The Orange County high school football preseason Top 25:
ORANGE COUNTY FOOTBALL TOP 25
1. Mater Dei: The No. 1 team in the county also is the No. 1 team in the national rankings by MaxPreps.com and CalPreps.com. The offense again is led by senior quarterback Elijah Brown, a four-year starter who was All-County first team last season when Mater Dei was 12-1 overall and 5-0 in the Trinity League. The Register’s ranking of the top 10 county running backs has two Mater Dei players on top, Jordan Davison at No. 1 and Nate Frazier at No. 2. The collegiate-like offensive line includes seniors Brandon Baker (6-5, 290) and DeAndre Carter (6-5, 335). Baker is rated as California’s No. 1 interior offensive lineman and Carter is the No. 1 tackle by 247 Sports. On defense, five Monarchs are on the Register’s list of the top county defensive backs, including Alabama-committed senior Zabien Brown who is No. 1 on the list. Junior linebacker Nasir Wyatt is No. 1 on the county linebackers rankings. Aydin Breland (6-5, 285) is the state’s top-rated senior defensive lineman. Baker, Carter and Breland are ranked 1-2-3 on the Register’s list of the county’s top 10 linemen.
2. Orange Lutheran: This probably is the third-best team in the Trinity League, which means it would be the league champion in most of the other California leagues. Among the returnees is TJ Lateef, the Lancers’ all-league starting quarterback last season when they finished 7-5 overall and third in league with a 2-3 record. The defense includes 2022 All-County selections Jireh Moe, Talanoa Ili and Auma Jennings. Transfers like linebackers Samuel Fonua from Mater Dei and Christian Panapa from Servite strengthened the roster.
3. Los Alamitos: The Griffins could be as good or even better than they were last season when they went undefeated in the Sunset League and finished 9-3 overall. Among the transferred-in newcomers is tight end Davon Mitchell (6-5, 245) who is from Allen, Texas. Mitchell was a…
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