Newport Beach residents collect football accolades

Newport Beach residents Matt Barkley and Robbie Boyer, who starred for the Mater Dei High football team last fall, have been named all-state by calhisports.com.

Barkley, a 6-foot-3, 210-pound junior quarterback, made the first-team offense, after completing 213 of 346 passes for 3,576 yards and 35 touchdowns, with just nine interceptions in 11 games for the Monarchs.

Barkley, a three-year starter, was previously honored as the Gatorade National Player of the Year, and was the inaugural recipient of the Joe Montana Quarterback of the Year award, given to the top quarterback in the nation. He is the first junior to win the Gatorade national award.

He was also the Gatorade State Player of the Year and the Trinity League Most Valuable Player.

Barkley, who sharpened his skills in the Newport-Mesa Junior All-American Football program before high school, helped Mater Dei post a 9-2 season, which ended in the quarterfinals of the CIF Southern Section Pac-5 Division playoffs.

Boyer, a 6-1, 175-pound senior receiver, was named to the third-team offense. Also a former Newport-Mesa Junior All-American Football standout, Boyer, Barkley’s cousin, had 57 receptions for 1,026 yards and 14 touchdowns, helping the Monarchs average 40.5 points per game.

Boyer is being recruited by USC, UCLA, Air Force, Harvard, San Diego, San Diego State and Southern Methodist.

Barkley is the first junior quarterback to be named first-team all-state since 1996, when Jason Thomas of Dominguez of Compton was recognized as a multi-purpose performer.

— Barry Faulkner