Johnson, Mehdizadeh Honored by The Times

Bret Johnson, El Toro High School quarterback, was named Orange County back of the year, and Reza Mehdizadeh, Fountain Valley defensive tackle, was named lineman of the year Sunday at the 29th Times’ prep football awards ceremony in Anaheim.

Mike Milner, Fountain Valley coach, was named the county’s coach of the year. Fountain Valley opened the season with four consecutive losses, rebounded to win nine consecutive games and advanced to the Big Five Conference championship game, where it lost to Fontana Friday night.

Johnson passed for 2,091 yards and 24 touchdowns, including 3 touchdown passes in the Chargers’ 36-6 victory over Los Alamitos in the Southern Conference championship game Saturday night. He won the award for the second straight season, a period in which he won every game he started.

Mehdizadeh was born in Tehran, Iran and immigrated to the United States with his parents when he was 10. He has played football for only three seasons, and also is a standout wrestler.

Russell White, Crespi’s outstanding junior running back, was named the winner of the first Glenn Davis Award symbolizing the top player in Southern California. White rushed for 2,269 yards and 34 touchdowns this season.

Winners of the back, lineman and coach of the year for each of The Times’ 12 circulation areas were also announced at the banquet. They were:

Central City--Darian Hagan (back), Josh Price of L.A. Loyola (lineman) and Steve Grady of Loyola (coach).

Inland Empire--Derrick Malone of Fontana (back), Chris Ybarra of Fontana (lineman) and Randy Brown of Hemet (coach).

San Gabriel Valley--Mazio Royster of Bishop Amat of La Puente (back), Bascom Mellon of Diamond Bar (lineman) and Lou Farrar of Charter Oak of Covina (coach).

Glendale--Bill Morris of St. Francis of La Canada (back), Joe Ferguson of Hoover of Glendale (lineman) and Nic Larez of La Canada (coach).

San Fernando Valley--Russell White of Crespi (back), Kyle Cummings of Crespi (lineman) and Rich Lawson of Chaminade of Canoga Park (coach).

Ventura County--Marc Monestime of Thousand Oaks (back), Roger Jones of Channel Islands (lineman) and George Machado of Oxnard Hueneme (coach).

South Coast--Donald Levingston of Long Beach St. Anthony (back), Bob Pierce of Long Beach Wilson (lineman) and Al Taylor of Long Beach Wilson (coach).

Southeast--Adan Avina of Montebello (back), Melvin Johnson of Lynwood (lineman) and Doug Rihn of Montebello (coach).

San Diego County--Darren Wagner of San Diego Lincoln (back), Bob Brasher of Point Loma (lineman) and Bill Christopher of Mt. Carmel (coach).

Westside--Glyn Milburn of Santa Monica (back), Willie Crawford of Beverly Hills (lineman) and Jack Epstein of Palisades (coach).

South Bay--Curtis Conway of Hawthorne (back), Arnold Ale of Carson (lineman) and Steve Newell of El Segundo (coach).