The high school football regular season is nearly halfway completed for most teams.
Here are some observations and opinions on what has happened so far, and what might happen in coming weeks.
Let’s start with some awards for the first half of the season:
Offensive player of the year: Mater Dei quarterback Elijah Brown.
Quarterback is the most important position on the field and among the more difficult positions to master in team sports. Sometimes mega-talented teams like Mater Dei get by with an average or slightly above-average quarterback, but Brown is a major reason for the Monarchs’ success.
Other players who probably will be in our county offensive player of the year conversation in December are San Clemente running back Aiden Rubin, Tustin running back Eimesse Essis and Santa Margarita receiver Trent Mosley.
Defensive player of the year: Capistrano Valley linebacker Jackson Sievers.
He is credited for a county-leading 67 total tackles with 48 solo tackles and seven tackles for loss. The Cougars are 5-0 going into Friday’s game at Barstow.
Others who have looked like sure-thing All-County defense selections are San Juan Hills linebackers Jake Javorsky and Weston Port and San Clemente linebacker Puka Fuimaono.
Coach of the year: Robert Frith of San Juan Hills.
The Stallions went 4-8 last year and their 2022 league co-MVP quarterback transferred out. Yet they took a 5-0 record and No. 10 position in the Orange County Top 25 into this week. …
Upset of the year: Servite’s 28-24 win over Los Alamitos.
PLAYOFF OUTLOOK
At the brink of the season’s halfway point, it’s worth taking a look at the CalPreps rankings that will be used to place teams in playoff divisions after the regular season ends.
If Division 1 is a 10-team bracket like it was last year, then based on the rankings this week the Orange County teams in Division 1 would be Mater Dei, Orange Lutheran, Santa Margarita and Mission Viejo.
San Clemente’s rating is 49.8, just below…
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