Huntley’s Week 3 Picks

<p>Each week I will pick and break down seven of the top games in Southern California.</p>   <p>I regressed last week going 4-3 with some tough losses.</p>   <p>Here is a look at some of the best games this week:</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>PALOS VERDES VS. EDISON</strong></h2>   <p>These two teams have played some excellent games against each other in recent years. Palos Verdes quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='709444' first='Ryan' last='Rakowski'] is one of the best in the state and is averaging 199 yards per game passing with six touchdowns and three rushing touchdowns. <strong>Christian Reis</strong> leads the Sea Kings in rushing and two-way star [player_tooltip player_id='1621206' first='Jalen' last='Flowers'] leads in receiving and interceptions on defense. Edison seems to be battling some health issues and was missing some key players in a loss to Corona del Mar last week. <strong>Logan Hampton</strong> is a top receiver to watch and [player_tooltip player_id='1717984' first='Sam' last='Thomson'] is looking to bounce back after a rough game last week. <strong>Rogers Micah</strong> led Edison in tackles last week and <strong>McKennon Pierce</strong> is a good corner to watch.</p>   <p><strong>The pick: </strong>Palos Verdes</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/SeaKingFootball/status/2097001889057665062?s=20 </div></figure>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>RANCHO CUCAMONGA VS. CHAPARRAL</strong></h2>   <p>Chaparral had a good win over San Juan Hills two weeks ago but stumbled against San Clemente last week. [player_tooltip player_id='2069847' first='Caden' last='Sterba'] is averaging 232 yards per game at quarterback and Miami commit [player_tooltip player_id='1611263' first='Eli' last='Woodard'] leads the Pumas in receiving with 338 yards with five touchdowns. Murrieta Valley transfer <strong>Tyler Roney </strong>leads the defense but the Pumas have yet to get an interception this season. Rancho Cucamonga is coming off a loss to Oak Hills. [player_tooltip player_id='958785' first='Treyvone' last='Towns Jr.'] has is averaging 216 passing yards per game with six touchdowns and no interceptions. <strong>Devin Leslie</strong> is a receiver to watch along with <strong>Kestin McGee</strong>. [player_tooltip player_id='1059136' first='Jayden' last='Hilliard'] is a threat to get interceptions on defense and may need one to keep Rancho Cucamonga in this game.</p>   <p><strong>The pick: </strong>Chaparral</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/Brabra_Savage24/status/2093724197335806122?s=20 </div></figure>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>SAN CLEMENTE VS. LA COSTA CANYON</strong></h2>   <p>San Clemente is 3-0 and coming off a nice win over Chaparral. [player_tooltip player_id='2121939' first='Preston' last='Beck'] was nearly perfect against Chaparral completing 19 of 21 passes for 228 yards with a touchdown and two rushing touchdowns. [player_tooltip player_id='1858610' first='Ryan' last='Matheson'] has emerged as a top receiver along with BYU commit [player_tooltip player_id='661909' first='Jaxson' last='Rex'], who is one of the best two-way players in Southern California. San Clemente's defense had Chaparral's quarterback running for his life with seven different players recording sacks. La Costa Canyon is a top five team in San Diego. [player_tooltip player_id='2371068' first='George' last='Collins'] had two interceptions with a pick-six against Del Norte last week. <strong>Nate Labrum </strong>is a quarterback to watch for La Costa Canyon and <strong>Ryder Montgomery</strong> and <strong>Nate Taylor</strong> are playmakers on offense.</p>   <p><strong>The pick: </strong>San Clemente</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/Tritonfootball/status/2097677212392796164?s=20 </div></figure>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>EL TORO VS. TRABUCO HILLS</strong></h2>   <p>This is one of the better rivalries in Orange County and El Toro stunned the local football fans by dominating Trabuco Hills by nearly 40 points last season. El Toro has a new quarterback in sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='2387298' first='Jaxson' last='Algaze'], a transfer from Crean Lutheran who is averaging 254 yards per game with 10 touchdowns. He has two good senior targets in [player_tooltip player_id='1738805' first='Matthew' last='Arroyo'] and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2371049' first='Bryce' last='Thacker']</strong>. Trabuco Hills has a sophomore quarterback as well in <strong>Jackson Verplancke</strong>, who had a great first two games before stumbling last week. <strong>Luke Hoffman </strong>is a runner to watch fort he Mustangs in this game. I think teams can run the ball against El Toro but they haven't faced a team with the personnel to do it effectively yet.</p>   <p><strong>The pick: </strong>El Toro</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/MattArroyo_11/status/2096829651561873907?s=20 </div></figure>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>MISSION HILLS VS. GRANITE HILLS</strong></h2>   <p>Mission Hills is the top ranked team in San Diego by the San Diego Union Tribune. This game features two of the best senior quarterbacks in San Diego in [player_tooltip player_id='1197560' first='Furian' last='Inferrera'] (Mission Hills) and [player_tooltip player_id='691923' first='Zachary' last='Benitez'] (Granite Hills). Infererra, a Minnesota commit who transferred from Mater Dei, has six touchdown passes and six rushing touchdowns. <strong>Ryan MacKenzie</strong> leads the Grizzlies in receiving and [player_tooltip player_id='1717679' first='Brayden' last='Roberson'] is a top two-way player. [player_tooltip player_id='2106846' first='Courtney' last='Miller-Thompson'] has been a top receiver for Granite Hills, who was won three consecutive CIF championships.</p>   <p><strong>The pick: </strong>Mission Hills</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/FurianInferrera/status/2096677077500285031?s=20 </div></figure>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>ORANGE LUTHERAN VS. SERRA</strong></h2>   <p>Serra had a nice come-from-behind win over Los Alamitos last week due to another great performance by Stanford commit [player_tooltip player_id='1611360' first='AJ' last='McBean']. <strong>Hassir Houston</strong> is having a nice freshman season at quarterback and had 223 yards with a touchdown against Los Alamitos. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1717751' first='Derrick' last='Coleman']</strong> leads the team in tackles and Serra has more blue chippers on defense in [player_tooltip player_id='668897' first='Pole' last='Moala'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1698853' first='Wesley' last='Ace']. Orange Lutheran had a good win over nationally-ranked Basha of Arizona last week. [player_tooltip player_id='1588182' first='Ryan' last='Christianson'] had a breakout game running the ball and [player_tooltip player_id='1506318' first='Ezrah' last='Brown'] has played well the last two weeks. [player_tooltip player_id='1146376' first='King' last='Rich Johnson'] had returned interceptions for touchdowns two weeks in a row and [player_tooltip player_id='1621200' first='Anhor' last='Johnson'] had a stellar game deflecting passes at corner. </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/king21_rich/status/2096677756180611306?s=20 </div></figure>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>CENTENNIAL VS. MATER DEI</strong></h2>   <p>This is the best private school vs. public school rivalry in the state and these two teams have met in huge games recently. Centennial is looking to become the first team to beat Mater Dei three consecutive times since Servite in 2009-2011. [player_tooltip player_id='709616' first='Jaden' last='Jefferson'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1197535' first='Quentin' last='Hale'] are new additions to Centennial and add a new dynamic to the Huskies' offense that makes them tough to game plan for. [player_tooltip player_id='427500' first='Malaki' last='Davis'] ran the ball well against Mater Dei last year and the Huskies' other running back [player_tooltip player_id='1543829' first='Kennie' last='Leggett Jr'] is looking to have a big game against his old team. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1611216' first='Miles' last='Schirmer']</strong> was great against Mater Dei last year as was [player_tooltip player_id='1698870' first='Brett' last='Smith'] Jr. </p>   <p>Mater Dei played three quarterbacks against Valor Christian last week with [player_tooltip player_id='1611412' first='Cameron' last='Pooley'] leading the group in passing. [player_tooltip player_id='1288075' first='Gavin' last='Honore'] had two touchdown receptions in the win and [player_tooltip player_id='1408794' first='Asir' last='Nembhard'] continues to make plays in the run game. [player_tooltip player_id='1197606' first='Ezekiel' last='Su'a'] had an interception against Valor Christian and [player_tooltip player_id='1197270' first='Mike' last='Davis'] was great stopping the run with [player_tooltip player_id='1197325' first='Dailon' last='Clanton Jr.'] The Monarchs had USC commit [player_tooltip player_id='490799' first='Danny' last='Lang'] shadowing a Notre Dame committed receiver last week and he held him to just one catch. I expect Lang to be covering his future USC teammate Hale for much of the game. Centennial is coming off a bye and I don't think Mater Dei has the quarterback play to keep pace with Centennial.</p>   <p><strong>The pick: </strong>Centennial</p>   <p><strong>HUNTLEY'S RECORD: </strong>13-8</p>

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