Area quartet earns All-CIF football accolades
Throughout the 2018 season, the Crescenta Valley High and Flintridge Prep football teams had a group of players they could count on to provide determination and a spark.
Cole Doyle of Crescenta Valley and Flintridge Prep’s John Lytle, Zach Kim and Ben Grable proved to be consistent threats while helping their respective teams qualify for the postseason.
For their bodies of work, the quartet was bestowed with All-CIF Southern Section recognition Monday. Doyle picked up Division VII first-team honors on offense at the 11-man level. Lytle, Kim and Grable received nods at the Division I eight-man level in the combined team.
Doyle, a senior quarterback who was named the Pacific League’s Offensive Player of the Year, registered 3,469 total yards of offense and 39 touchdowns in only nine games for the Falcons (8-3, 5-2 in league for third place).
Doyle completed 149 of 239 passes for 2,067 yards after passing for 2,696 as a junior. He had 15 touchdowns and 10 interceptions and completed 62.3% of his passes. In addition, Doyle, who became the first Crescenta Valley quarterback to reel in All-CIF honors since Brian Gadsby in 2014, rushed for 1,402 yards in 142 carries and 24 touchdowns.
“It’s a huge honor and Cole is a special guy,” said Crescenta Valley coach Paul Schilling, who stepped down following the season. “I put him down for consideration as a running back and quarterback because he’s such a dual threat.
“There are other quarterbacks in the division who threw for more yards and touchdowns than Cole, but Cole showed a lot of people what he could do. I talked to him after we found out about the honor and he told me that he feels that this was his best season.”
Crescenta Valley lost, 52-47 on the road to Warren in the first round of the playoffs.
Culver City senior wide receiver Kevin McGuire was named the Division VII Offensive Player of the Year. Culver City senior linebacker Cortez Wright was selected the division’s defensive player of the year
Culver City coach Jahmal Wright was tabbed the division’s coach of the year after Culver City posted a 61-21 win against San Jacinto in the championship contest.
Flintridge Prep’s trio continued to get the job done each game.
Lytle, a senior quarterback, passed for more than 2,300 yards on the season.
“John was a three-year starter and he did a lot of things so well,” Flintridge Prep coach Russell White said. “He became the all-time leader in passing, while also providing experience and leadership.”
Kim, a sophomore wide receiver/defensive back, had nearly 1,000 yards receiving.
“Zach was a surprise for us coming in as a freshman last season,” White said. “He lived up to our expectations in terms of catching passing and making tackles this season.”
Grable, a junior wide receiver/linebacker, had more than 1,000 yards receiving.
“Ben was definitely one of the biggest pieces who helped on offense and defense,” White said. “He’s grown as a player the last couple of years and he’s just a phenomenal athlete.”
Flintridge Prep (4-5, 1-2 in the Prep League for third place) fell to host Sage Hill, 28-26, in the first round of the playoffs.
Mojave senior Jake Anderson was named the player of the year in eight-man Division I. Senior Jack Deardorff of Cate was tabbed the division’s offensive most valuable player and Faith Baptist’s Andrew Rasmussen, a senior, was selected the division’s defensive player of the year.
Cash Ashziger of Mojave was named the division’s coach of the year after guiding Mojave to a 54-22 win versus Faith Baptist in the title game.
Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich
