Prep Rally: Here are the football players off to the best starts
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Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. I’m Eric Sondheimer. Let’s examine players off to great starts to the high school football season.
Making immediate impact
Teams have already played as many as three games, so let’s examine the football players who are acting like they were shot out of a rocket the way they are impacting games.
—Quentin Hale, Corona Centennial. There can’t be a better receiver in the state. He has looked fabulous against two Trinity League opponents, Servite and Santa Margarita. With size, speed and great hands, it doesn’t really matter how good a defensive back might be. He will find a way to get open.
—Myles Baker, Sierra Canyon. The senior safety is also contributing on offense. He had a touchdown throwing and running last week for the Trailblazers (2-0).
—Jalen Flowers, Palos Verdes. Another two-way player at safety and receiver, Flowers delivered two interceptions last week to help his team win and gets to face Carson on Thursday night.
—AJ McBean, Gardena Serra. Adding speed and size in the off season, he’s a running back already running over defenders or running away from them.
—Chris Fields III, Carson. The senior quarterback gets his moment in the spotlight Thursday night being compared to Palos Verdes’ four-year starter, Ryan Rakowski. It’s a game for Carson to prove the City Section is back being competitive with good Southern Section teams.
—Aydan Steen, Santa Margarita. Only a freshman, the linebacker is fearless, tough and always anticipating. He’s been playing the game for years, so bursting onto the scene in his first year of high school football is not amazing, it’s expected.
—Jeremy Mellalieu, Chaminade. He won the starting quarterback position as a freshman last year and has started 2026 looking even better as a sophomore for the 3-0 Eagles.
—Star Thomas, Orange. First he passed for 439 yards and four touchdowns against North Torrance. Then came 295 yards and three touchdowns against Laguna Beach. The junior quarterback is just getting started.
—Gavin Williams, Damien. Everyone knows how good he is as a safety. Whenever he decides to show off his speed, good things happen for the Spartans.
—Weston Reis, Palos Verdes. He’s a true tackling machine at middle linebacker. He knows what gum the ballcarrier is chewing. He has 22 tackles in two games.
—Brady Edmunds, Huntington Beach. So far, so good for Edmunds, a veteran quarterback who has the Oilers at 2-0.
—Donovan Shirley, Salesian. He’s completed 70% of his passes in two games and thrown for eight touchdowns.
—Luke Karby, Mission Viejo. The senior tight end, supported by a dominant offensive line, is proving to be a great target for sophomore quarterback Brett Burnor.
—Jason Grant Jr., Crenshaw. Only a freshman, he caught the winning touchdown pass to beat Palisades and had three interceptions Friday in a win over Long Beach Jordan.
Football rewind
The anticipated Southern Section Division 1 championship game rematch between Santa Margarita and Corona Centennial proved to live up to expectations. Santa Margarita won 21-20 but if they have another rematch in the playoffs, the result could easily reverse. Centennial fought hard despite injuries to its offensive line. Santa Margarita, lacking speed at receiver, is waiting for Grant Mosley to come back from injury but relied on its defense. Here’s the report.
A 45-game losing streak by Mark Keppel was ended with an 18-7 win over Mendez. The state record is 49.
Westlake, after a lackluster opening-game performance against Newbury Park that required three overtimes to win, got back on track by routing Agoura. Here’s the report.
Chaminade is 3-0 and looking like the main challenger to Sierra Canyon in the Mission League. The Eagles defeated Valencia last week. Here’s the report.
Huntington Beach picked up its first win over Los Alamitos since 2012. Here’s the report.
Sierra Canyon and Palos Verdes took on opponents from Florida last week and won. Here’s the report.
Nicholas Hoag of Culver City passed for 546 yards and six touchdowns in a win over King/Drew.
In the City Section, three teams are emerging at the top — Carson (2-0), Crenshaw (2-0) and San Pedro (2-0).
Marshall is 2-0 after a 53-30 win over Fairfax. Quarterback Nathaniel Cadet has been throwing precision passes. He had three touchdown passes and ran for another touchdown against the Lions. Bell pullled off the biggest upset, defeating Marquez 26-12.
Here’s a look at top individual performances last week.
Here’s Friday’s score list.
Santa Margarita has returned to No. 1 in this week’s top 25 rankings by The Times after finishing No. 1 last season.
Here’s the week 2 schedule.
New CTE research brings out concerns
New research about the dangers of CTE in football brought out new concerns from parents about the dangers of playing football.
Jaxson Rex’s versatility
With 28 cousins, Jaxson Rex of San Clemente can always call up someone if he needs someone to play football. He’s one of the most versatile high school players and is headed to Brigham Young.
Here’s a profile.
Flag football
To watch Tessa Russell of JSerra catch a pass is like poetry in motion. She wears gloves, so as she looks the ball in, her hands converge, and she catches passes like a SpaceX machine catching a rocket booster returning to Earth.
JSerra has started the flag season 9-0. Coach Brian Ong said he believes the team can be better than last year’s 28-0 team as soon as several sit-out transfer players become eligible.
The Lions have a league match Sept. 9 at Santa Margarita and will participate in the MaxPreps Showdown tournament Sept. 11-12.
One of the best games of the early season happened last week when Dos Pueblos defeated Westlake 21-19.
Lakewood St. Joseph has started 7-0. Lexi Loya has surpassed the 1,000 yards mark in passing.
Here’s this week’s. top 10 rankings by The Times.
Cross-country
Mira Costa’s boys team lost most of its runners from last season but still won the We Run L.A. Invitational.
Reese Ray of Valencia won the girls individual title in 17:30.
Girls volleyball
Sierra Canyon has won its first 11 matches in girls volleyball. The unbeaten Trailblazers have matches against Torrey Pines and Corona Centennial this week before starting Mission League play against their top two rivals, Marymount and Harvard-Westlake.
Mater Dei is 5-0 after sweeping Redondo Union in a match last week. The Monarchs face Mira Costa (5-3) on Thursday in an always intense volleyball rivalry match.
Harvard-Westlake pulled out a win over Oaks Christian that went to five sets.
Newport Harbor is 9-0 and takes on Edison and Marina in league matches this week before beginning play in the Dave Mohs tournament.
Water polo
The usual powers are ready to duel in water polo: Newport Harbor, Harvard-Westlake, Oaks Christian, JSerra. But Santa Margarita is a team to watch and could break into the group.
Notes . . .
There was a record number of high school sports transfers in California for 2025-26 at 17,618. That’s three consecutive years exceeding 17,000. Here’s the report....
The annual NFHS Athletics Participation survey shows a record number of high school sports participants helped by the growth of girls flag football. Here’s the report....
Beaumont golfer Maleah Clark won the Riverside Poly girls tournament with a round of 72 at Victoria Club....
Henry Frierson is the new basketball coach at Colony....
Chris Gould is the new girls soccer coach at JSerra....
JP Hopkins is the new baseball coach at Chino Hills....
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame will host Harvard-Westlake on the school baseball field in a unique outdoor girls volleyball match on Sept. 12 to honor women’s sports. Nike is flying in a custom outside court. Here’s the report. ...
Defending City Section Open Division baseball champion Birmingham has accepted an invitational to play in the Boras Classic this coming spring....
San Dimas standout softball player Tiffany Villegas has committed to Cal Baptist....
Jaime Reyes has resigned as baseball coach at South Pasadena....
Dylan O’Leary, just 25 years old, is 2-0 in his first season as head football coach at San Dimas. Here’s the report....
Mike Munoz is the new baseball coach at Upland.
From the archives: John Williams
When debates take place about who was the best basketball player in City Section history, John Williams from Crenshaw always gets mentioned as a legitimate candidate. He was 6 feet 8, 235 pounds and few high school players could guard him because of his size and strength. He’d go on to help LSU reach the Final Four in 1986 and become the 12th overall pick in the NBA draft.
He was helping coach and enjoyed watching his son playing for Fairfax in recent years but suffered two strokes that has limited him to a wheelchair. He is beloved by so many who saw him play in the 1980s and got to know him after his playing career concluded.
Here’s a story from 1985 that explains Williams’ journey and the twists and turns.
Recommendations
From the Orange County Register, a story on a former water polo star who admitted he transferred after being banned at his former school, which opens the question if he should have been declared ineligible by CIF rules.
From the San Diego Union-Tribune, a story on USC commit and NIL deal leader Honor Fa’alave-Johnson of Cathedral Catholic.
Tweets you might have missed
Until next time....
Have a question, comment or something you’d like to see in a future Prep Rally newsletter? Email me at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com, and follow me on Twitter at @latsondheimer.
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