Sport: Basketball Positions: Point/ Shooting Guard Height: 6’1” Class: 2010 School: Escondido High School Escondido, CA
Escondido upset the No. 1 ranked Torrey Pines this past week with senior guard Joe Hudson leading his team with a career high of 40 points in the game. The final score was 69-64 with Hudson contributing more than half of Escondido’s points. He also made 9 of 10 free throws in the game. Hudson has been averaging 25.4 points per game and has nailed 72 three pointers on the season. Hudson is considered one of the best shooters on the West Coast, according to ESPNU, and can score from any spot on the floor. He has good burst speed and agility to separate himself from defenders. The 6’1″ captain is committed to Wyoming.
Scouting report and highlight video courtesy of SportsForce – Home for college Sports Recruiting Videos, Tips, Tools and Premium Services – www.sportsforceonline.com
The Gonzalez Sports Academy is celebrating its Grand Opening Wednesday, January 27th. The facility which is owned and operated by the Gonzalez family and world class athletic trainer, Bob Foley boasts state of the art equipment and training tools for athletes of all sports and levels.
The Gonzalez Sports Academy (GSA) offers:
29,000 square foot indoor facility Speed & Agility Area Two (2) 180 ft long running track Weight Training Area Four (4) Batting Cages Strength & Conditioning Two (2) Pitching Mounds Juice Bar Three (3) Professional size Volley Ball Courts Gift Shop Five (5) acres of outdoor training space
The Grand Opening promised a chance to explore the facility and try out the training areas as well as a meet and greet with some pro-athletes including Adrian and Edgar Gonzalez, Tony Gwynn, Jr., Dave Roberts, Paul Molitor, Zeke Moreno and Nick Hundley. For more information on the GSA visit: http://gonzalezsportsacademy.com/
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.
In a year filled with deserving candidates, Mission Bay superstar Dillon Baxter took home the hardware. The Buccaneers QB and future USC Trojan was announced as the 11th winner of the KUSI Silver Pigskin, awarded each year to the top high school football player in San Diego Section.
Baxter led Mission Bay to a 13-0 record and a D-IV San Diego Section championship, setting the all-time section single-season rushing record in the process. Baxter carried 261 times for 2,974 rushing yards and 50 touchdowns, while throwing for 1,922 yards and 25 more touchdowns.
Baxter beat out Escondido’s Ricky Seale, LCC’s Kenny Stills, Eastlake’s Tony Jefferson, Scripps Ranch’s Brennan Clay, and Valhalla’s Pete Thomas for the yearly honor (all pictured above).
After the announcement, Baxter spoke with 619 Sports about the honor, his future at USC, and the challenge of potentially matching up with Oklahoma and their three new San Diego stars in the future:
The 20th Annual MaxPreps Holiday Classic is taking place in Torrey Pines this year from December 26-30th. As all years prior, the tournament promises top teams and coaches from around the country. Every year, nearly 20,000 fans turn out for the tournament as well as many college coaches and recruiters to see the best young basketball talent. Brackets for teams have been broken into National Division, American Division, Governors Division, Mayors Division and Senators Division.
Among the players to watch out for at the tournament are power forward Jvonte Brooks, shooting guard Troy Leaf and point guard Kalob Hatcher. Together they have gotten Foothill Christians to a hot 6-0 start on the season. Each member of this trio is averaging twenty points or more and Jvonte is hauling in over 15 rebounds a contest, while Kalob is impressively dishing out over 8 assist per game. Troy has recently committed to the University of California, Santa Barbara after drawing interest from schools such as SDSU, Washington State, Nevada, Portland, SMU and UNLV ever since his freshman year. Also be on the lookout for Chen Cai, a 6’8 junior forward from Maranatha Christian, who is averaging 25.7 points, 16.7 rebounds and 4 blocks per game. Coming straight from the Torrey Pine Falcons (5-0) is Nick Kerr, a 6’3 junior guard, averaging over 25 points per game and shooting an astounding 43% from beyond the arc.
Making a trip all the way from New Jersey are the St. Patrick Celtics, ranked No.1 in the nation by MaxPreps and No.2 by rivals. The Celtics will be lead by two top 100 prospects in combo guard Kyrie Irving and small forward Julian Washburn. Kyrie recently completed his letter of intent during the early signing period to become a Duke Blue Devil. Competition from out of state will continue to heat up as the Mesa Jackrabbits, ranked No.1 in Arizona and No. 75 nationally by MaxPreps, come to town to try and stake their claim at the title. They’ll have to contend with the Taft Toreadors of Los Angeles who are lead by De Andre Daniels and Bryce Jones. The Toreadors are nationally ranked No.18 by MaxPreps and No.31 by Rivals. Center Greg Leslie bring his Chaparral Pumas in with a perfect 9-0 record on the year and are looking to take down the top contenders.
Seventy five teams are going to be on hand and each one is out to prove that they’re better than the rest. With the exceptional level of talent in this year’s tournament, fans are guaranteed exciting match-ups and plenty of surprises. For a full list of match-ups and locations please visit http://www.torreypinesbasketball.com/ .
Sport: Football Positions: WR / FS Height: 6’1” Weight: 185 Class: 2010 School: Oceanside High School Oceanside, CA
The Oceanside Pirates struggled to find any production on offense in the CIF San Diego Section DII Championship game, so they turned to their defense and Devin Taverna. Taverna single-handily secured Oceanside’s sixth straight division title. The 6’1 senior free safety recorded two interceptions, one returned for a 47-yard touchdown, and recovered a fumble in the end zone for another touchdown. Oceanside coach John Carroll took notice telling the North County Times, “thank God our defense and special teams came to play.” With the victory the Pirates have now won a remarkable 38 games in a row and will face San Jose Bellarmine Prep in the state D1 game this Friday at the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA. Regardless of how the Pirates fair in the state playoffs, they can look back at this game as the day Devin Taverna rallied his team from certain defeat and willed his team to victory. Visit Devin’s SportsForce profile to learn more about this star athlete.
Scouting report courtesy of SportsForce – Home for college Sports Recruiting Videos, Tips, Tools and Premium Services – www.sportsforceonline.com
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:
Twelve seconds remained and Vista stood but 15 yards away from the tying score in the D-1 CIF championship game against Eastlake. Down 21-0 in the 3rd quarter, the Panthers clawed their way back into the game; both teams’ entire seasons boiled down to these final seconds. QB Christian Gallardi snapped the ball, rolled to his left, and tossed it towards the end zone. Qualcomm Stadium was silent as the entire crowd held their collective breaths.
With a tremendous leaping grab, Daniel Johnson intercepted his third pass of the game to secure the D-1 CIF Championship for Eastlake High School (11-0-2). The Titan’s 21-14 victory over Vista High School (10-3) brought Eastlake the school’s first ever CIF title.
Eastlake RB Tony Jefferson:
Eastlake head coach John McFadden:
D-II Final: Oceanside Opens Championship Six-Pack
The Oceanside Pirates took advantage of sloppy play from the Helix Highlanders to win the DII San Diego Section CIF Championship 26-10. The win extended their own record to six straight CIF Championships dating back to 2004.
Helix came into Friday’s game after stunning Valhalla and Scripps Ranch the previous two weeks. The Highlanders started the game as well as they could have hoped. After a tremendous kickoff return from star DB Jimmy Pruitt, the Helix offense drove the ball 56 yards culminating in a 10-yard touchdown pass from sophomore QB Brandon Lewis.
But as Quentis Clark told 619 Sports after the game, this team knew they would bounce back. While admitting that they were not used to being down early, Clark reiterated that the team never lost its swagger that had led to a perfect record in 2009. With a sixth straight title, Oceanside is in a class all by themselves.
Positions: RB Height: 5′ 11″ Weight: 200 Class: 2010 School: Mira Mesa High School San Diego, CA
The CIF playoffs are finally here, and Damien Williams made sure his Mira Mesa Marauders weren’t going to have an early exit. The 5’11” 200 lb running back ran all over the Carlsbad Lancers, rushing for 275 yards and 2 touchdowns as he led his team to a 48-29 victory. Lancers head coach Bob McAllister was well aware of the explosive ability of Williams telling the North County Times, “He’s the real deal, we knew we had to stop him, and we didn’t. We just had to tackle better than we did.” Williams now has 2, 285 rushing yards with 24 touchdowns on the season. Next up for Williams and the Marauders is a date with the #3 ranked Escondido Cougars in a division 1 showdown this Friday. With Williams and the all-time CIF San Diego rushing leader Ricky Seale positioned to receive a lot of carries, both defenses might want to brace themselves for an all out rushing assault for the ages.
Position: OH Height: 6’0” Class: 2011 School: La Jolla Country Day School La Jolla, CA
Mollie Rogers killed the competition last Saturday as she led La Jolla Country Day to a CIF San Diego Division IV title. Rogers was aggressive at the net the entire night recording a game high 19 kills and sparked a 3rd game rally which saw LJCD outscore Bishops 7-2 to win the game. Mollie was also named the CIF Championship MVP. The win marks the first time since 2003 that LJCD has claimed a Girl’s Volleyball championship. Mollie and her team advance to the State Championships Playoffs which start this week.
