Prep Rally: High school football season begins this week
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. My name is Eric Sondheimer. The high school football season begins this week with Zero Week games. But first up is completing our nine-part series.
A rare 6-4 cornerback
Maliki Crawford’s 79-inch armspan isn’t quite the 12.1-foot wingspan of the Wandering albatross, but don’t tell that to the receivers trying to catch passes after he uses one of his arms to make a deflection.
Those long arms help make him the rarest of cornerbacks, along with another unique physical trait — his 6-foot-4 height.
He smiles and laughs when asked if he thinks 6-4 is too tall to play cornerback.
“I don’ know what to say about that question,” he said. “I just play football.”
Crawford’s long arms, agility, quickness and athleticism puts receivers on notice that he’s a defensive back ready to be tested and challenged, except don’t expect him to back down from anyone.
The Oxnard Pacifica senior recently committed to USC. Here’s a profile and the eighth story in nine previewing players to watch for the high school football season.
If you missed any, go here.
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Mater Dei starts No. 1
Santa Ana Mater Dei is No. 1 in The Times’ preseason top 25 football rankings. The Monarchs have gone 17-0 the last two seasons and are the team to beat.
Here’s the link to rankings.
Let the season begin
Zero week is set for Thursday and Friday to start the high school football season.
On Thursday, the game to watch is Valencia at Bishop Amat.
On Friday, top 25 teams Gardena Serra and Orange Lutheran play at Orange Coast College. There’s also a good City Section day opener on Friday with Granada Hills playing at Arleta.
Here’s the link to opening week schedule.
Mission Viejo began its season on Friday in Hawaii. Mission Viejo won 34-21 over Mililani.
Robert Garrett keeps going
There’s a living legend at Crenshaw High, and his name is Robert Garrett, the football coach since 1988.
While the school and community around him keeps changing, Garrett is stubbornly sticking around trying to help those who want help in the game of football and life.
Here’s a profile on how Garrett is holding out even though the number of players available has dwindled.
The Garrett coaching tree is also expanding.
Here’s a story on some former Garrett assistants trying to pass on what they have learned at other City Section schools.
Running backs in spotlight
“This is the league of the running back.”
So says St. Bonaventure coach Joe Goyenche in describing the Marmonte League, and he’s absolutely correct.
During a 3½-hour Marmonte League media day featuring the new six teams participating, it was clear that the team able to do the best job stopping running backs will probably end up league champion.
It starts with Delon Thompson of St. Bonaventure. He rushed for 1,078 yards and 17 touchdowns last season when the Seraphs won the league title. His coach calls him “the best of those running backs.”
But the competition for No. 1 is wide open. What about Caleb Alvary of Simi Valley. He rushed for 1,302 yards and 17 touchdowns. King Miller of Calabasas gained 1,400 yards. Qu’Ran Gossett of Bishop Diego had 1,004 yards and 20 touchdowns. Johnny Thompson of Oaks Christian had 979 yards rushing and nine touchdowns.
Here’s the rundown on the league.
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Sports participation declines
For the sixth consecutive season, 11-man participation levels for high school football in California have declined, according to the annual CIF participation survey.
There was no survey done in 2020-21 because of the pandemic. For 2021-22, 84,626 played football, down from 89,756 in 2019-20 and down from 91,305 in 2018-19. There has been a decline every season since 2015. The pandemic also caused the loss of players through the absence of lower-level programs.
Here’s a report.
Field troubles
Amid growing complaints that parts of its all-weather turf field was melting and ending up stuck on shoes, El Camino Real High has shut down the field to all contact sports use and will replace it with a new field, according to Brad Wright, the school’s board chairman.
All home games for football and soccer will become road games or switched to a different facility until the field is replaced by the Los Angeles Unified School District. This is the second time El Camino Real had trouble with melting turf materials after it was replaced in 2010.
This is the latest defective all-weather turf field paid for by LAUSD. Fremont also has its field shut down this season. Crenshaw had similar issues with its field last year.
Girls’ volleyball
Every week was hell week. They trudged into the gym at 5:45 a.m., walking out with shirts drenched, limbs rubbery, tanks on empty.
Maybe Torrey Stafford knew what she was walking into at Los Angeles Marymount High last year after a transfer from Torrance Bishop Montgomery. She knew the Sailors had ridiculous talent. She knew they had expectations to win every match. But she didn’t expect this grind.
“Is it going to be like this all season?” she’d ask her senior teammates after another grueling practice.
“Yeah,” they’d affirm, making fun of her for the question, because it was all season.
A year and a once-in-a-lifetime volleyball team later, Stafford sits on the sideline of a summer workout. The group running drills behind her is no longer an undefeated juggernaut but a fresh-faced team with no wins and no losses. Gone is Elia Rubin’s fire, Kerry Keefe’s power, Kelly Belardi’s steady hand.
Stafford is what remains. And suddenly, it’s her job to answer that question she once asked.
“We’re doing this again this season,” now-senior Stafford said, unwavering. “We’re doing this again … I’m confident that we can repeat what we did last year.”
Here’s a Southern Section girls’ volleyball preview of top teams and players.
Mira Costa wins
It was some of the best volleyball Mira Costa girls’ coach Cam Green had seen in a long time.
At long last, about 2,500 miles away from their respective Manhattan Beach and Chatsworth homes, Mira Costa and Sierra Canyon, two powerhouse Southern Section girls’ volleyball programs, lined up on opposite sides of the net for the first time in at least eight years.
The two teams had swept their way through the first two days of the preseason Ann Kang Invitational tournament in Hawaii. Finally, they met in the last match of pool play, Mustang against Trailblazer, and sparks flew.
“It was a fast-tempo game; it was really a college-level type of play,” Green said.
In the end, whichever toppled the other would take the tournament crown. Sierra Canyon gritted out a tough victory in their matchup in pool play, but when they met again in the championship round Saturday night, Mira Costa cracked the code en route to a 2-0 (25-20, 25-22) win.
Here’s a report.
Notes . . .
Receiver/tight end Niko Lopez of Santa Margarita has committed to Colorado State. . . .
Thomas Cassidy is returning as baseball coach at Calabasas. He was head coach from 2014-18, then became an assistant coach with the Coyotes. . . .
Reggie Morris Jr. has returned to Redondo Union as boys’ basketball coach. He guided Fairfax to the City Section Open Division championship last season. He previously coached at Redondo. . . .
Linebacker Tanner Williams of Mater Dei has been lost for the reason because of a torn ACL. . . .
Andy Diver has been hired as the baseball coach at Mira Costa. It’s a return to the South Bay, where he had been head coach at Redondo Union, then Windward. . . .
West Ranch standout basketball player Andrew Meadow has committed to Boise State. . . .
Calabasas baseball player Tyler Shulman has committed to Harvard. . . .
Chyanne Butler is the new girls’ basketball coach at JSerra. She played at USC and was head coach at Pacifica Chrisitian. . . .
Tyler Trapani is the new girls’ basketball coach at El Camino Real. He played for UCLA and Simi Valley and is the great grandson of John Wooden. . . .
Apple Valley offensive lineman Raymond Pulido has committed to Alabama.
From the archives: Ken Norton Jr.
Ken Norton Jr., the son of the former world heavyweight boxing champion, grew up in Los Angeles. He became a football star at Westchester High, was a linebacker at UCLA and was drafted in the second round in 1988 by the Dallas Cowboys. He later had success with the San Francisco 49ers and was a member of three Super Bowl teams with Dallas and San Francisco.
In 2004, he began his coaching career as an assistant with USC. He joined former USC coach Pete Carroll as an assistant with the Seattle Seahawks in 2010. He became defensive coordinator for the Raiders in 2015 and later returned to the Seahawks as defensive coordinator before joining UCLA as an assistant this season.
Recommendations
From AOL.com, a heartbreaking story on a Kentucky high school football player dying after helping with flood cleanup.
From the Los Angeles Times, a story on former UCLA running back Joshua Kelley trying to help the Chargers.
From Buffzone.com, a story on former Mater Dei lineman Tommy Brown.
From Dallasnews.com, a story on Texas high school football coaches discussing sports specialization.
From the Washington Post, a story on school sports and praying.
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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Get our high school sports newsletter
Prep Rally is devoted to the SoCal high school sports experience, bringing you scores, stories and a behind-the-scenes look at what makes prep sports so popular.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
