Orange County public school football media day highlights

Six of the top public school football programs in Orange County participated in a press conference with the local media over Zoom on Monday. This is the second season that a few of the public schools got together for a media day. Prior to the 2019 season, the event was held in person and hosted by Mission Viejo High. The Trinity League has held a media day for a few years, typically held at Mater Dei. The schools that participated on Monday were Capistrano Valley, La Habra, Mission Viejo, San Clemente, San Juan Hills and Tesoro. Here are some highlights and newsworthy statements made by each team during the Zoom call: <strong>LA HABRA</strong> The Highlanders (10-3, 5-0) won another Freeway League title last season and were expected to have highly-touted [player_tooltip player_id="25029" first="Jake" last="Garcia"] at quarterback heading into this season. Garcia moved to Georgia and played for two different teams and reversed his commitment from USC to Miami. Sophomore <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2020/10/top-sleepers-in-the-2023-class-in-socal/">Justin Gil</a> will be the starting quarterback for the team’s season opener against Mission Viejo. He transferred to La Habra from Villa Park, where he threw for 2400 yards and 29 touchdowns at the lower levels as a freshman. The offense will run through <strong>Brandon Vasquez</strong>, who caught 75 passes for 1104 yards and 12 touchdowns last season. "He’s going to do everything. The idea is to try to get him the ball as much as we possibly can," La Habra coach <strong>Frank Mazzotta</strong> said of Vasquez. "It’s not going to be a mystery. We aren’t hiding anything. Everybody knows what we are going to do with this guy." The leader of the defense is Colorado signee [player_tooltip player_id="25089" first="TJ" last="Patu"] who has put on some weight and will move up from safety to linebacker this season. The offensive line features four returning starters from last season, including First Team All-Freeway League center <strong>David Sanchez</strong>, who has offers from Graceland and North Park University. The line also features guard <strong>Elijah Sauvao</strong> who is near 300 pounds. https://twitter.com/Sapodaca/status/1365041612724703232?s=20 <hr /> <strong>SAN CLEMENTE</strong> San Clemente went 10-2 on the field last season before CIF ruled that they had played an ineligible player the entire season and were forced to forfeit all 12 games. The Tritons have six returning starters on offense and five on defense. Both running backs, Arizona-bound [player_tooltip player_id="25122" first="James" last="Bohls"] and <strong>Ashton Whitsett</strong> are back after combining for nearly 1,000 yards rushing last season. The quarterback will be St. John Bosco transfer <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2020/09/top-quarterbacks-in-orange-county-6-10/">Lachlan Van Rosmalen</a>. "I’ve never seen someone really take control of us, that means in a good way, ’Hey guys keep your head up, we’re going to get this done,’" offensive lineman <strong>Ryland Swarthout</strong> said of Van Rosmalen. "I know he’s going to help us execute. He’s only a junior but this kid Lachlan, his leadership is above the charts and I think that’s going to help him with our team and off to college too." Head coach <strong>Jaime Ortiz</strong> was very complimentary of Swarthout as a leader and young man. "Ryland is our rock. He’s been through a lot personally and as a player, he’s grown so much," Ortiz said. "I’ve been at San Clemente for 21 years and he’s one of my favorite players. He’s a man among boys and has a bright future with our without football." https://twitter.com/C_Morrissette/status/1366501865957990400?s=20 <hr /> <strong>MISSION VIEJO</strong> Mission Viejo went 11-1 last season winning the first South Coast League championship under coach <strong>Chad Johnson</strong> and fell to Mater Dei in the CIF-SS Division 1 semifinals. Johnson revealed that sophomore [player_tooltip player_id="25441" first="Kadin" last="Semonza"] will be the team’s starting quarterback. Semonza played on the <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2021/02/inside-look-at-wca-club-team-oc-elite/">WCA club team OC Elite</a> and has been getting <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2020/11/socal-quarterbacks-impress-at-elite-11-regional/">rave reviews at showcases</a>. Two Pac 12 signees, [player_tooltip player_id="25046" first="Mavin" last="Anderson"] (Cal) and [player_tooltip player_id="25061" first="Easton" last="Mascarenas"] (Oregon State) both decided to play this season despite already signing letters of intent. "It was easy and if we had a season it was full go on my part at least," Mascarenas said. "The Oregon State coaches said as long as I had time to rest up before I got up there for summer ball, they were all for it too." <hr /> <strong>CAPISTRANO VALLEY</strong> Capo Valley (5-6, 2-2) moves to the Sea View League this year, its second under head coach <strong>Sean Curtis</strong>. <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2020/08/capo-valley-qb-dartanyon-moussiaux-wins-las-vegas-throw-down/">Dartanyon Moussiaux</a> returns as the Cougars’ signal caller after leading the South Coast League in passing as a junior. Curtis said that the offense features a lot of run pass option plays that depend on pre snap reads so Moussiaux will have some control over the offense. <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2021/01/capo-valleys-hayden-cook-on-commitment-to-western-new-mexico/">Hayden Cook</a> will be the team’s primary running back and will be heavily featured in the passing game as well. Cook is committed to Western New Mexico University. Leading the Cougar’s defense is <strong>Jacob Pontius</strong> who had a team-high 100 tackles last season. <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2021/02/top-10-c-o-2022-pass-rushers-in-southern-section-part-1/">Luke Meyer</a> is an interior defensive lineman who will likely be the most physically dominant defensive lineman in the league. [caption id="attachment_100235" align="alignleft" width="300"]<img class="wp-image-100235 size-medium" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/01/Screen-Shot-2021-01-25-at-11.07.24-PM-300x202.png" alt="" width="300" height="202" /> Photo: Courtesy of Hayden Cook[/caption] &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; <hr /> <strong>SAN JUAN HILLS</strong> San Juan Hills is the reigning CIF-SS Division 4 champion and back-to-back Sea View League champion. The Stallions return to the competitive South Coast League this season. <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2020/09/top-quarterbacks-in-orange-county-6-10/">Hudson Jones</a> is a three-year starting quarterback for the Stallions. He completed 71 percent of his passes for 2,599 yards, 33 touchdowns and just five interceptions as a junior. Jones says he has gained 20 pounds and plans on running the ball more and proving he is a dual threat quarterback. <strong>Cole Monach</strong> and <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2021/02/inside-look-at-wca-club-team-oc-elite/">Braden Pegan</a> are two junior receivers who will get a lot of catches and have been working with Jones a lot this offseason. Junior <strong>Chase Schmidt</strong> and senior <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2020/09/southern-california-class-of-2021-sleepers-part-2/">Elliot DeGroote</a> lead the San Juan Hills defense and they raved about defensive coordinator <strong>Pete Silvey</strong>. "He’s a mastermind. He can do anything and help us be in the right place at the right time to make plays," DeGroote said of Silvey. "He makes it super fun for the D-line by adding crazy pressures." https://twitter.com/JonathanKhamis/status/1366440599361097734?s=20 <hr /> <strong>TESORO</strong> Tesoro was a very senior heavy team last season and it paid off with 10 wins. The Titans have very little experience but they are always known for having a deep roster at the lower levels and they will have a strong junior class. Defensively, <strong>Jason Baum</strong> will be the token Tesoro pass rusher this season. The Titans have produced excellent edge rushers the past few years and Baum will be hoping to extend that legacy. He had 2.5 sacks last season and six hurries. <strong>Cole Lyons</strong> also returns on defense for Tesoro. He had 41 tackles last season and can fly around the field. Offensively, Tesoro runs some 21 personnel and will use fullback <strong>Tyler Adams</strong> frequently. <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2020/10/southern-california-class-of-2021-sleepers-part-4/">Cole Yoshida</a> will likely be the team’s primary receiver and Tesoro always has a receiver near the top of the county leaderboards. Titans’ coach <strong>Matt Poston</strong> did not reveal who the team’s starting quarterback would be for their season opener against Aliso Niguel on March 19. I corresponded with Poston earlier this offseason and he said it’s a three man battle between senior <strong>Reubin Kim</strong>, junior <strong>Luca Carney</strong> and sophomore <strong>Ethan Lee</strong>. Carney filled in against Mission Viejo last season due to injury but Poston is playing his cards close to the vest about his signal-caller.