong> had a breakout game with 10 tackles and three sacks in his debut as a freshman. Centennial is a much different team than lat year with the arrivals of quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='709616' first='Jaden' last='Jefferson'] and receiver [player_tooltip player_id='1197535' first='Quentin' last='Hale']. Jefferson threw for 296 yards and had four total touchdowns against Servite last week and Hale had 155 yards receiving with a pair of scores. [player_tooltip player_id='1699038' first='Dean' last='Gibson'] had 14 tackles to lead the defense. Santa Margarita is much better on defense than Servite is, but Centennial is a big jump in competition from Jones of Florida.</p>   <p><strong>The pick: </strong>Centennial</p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-x wp-block-embed-x"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/MattRMoreno/status/2090632282768097695?s=20 </div></figure>   <p><strong>HUNTLEY'S RECORD: </strong>4-3</p>

Each week I will pick and break down seven of the top games in Southern California.