Prep Rally: League play begins in football, which means things will get a lot more intense

Quarterback Ryan Hopkins of JSerra runs for touchdown against San Diego Lincoln.

Columnist

Sept. 30, 2024 6 AM PT

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. My name is Eric Sondheimer. It’s the week physical football begins. The Trinity League and Marine League begin action.

Trinity League insanity

The best football league in the nation starts a five-week grind Friday. If you play in the Trinity League, it’s like being a teenage WWE wrestler except it’s real. Players in the trenches should be wearing GoPros to document the fierce battles taking place.

Of the six teams, Mater Dei is ranked No. 1 in Southern California, St. John Bosco No. 2, JSerra No. 4, Orange Lutheran No. 5, Servite No. 8 and Santa Margarita No. 15.

Here’s a rundown on where the six teams stand after compiling a 26-3 record in nonleague games.

In the Marine League, the top five teams are ranked by CalPreps as the top five teams in the City Section. Narbonne hosts Banning and San Pedro is at Carson on Friday.

Southern Section football

Newbury Park quarterback Brady Smigiel, left, and wide receiver Shane Rosenthal.

Receiver Shane Rosenthal of Newbury Park became the all-time receiving leader in Ventura County for most touchdown receptions with 49 and overall receptions at 270 and counting. The touchdown record was held by Newbury Park receivers coach Whitney Lewis. Here’s the report.

Long Beach Poly picked up a big Moore League win over Lakewood behind quarterback Deuce Jefferson. Here’s the report.

Receiver Vance Spafford of Mission Viejo caught five passes, four of which went for touchdowns, in a win over Chaparral. He finished with 186 yards receiving in the latest performance for a class of 2026 prospect who keeps rising. “He’s phenomenal,” coach Chad Johnson said. “He’s unreal.” Next up is a Friday game at SoFi Stadium against Long Beach Poly, which could lead to comparisons with Cooper Kupp of the Rams.

Junior quarterback Cole Leinart, the son of Heisman Trophy winner Matt Leinart, made his season debut for Redondo Union and threw a touchdown on his first pass, a trick play. He finished with three touchdown passes in a 32-7 win over Banning. He played last season until Sept. 26 at Mater Dei until transferring to Newport Harbor, where he played basketball.

Edison won its fourth straight game. Here’s the report.

The sit-out period for Southern Section players who transferred without moving ends Monday. There’s plenty of players who will make their season debuts this week. St. John Bosco gets offensive lineman Kaden Franco, who started as a freshman at Servite.

Agoura has lost standout junior quarterback Gavin Gray for the rest of the season because of a broken leg suffered against Calabasas. He served notice he can be a college prospect for 2025.

Receiver Chris Henry Jr. of Mater Dei had surgery after an injury suffered against Bishop Gorman. His availability is unknown.

Defensive back CJ McBean of Gardena Serra has committed to Idaho. Offensive lineman Arion Williams of Orange Lutheran has committed to Washington State.

Here’s this week’s top 25 rankings by The Times.

Here’s the list of top performers from last week.

Here’s last week’s scores.

Here’s the schedule for this weekend.

City Section football

Dredon Fowles of Birmingham takes off on an 80-yard touchdown run on the first play against Calabasas

Birmingham has everyone right where it wants after going 0-4 in losing four nonleague teams to Southern Section teams. The Patriots are making progress and begin West Valley League play on Friday with a chance to set a City Section record for most consecutive wins over section opponents with a 42-game winning streak. Here’s a report on the Patriots’ progress despite being 0-4.

Narbonne came away with a 35-0 win over King/Drew and enters Marine League play as probably the favorite.

David Sandy of L.A. Jordan rushed for 408 yards in a win over Fremont.

Marquez stepped forward with a 13-6 win over Crenshaw.

Garfield received 179 yards rushing from sophomore Ceasar Reyes in a 21-13 victory over Bell. Here’s the report.

Cousins Diego and James Montes led Granada Hills Kennedy to a big victory over San Fernando. The Golden Cougars are running away with the Valley Mission League title.

Here’s this week’s top 10 City Section football rankings.

CalPreps uncertainty

According to a message left on the CalPreps.com website, the site is out of funds because of a dispute with the owner of MaxPreps, CBS, and has been “forced to cease operations,” which will affect many sections in the CIF that use CalPreps to determine playoff seedings.

Southern Section spokesman Thom Simmons said, “No need to panic. We have backups.”

Here’s a statement from CalPreps founder Ned Freeman: “We hope and expect that CBS will comply with contract terms, but there’s no way to predict their behavior.”

Concert at SoFi

Black Eyed Peas played at halftime of the Garfield-Roosevelt game in 2022 at the Coliseum

Rapper Will.i.am is returning to perform at another halftime show for the Garfield-Roosevelt football game, this time on Oct. 25 at SoFi Stadium. The East L.A. Classic is being played there this season.

He’ll be joined by Black Eyed Peas members similar to the halftime show at the 2022 East L.A. Classic at the Coliseum.

There are three games scheduled to be played at SoFi, including Friday’s Mission Viejo vs. Long Beach Poly game.

Flag football

St. Joseph quarternack Lexi Loya sets up to throw a pass over the middle as a receiver curls to the flat behind her.

Are you ready for the biggest girls’ flag football game in California’s two-year history of the sport?

It’s happening Tuesday when Santa Margarita (10-0) plays at Orange Lutheran (17-0) at 5:25 p.m.

Another unbeaten team is St. Joseph, led by quarterback Lexi Loya, the sister of UCLA receiver Logan Loya. Here’s a profile of Loya, who is being coached by her father, Tim.

San Pedro picked up a 32-19 victory over Marine League rival Banning.

Eagle Rock won two games over Van Nuys and Cleveland but suffered its first defeat since last summer to Westlake.

Orange Lutheran improved to 17-0 with a victory over JSerra. Newport Harbor won the El Toro tournament, defeating Huntington Beach in the final.

Cross country

Loyola and Palisades girls won team titles at the Bell-Jeff Invitational.

Zion Ortiz of Ridgecrest Burroughs had the fastest boys time at 15:29.8 For girls, Phoebe Benun of Santa Monica ran 19:05.4

This week’s Southern Section cross-country rankings.

Girls volleyball

Sierra Canyon players celebrate their five-set victory over Mission League rival Marymount.

Marymount has been the dominant girls’ volleyball team in the Mission League, but Sierra Canyon won the title last season and came away with a five-set win over Marymount last week. Here’s the report.

One of the best matches of the week was Marymount taking on Louisville. It went to a fifth set, with Marymount prevailing 18-16. Sammy Desler had 17 kills for Marymount, which lost to Mater Dei in the championship match of the Durango tournament in Las Vegas.

Here’s the state girls volleyball rankings.

Mira Costa picked up a huge win in its Bay League rivalry match against Redondo Union, taking the match in four sets. Audrey Flanagan had 27 kills and Simon Roslon 16 kills. Milly McGee had 46 assists.

Water polo

JSerra and Harvard-Westlake engaged in another intense, dramatic game with JSerra prevailing 14-13 on a penalty goal by Tyler Anderson.

Harvard-Westlake had another close game, defeating Oaks Christian 13-12 on a game-winner from Otto Stothart.

Taj Draper scored five goals for Harvard-Westlake.

Newport Harbor remains the No. 1 team with a 13-0 record.

Ivy Leaguers

Former Gardena Serra running back Kai Honda is freshman at Princeton.

The Ivy League football season has begun, with 46 former Southland high school players on Ivy League rosters.

One of the them is former Gardena Serra running back Kai Honda.

He talks about the adjustment attending Princeton and balancing academics with sports.

Family of doctors

Dr. Paul Simic, an orthopedic hand surgeon, and son Will, starting center at Oak Christian.

When Hall of Fame football coach Kevin Rooney was coaching at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame in the 1980s, two of his best linemen were brothers Paul and John Simic. Paul would go on to Cornell, John to Harvard. They both became doctors.

“I hope I don’t have to see John because he’s an emergency room doctor,” Rooney said. “Paul I see because he’s a hand, wrist and shoulder doctor. They are great guys. They were really good players and great team guys.”

If you go to an Oaks Christian football game, you can see the next generation of Simics in starting senior center Will Simic, Paul’s son. The only problem right now is that Will is injured, and you’ll never guess what kind of injury.

Here’s a report.

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Notes . . .

Standout senior basketball player Brandon Benjamin of Anheim Canyon has committed to San Diego. He played last season at Mater Dei. . . .

Douglas Langford of St. Pius X-St. Matthias is a native of Belize and committed to Harvard.

Douglas Langford, a 6-foot-7 senior at St. Pius X-St. Matthias, has committed to Harvard. He’s a native of Belize and the country is excited about his future. Here’s the report. . . .

Trent Minter, a 6-foot-7 senior basketball player at Los Alamitos, has committed to the Colorado School of Mines. . . .

Dallas Washington from Santa Margarita has committed to Long Beach State. . . .

Brayden Kyman, a 6-7 senior at Santa Margarita, has committed to Washington State. He’s the brother of former UCLA player Jake Kyman. . . .

Point guard Gavin Hightower, who was a three-year standout at Windward until transferring this year to Sierra Canyon, has committed to Iona. . . .

It’s a big week for UCLA basketball coach Mick Cronin. Harvard-Westlake’s Nikolas Khamenia will be making an official visit this weekend, then decide his college choice. The Bruins appear to be a tight competition with Duke. . . .

Junior catcher Chase Marlow of Santa Margarita has committed to San Diego. . . .

Junior outfielder Greyson Gullage of Sierra Canyon has committed to Cal Poly SLO. . . .

Senior Luke Howe, a pitcher-outfielder from El Camino Real, has committed to Long Beach State. . . .

Junior pitcher Declan Fitzgerald of Fullerton has committed to Arizona State. . . .

Junior pitcher Jake Ourique of Gahr has committed to Loyola Marymount. That’s the third 2026 commit for Gahr, joining shortstop Andres Gonzalez (USC) and pitcher Bryce Morrison (USC). . . .

Junior softball pitcher Mia Valbuena of Marina has committed to Michigan. . . .

Verbum Dei has suspended its football program after going 0-4 and having a shortage of players. Coach Kevin Smith also has resigned as head coach. Here’s a report.

From the archives: Hunter Greene

Notre Dame High baseball player, Hunter Greene.

Hunter Greene, the No. 2 player taken out of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame in the 2017 draft, completed his best season yet pitching for the Cincinnati Reds.

He made the All-Star Game and finished 9-5 with a 2.83 ERA and 166 strikeouts in 146.1 innings. His fastball was hitting triple digits.

Here’s a story from 2017 when Greene was getting national attention in high school.

Recommendations

From the Orange County Register, a story on St. Francis freshman golf phenom Jaden Soong.

From the San Diego Union-Tribune, a story on a girls volleyball team gaining strength from within after the death of the team’s No. 1 fan.

From the Washington Post, a story on a trans girl wanting to play volleyball in Florida and the fallout.

From Deseret News, a storoy on former Laguna Beach tight end Ryner Swanson making impact as a freshman at BYU.

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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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