Maybe someday Brady Hoke will throw that proverbial “fence around the county” and get the top prospects in San Diego County to come to SDSU. Before he builds that fence, though, Hoke will need to first interrupt the pipeline.

You know, the one Bob Stoops has built between San Diego and Norman, Oklahoma.

Stoops, looking to restore Oklahoma to national title contention in 2010, will do so with the help of a trio of San Diego talents. All-time San Diego section receiving leader Kenny Stills and hard-hitting Eastlake star

Tony Jefferson both announced on Friday night that they will attend the University of Oklahoma next year, joining Scripps Ranch star Brennan Clay. The threesome made their announcements at the KUSI Prep Pigskin Gala at the Hall of Champions.

Clay, who had committed months before to the Sooners, was thrilled to have his two talented Silver Pigskin finalists (Mission Bay’s Dillon Baxter won the trophy) join him in Norman:

Hear from all three of the newest Sooners after the jump:

Brennan Clay(full SportsForce profile here) was the first to commit to Oklahoma. He joined 619 Sports immediately after the announcement of the Silver Pigskin award to talk about the honor of the evening and the process of luring Jefferson and Stills to join him in Norman:

Kenny Stills (full SportsForce profile here) had been heavily recruited by USC but wound up narrowing his choices to Florida, Michigan and Oklahoma. In the end, Stills told 619 Sports the chance to team up with Jefferson and Clay, and to participate in the Sooners’ vaunted passing attack, was too much to pass up:

Tony Jefferson angered the Arroyo Seco when he first committed to UCLA, only to show up at the UCLA-USC game wearing Trojans garb. After hearing the barbs from the Bruins, Jefferson withdrew his commitment to the Bruins and took a campus trip to Norman. The rest was history, as he told 619 Sports:

With Jefferson in the secondary and Clay and Stills in the OU backfield, Boomer Sooner is picking up speed heading into 2010.

–Courtesy 619Sports.net

by Craig at 619Sports.net

CIF San Diego Section will send two schools to next weekend’s State Bowl games at the Home Depot Center, as both Oceanside and Francis Parker have earned trips to Carson. The bowl matchups were announced by the CIF earlier this afternoon.

Francis Parker will represent Southern California in the Small Schools division, taking on the Modesto Christian Crusaders at 4pm on Friday. Oceanside was named as the SoCal Division I representative, they will battle Bellarmine Prep Bells at 8pm on Friday night.

–Courtesy 619Sports.net

D- III: Cathedral On Top Again

Cathedral Catholic and Point Loma battled it out in what proved be a closer match than years prior considering the Dons blowout win against the Pointers in the 2007 CIF Championship , beating them 41-3. The Pointers able to lead the Dons in the second half through the third quarter with a score of 14-6, but that is where the lead would end. The Dons finally gained momentum with a touchdown midway through the fourth quarter, however, their attempt at a 2 point conversion pass was knocked down.

After the defense held, Cathedral got the ball back at its own 36 with 5:19 remaining. On 3rd-and-9, Cathedral Catholic coach, Sean Doyle, sent in word to go for the downs. Dons QB, Max Brewer called a slant-and-go for WR Chance Early, who was lined up in single coverage split to the left against Point Loma’s Davis Callejon. The slant move drew in Callejon and allowed Early to get a half-step behind his coverage.

Brewer delivered a perfect throw, running back Early made the catch, then broke free of Callejon’s tackle at the 35-yard-line. The rest was clear sailing to the end zone and a third-straight Section championship.

D-IV Final: Baxter Scores 7 TDs in 48-17 Rout of Valley Center

Baxter, in a performance for the ages, rushed for 384 yards and seven touchdowns as the top-seeded Mission Bay Bucaneers (13-0) ran past Valley Center 48-17 in Chula Vista. Baxter, who already owns the state scoring record, came within 40 yards of the single-game San Diego section rushing record, held by Kenneth James Jr. of Mt. Carmel, who ran for 424 yards against Westview earlier this year.

His first carry of the night went for 34 yards, but that was just a warmup. On his final carry of the first half, Baxter broke a 92-yard scoring run. On his first carry of the third quarter, it was Dillon Baxter for 87 yards and another score. A 46 yard scoring romp on 4th down sealed the deal in the final quarter.

Baxter’s take on the game:

It was a special night for Mission Bay coach Willie Matson, who saw 30 years of hard work rewarded with his first CIF title:

Baxter said he fulfilled a promise by delivering a title plaque to Matson before he left for USC:

Jaguars head coach Rob Gilster had nothing but praise for his great running back:

But in the end, both coaches could only watch and admire the individual brilliance of Dillon Baxter, who will surely go on to great things at USC in the next four years. From the opposing sideline, Gilster could only grit his teeth after missed tackles and long Baxter runs:

Meanwhile, Baxter’s high school career can now be compared to the greats who have preceded him, such as Marcus Allen and Reggie Bush. Has there ever been a more dominant player in the section than Baxter? Matson said simply that Baxter was the best player he had ever coached:

–Courtesy 619Sports.net

The Championship game of the Raven Tipoff Classic in San Diego, CA featured the University City Centurions versus the Newport Harbor Sailors in an exciting rematch from earlier in the tournament. During the previous meeting the Centurions won in overtime on a fade away buzzer beater by Jordan Johnson that brought the crowd to their feet.

Early championship game action showed that both teams are still in early season form and looking to work out some kinks before the start of league play. There were many turnovers and passes that sailed out of bounds in the first two quarters of play. Though much of the scoring went back and forth, the Centurions led 24-21 over the Sailors at halftime.

Newport Harbor head coach, Larry Hirst, must have said something inspirational to his team during halftime because the Sailors came out firing on all cylinders, going on a 7-2 run to start the half and forcing the Centurions to take a quick timeout. A few minutes into the quarter Jordan Johnson drove down the middle for a layup, but went down hard on his back and was called for a charge. The star from the previous meeting was taken out of the game to be looked at by a medical trainer for the majority of the third quarter.

At the end of the third quarter, when the game clock was practically dead even with the shot clock, the Sailors made a costly turnover. With seven ticks left on the clock, the Centurions managed to get the ball to Alex Catton who nailed a 3 point shot that put them within four.

Newport Harbor played the fourth quarter with a ridiculous amount of energy on both sides of the ball. Taking the lead after halftime gave the Sailors momentum and they never looked back, resulting in a 68-55 victory over the Centurions. Chad Seeber had a number of steals and good defensive stops to give the Sailors extra possessions. Chris Anderson was a force offensively, scoring in double digits for the final quarter and lead all scorers with 19 points.

Notable Performances:

University City: Cerone Ramcharan 17pts, Joe Gordon 10pts

Newport Harbor: Chris Anderson 19pts, Ethan Ayers 15pts, Chad Seeber 13pts

Former Student Athlete of the Week, Natalie Hagglund, helped lead the LCC Girls Volleyball team to victory over No. 1 ranked Torrey Pines. The San Diego Union-Tribune writes of the match,

In a thrilling back-and-forth battle between two of the state’s top programs, the Avocado League rivals did not disappoint in the San Diego Section Division I finals.

In the end, No. 2 La Costa Canyon took the 25-15, 25-27, 25-22, 26-24 victory over the top-seeded Falcons at Cathedral Catholic last night, earning the Mavericks a sixth consecutive section title before a near-capacity crowd.

Just two weeks earlier, La Costa Canyon (28-5) fell to Torrey Pines (25-9) in the final match of the regular season, resulting in the league title being shared by the two schools and the higher seed in the playoffs going to the Falcons.

But the Mavericks managed to finish ahead in the tightly contested match, getting a stunning performance from big-match veterans Kendall Polan and Natalie Hagglund as well as underclassmen such as sophomore Natalie Bausback and junior Karsta Lowe.

Hagglund had a match-high 10 kills, while Bausback and Lowe each added nine.

See video below of Natalie in action at the California Challenge:

Full article here

See Natalie’s full SportsForce profile here

Positions: RB / DB Height: 5′ 7″ Weight: 150 Class: 2010

Point Loma High School San Diego, CA

Despite his small stature, Point Loma running back Stephan Jackson continues to come up big for the Pointers this season. He rushed for 117 yards and a touchdown on only 7 carries to help propel his team over conference rival Serra last Friday. Jackson is averaging nearly 8 yards per carry this season and has 363 total yards from scrimmage. Jackson looks to continue his stellar play this season when the Pointers take on the Hoover Cardinals in a battle of 5-3 teams this Friday night.

Visit Stephan’s full SportsForce profile HERE

SportsForce athlete and Christian High School place-kicker, Michael Gruber was recently featured by the San Diego Union-Tribune in an article highlighting the superior abilities of Christian’s special teams. Gruber is a talented athlete all around as the Union-Tribune reports:

“Gruber, a starting catcher for the Christian baseball team, never thought about football until the beginning of his junior year. His place-kicking career began by chance after his father, Curt Gruber, and former football coach and now Christian athletic director David Beezer watched him play goalkeeper for the Patriots soccer team.”

“I knew he was raw, but I got a bag of balls just to see what he could do as a possible kicker,” Beezer said. “I kept it simple, and he’s gotten better and better.”

Gruber’s accuracy is especially impressive: “Gruber has placed 21 of his 25 kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks. In the past two seasons, Gruber and the Patriots are 16-for-16 in recovering onside kicks.”

Gruber is an extremely dedicated athlete and has taken many measures to ensure his success as a place-kicker: “When the kicking carrot was dangled in front of him, Gruber went after it. He attended a San Diego summer combine with 50 kickers and won the field goal kicking competition. He has connected on 4-of-6 field goal attempts this season with a long of 47 yards for Christian (5-2), which plays at Santa Fe Christian at 2 p.m. Saturday.”

John Matich, is a former NFL and NCAA kicker and now owner and director of The Kicking System, which offers Camps & Private Kicking Lessons in San Diego, Orange County, and Los Angeles.

For the complete article, click here.

To view Michael’s complete profile and his 2008 season highlight video click here.

SportsForce athletes haven been recognized over the past few weeks for their stand out performances. Previous Athlete of the Week, running back and USC commit Dillon Baxter has been the talk of many news outlets with an explosive start to his season. 619Sports.net wrote of Baxter and Missions Bay’s 49-27 win over Point Loma:

“ He ran the ball 22 times for 133 yards and four scores; breaking through tackles and embarrassing defenders along the way. Through the air he totaled 170 yards with 2 touchdowns and only one interception.

“All week we’ve been preparing,” said Baxter after the game. Our wide receivers just had to execute, the O-line had to buckle down because we knew they have a strong front. We just came out and matched their intensity and took it over.”

Full article here

Baxter had another amazing performance two weeks back against the Lincoln High Hornets, with the San Diego Union-Tribune reporting:

Baxter rushed for 268 yards and two touchdown in addition to passing for another 277 yards and four TDs while coming ever so close to 600 total yards after returning a crucial interception 41 yards to lead the Buccaneers to a 41-34 non-league victory, spoiling Lincoln’s homecoming.

Full article here or View Dillon’s Full SportsForce Profile

Kenny Stills, Jr, has also had a very impressive season thus far, and the Union-Tribune recently published a feature on the La Costa Canyon receiver. The Union-Tribune highlighted how Stills relationship with his father has helped to nurture his sports career. Stills father is Kenny Stills Sr, former NFL player and current USD defensive backs coach. The U-T writes:

Stills Sr. knew his son had talent and drive, but he has surpassed his expectations.

“Honestly, Kenny has developed more than I ever dreamed,” Stills Sr. said. “I’ve been a coach at the high school, college and pro ranks, and I can tell you I am totally impressed with the way he has developed into a complete player.”

Stills said his son has had one big motivating factor driving him his entire career as a football player.

“He’s always wanted to be better than his dad,” Stills Sr. said.

Full article here

This past weekend, the senior receiver continued his dominance and had nine catches for 130 yards, threw a 29-yard touchdown pass, returned an interception 75 yards interception and finished a 56-7 win over Mission Hills with 311 all-purpose yards.

View Kenny’s Full SportsForce Profile

SportsForce CEO Andrew Beinbrink was interviewed by AM 830 KLAA , Home of the Angels, about the SportsForce mission. Take a moment to listen to the interview and learn a little more first hand.

The XX1090 Athlete of the Week is Brennan Clay of Scripps Ranch High School. Brennan is a Running Back for the Falcons. As listed on the XX1090 website Brennan is “…a very muscular and compact back and very high-effort kid that has tremendous change of direction and above-average speed. He will be extra dangerous because he is a stellar pass receiver and dangerous in space.”