John Guthrie

School: Kennedy High

Sport: Football

Position: Quarterback

Class: Senior

Kennedy Coach Mitch Olson gives Guthrie, in his third season as starter, plenty of latitude to call his own plays. Friday in the first round of the Division VII playoffs, the freedom paid off. Guthrie’s three touchdown passes in a 38-13 victory over Inglewood Morningside came on audibles. Guthrie completed 14 of 24 passes for a season-high 325 yards as Kennedy routed Morningside, a team that features Stais Boseman, one of the best all-round athletes in the state. Guthrie is a very accurate thrower; five of his 10 incomplete passes Friday were thrown away on purpose, Olson said. Guthrie, who is 6 feet 3, 185 pounds, hasn’t received the attention of Orange County’s highly recruited quarterbacks. Said Olson: “He’s as good as anybody around. Unfortunately, he’s played on a 3-7 team the last two years. He’s getting a lot of letters from recruiters, but he’s not getting the phone calls from Lou Holtz or the other guys.”

Other top performers:

Jeff Martell, who had 16 saves in Los Amigos’ 12-6 victory over San Bernardino in the Division IV water polo semifinals and 14 saves in the Lobos’ 14-4 victory over Etiwanda in the quarterfinals.

Scott Seal, who rushed for 237 yards and three touchdowns in Irvine’s 21-14 Division IV victory over Chino. Seal scored the winning touchdown on a two-yard run with 32 seconds left.

Nicky Sualua, who scored all six touchdowns in Mater Dei’s 40-0 victory over Encino Crespi in a Division I game. Sualua rushed for 109 yards and five touchdowns and returned a fumble on the first play of the game 30 yards for a touchdown.

Mark Ziemke, who caught five passes for 149 yards and three touchdowns in Fountain Valley’s 44-28 victory over Downey Warren in Division II.