Prep Rally: Football kicks off with a No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. My name is Eric Sondheimer. The Times’ preseason top 25 football rankings are out. Mater Dei starts No. 1. Corona Centennial is No. 2. And the season begins this week with No. 1 hosting No. 2.
Top 25 rankings
The high school football season begins Thursday night with No. 1 Mater Dei hosting No. 2 Corona Centennial at Santa Ana Stadium. It will be the debut of first-year Mater Dei coach Raul Lara.
Here’s a look at the top 25 preseason teams by The Times.
Here’s a look at the top 10 City Section teams.
Top defensive backs
When you attend a Wilmington Banning High football game, it’s hard not to pay attention to Steven Perez. He’s 6 feet 1, 190 pounds and plays anywhere and everywhere. He has been a receiver, running back, linebacker, and defensive back. He’ll be playing some quarterback.
“I’m willing to do whatever,” he said. “We do hitting drills and when no one is stepping up if it’s offensive line or defensive line, I’m always, ‘Put me in.’”
The fact Perez will play the first month of his senior year as a 16-year-old gives you a hint about his fearlessness and confidence.
Banning defensive back Steven Perez has versatility to guide Pilots.
The Times’ nine-part series previewing the top players in Southern California can be found here.
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Football
The West Valley League held a media day on Saturday, and there were inspiring stories from players and coaches. Here’s the report.
Garfield coach Lorenzo Hernandez has been raving about sophomore running back Cesar Reyes, who was a star last season on the junior varsity team. He had a long touchdown run in the Bulldogs’ scrimmage against Schurr.
First-year Hamilton coach Elijah Asante thinks he has a top freshman in 6-foot-2, 240-pound Richard Dunn. The only problem is he’s 13 years old and not eligible to play in Friday’s opener against St. Monica. He turns 14 the next day, so he’ll make his debut the following week against Manual Arts.
Santa Margarita and Chaminade engaged in an offensive-minded scrimmage. Here’s the report.
Sierra Canyon opened its season in Hawaii with a 30-7 win over Punahou. It was a dominating defensive performance featuring three interceptions from Madden Riordan. Dane Dunn rushed for 135 yards and Wyatt Becker completed 18 of 26 passes for 217 yards and one touchdown. Here’s the report.
Mission Viejo won its opener in Hawaii 41-7. Simi Valley traveled to Reno to defeat Spanish Springs 33-13.
Here’s this week’s complete zero week schedule.
Girls’ flag football
The high school flag football season is underway in the Southland and the race to crown the first Southern Section champion has begun.
Here’s the report on top teams and players in the Southern Section and City Section.
There will be 79 flag football teams in the City Section this season as compared to 51 last season, the first year of the competition.
Birmingham, the defending City champion, has announced that Malaea Tonga will be the quarterback this season, moving from receiver. Her twin brothers were standout linemen for the 11-man football team.
El Camino Real’s new head coach is Rick Hayashida, who is an 11-man assistant with the Royals and former Chatsworth head coach.
One of the top Southern Section quarterbacks from last season, Madi Lam, has transferred from Esperanza to Santa Margarita. She’s also a top junior basketball player.
Girls’ volleyball
It was Mira Costa versus Redondo Union in the semifinals of the Ann Kang tournament in Hawaii on Saturday. Redondo Union won and ended up runner-up to Byron Nelson of Texas.
Several top teams traveled to Hawaii, including Palos Verdes, Orange Lutheran and Long Beach Poly.
Palos Verdes has twins Mallory and Molly LaBreche, the beach pairs champions, along with 6-foot-4 Kaci Demaria, a Stanford commit.
Huntington Beach won the Lakewood tournament championship, defeating Oaks Christian 15-13 in the final. Ellie Esko had more than 30 kills in the final match.
One of the best matches of the week saw Harvard-Westlake rallying for a 3-2 win over Campbell Hall. Kylie Parker led the comeback.
Oaks Christian started 3-0, including a sweep of Campbell Hall in which Brooke Gilmour had 11 kills.
Etiwanda won the Mountain View tournament with a 25-14, 28-26 win over Redlands.
Here’s a look at top teams in San Diego for girls’ volleyball.
Here’s the CIF state volleyball notebook.
Water polo
There was a kid in the pool at JSerra on Thursday morning wearing a No. 17 cap and looking as if he could score any time because of a shot that resembles a Nolan Ryan fastball.
When he left the pool and pulled out his bronze medal from the Paris Olympics, it became clear who the water polo celebrity was.
Ryder Dodd, who last season was the No. 1 player in high school water polo, returned for a practice session and to show off the medal he won playing for the U.S. national team in Paris. Players were kidding him about his tanned back from lying at the beach. Everyone realized in their presence was an 18-year-old who could become the face of U.S. water polo in the coming years. They gathered for a photo session.
Here’s the report.
Basketball
Friday was the first day of classes at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, and coach Matt Sargeant couldn’t be happier to see his three outstanding transfer students enrolled and attending class.
There’s junior Tyran Stokes from Prolific Prep, considered among the best players in the nation from the class of 2026. He won a gold medal this summer with the under-16 national team.
There’s 6-5 Josiah Nance, a transfer from Heritage Christian who’s a member of the class of 2027.
And there’s NaVorro Bowman, a guard transfer from Virginia who’s a sophomore guard and the son of the new Chargers assistant coach.
When Sept. 9 comes and college coaches can begin attending high school practices again, the Notre Dame gym might be a little crowded. The Knights also return guards Angelino Mark and Zachary White.
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Notes ...
Infielder Jack Laffitte from Harvard-Westlake has committed to Michigan. ...
Junior offensive lineman Kodi Greene of Mater Dei has committed to Oregon. ...
Adam Sorgi has resigned after seven years as baseball coach at Capistrano Valley. He has been battling a rare form of cancer. ...
Junior left-handed pitcher Parker Allman of Saugus has committed to Miami. ...
Infielder/pitcher Trevor Banning of Santa Margarita has committed to Santa Clara. ...
Water polo Hall of Fame coach Rich Corso is back in Southern California helping as an assistant coach at Oaks Christian. He was head coach for the U.S. Olympic team, head coach at Harvard-Westlake and head coach at Cal for women’s water polo. ...
Ontario Christian has promoted assistant coach Aundre Cummings to head coach of the girls’ basketball program. He’s the stepfather to sophomore standout Kaleena Smith. ...
Bosco Tech boys basketball coach Michael Romo has resigned. He guided the team to a Southern Section championship in 2023. ...
Chris Rucker is the new baseball coach at Pasadena. ...
Third baseman Gavin Fien from Great Oak completed a great summer by being named MVP at the MLB High School All-American Game in San Diego. He had two two hits. ...
Campbell Hall guard Isaiah Johnson has committed to Colorado. ...
Junior defensive lineman Dutch Horisk of St. John Bosco has committed to Oregon. ...
The Torrance Babe Ruth 13-16 team has won the World Series. The MVP was Brendan Jarrad from Peninsula High. Top hitters were Nori Mori (Torrance) and Aiden Bui (Torrance). Pitchers included Aidan Anaya (Torrance), Gibson Turner (Torrance) and Sam Cruz (Torrance). Matthew Gonzalez of Banning was Gold Glove. ...
Josiah Hartshorn of Orange Lutheran won the home run derby at the All-American Classic all-star game. . . .
From the archives: Matayo Uiagalelei
Oregon defensive lineman Matayo Uiagalelei looks primed for a breakout sophomore season. The younger brother of former St. John Bosco quarterback DJ Uiagalelei is listed at 6 feet 5, 270 pounds.
He was The Times’ player of the year during the spring pandemic season at St. John Bosco in 2021.
Here’s a story from 2021.
Recommendations
From USA Today, a story asking whether postgame handshakes should be banned in youth sports.
From ESPN.com, a story on former Los Alamitos quarterback Malachi Nelson at Boise State.
From the Washington Post, a story on a youth soccer giant in San Diego being challenged.
From ESPN.com, a story on high school officials wearing cameras in Washington.
From the Los Angeles Times, a look back 30 years ago at the Earthquake Kids from Northridge Little League reaching the World Series.
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.
