NorCal/SoCal Players of the Week

Two of this week’s NorCal/SoCal Players of the Week are Vincent Smith from Shasta of Redding (left) & Brevin White from Paraclete of Lancaster. Photos: Hudl.com & SoCalSidelines.com.

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Note: For these honors, we consider CIF Central Section players for Northern California. To nominate someone by 12 noon on most Mondays, email markjtennis@gmail.com. We only have one more week for these weekly honors in football. After that, we are switching to boys and girls basketball.

Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Offensive Player of the Week

Vincent Smith
(Shasta, Redding) Sr.

We’ve been to Eureka in the far north of the CIF North Coast Section this season for an honoree, but for this week we go due east of there to the Northern Section for the first time to award a running back from Redding.

Last week, in a 62-26 victory over Chico, the 5-foot-9, 190-pound senior became an even bigger local hero than he previously was after leading 11-1 Shasta to the CIF Northern Section Division II title and the first section championship for the Wolves since 1988.

Smith did it by rushing for 302 yards on 29 carries with three TDs, including a 56-yard run. Smith was complemented by Wolves’ senior teammate Seth Parks, who also had three TDs and 145 yards rushing.

On the season, Smith is now over the magic 2,000-yard mark with at least one more game to play. Shasta and Smith have to wait a week to see where the CIF places them in the NorCal Bowl Game pecking order and which team they will play, but going into the game Smith has 2,101 yards rushing and 22 touchdowns.

Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Defensive Player of the Week

Brett Mason
(Leland, San Jose) Sr.

If you’re not chosen for one of the three Open Division playoff brackets in the CIF Central Coast Section, and are placed in Division 4 or 5, you know going in you won’t be advancing to a CIF NorCal Bowl Game, but that doesn’t diminish the fact the teams in those two divisions are vying for a section championship.

So, when Mason took the field last Friday night helping his team get to the D4 section title game with a win was the thing on his mind and the 6-foot, 180-pound senior did just that in a 52-20 victory over Santa Clara that gets the 11-1 Chargers into the championship this Saturday against Christopher of Gilroy.

Just as he has been all season, Mason was a tackling machine in the Santa Clara win and he has a penchant for picks as well. Against the Bruins, the Chargers’ inside linebacker had 11 tackles and two interceptions. He didn’t get any pick sixes, but he returned them for a total of 51 yards.

So far this season with a game to go, Mason has mustered 104 tackles, five interceptions, a blocked field goal and a fumble recovery.

Jamar Marshall brings track speed and elusive moves into the St. Mary’s offensive arsenal. Photo: Mark Tennis.

Jamar Marshall
(St. Mary’s, Stockton) Soph.

We never discriminate about picking a sophomore or even a freshman for one of our weekly honors. So, for this week’s special teams honoree, we chose a 6-foot-1, 160-pound sophomore speedster and three-sport athlete who had the biggest play in the Rams’ biggest win of the season, a 38-31 victory over previous state No. 17 Oak Ridge of El Dorado Hills.

With new No. 26 but third-seeded and 11-2 St. Mary’s leading 31-24 after at one point leading 17-0 before second-seeded Oak Ridge mounted a comeback to tie it at 17-17, Marshall’s 99-yard kickoff with 5 minutes left to play made it 38-24 and pretty much sealed the deal.

Marshall, who also plays basketball where as a freshman he averaged 7.5 ppg on for a 21-12 squad, also had a 92-yard kickoff return for a TD in the Rams’ win over Cardinal Newman of Santa Rosa. Marshall’s third sport is track and he’s a very promising hurdler in both the 110 high and 300 intermediate events.

Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Offensive Player of the Week

Brevin White
(Paraclete, Lancaster) Sr.

We go out to the high desert for our SoCal offensive honoree, and after seeing his performance in the top-seeded Spirits’ CIF Southern Section Division 55-35 victory over Paloma Valley of Menifee, it’s obvious White was doing all the right things when he had the ball in his hands.

The 6-foot-2, 187-pound Princeton-committed quarterback accounted for five TDs going 24 of 34 for 368 yards and three TDs passing and he rushed for 62 yards and two more scores.

White will now enter the CIFSS D5 title game against Moorpark on Friday night with 3,555 yards passing and 49 TDs with only five interceptions. He also has rushed for 296 yards and the two TDSs against Paloma Valley.

White had 239 yards passing in the Cal-Hi Sports No. 19 ranked Spirits’ only loss, a 30-21 setback to a state No. 11 Oaks Christian team that is playing for the CIFSS Division 2 championship, and 195 yards and two TDs in an impressive 23-6 Honor Bowl win over a No. 20 ranked Helix team that is playing for the CIF San Diego Section Open Division championship.

Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Defensive Player of the Week

Jalynd Hunt
(Rancho Verde, Moreno Valley) Jr.

The Inland Empire is our destination for the defensive honoree and Hunt comes from a team that likes nothing better than having Hunt help them stay in the hunt of getting a shot at a CIFSS D3 title this season after it lost in the semifinals last year to eventual champion Edison of Huntington Beach.

In this year’s semifinal 41-22 victory against top-seeded Charter Oak of Covina, the 6-foot, 190-pound junior linebacker was like a Whirling Dervish on defense. Of his eight tackles, two were sacks plus he had two hurries.

Also, on the night, the Mustangs scored on three of their five takeaways and Hunt had the brunt of it after he returned a 37-yard fumble recovery in the third quarter for a score, and then scooped up the pigskin and scored on a 23-yard fumble return in the fourth quarter to seal the deal.

Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Special Teams Player of the Week

Logan Taylor
(Narbonne, Harbor City) Sr.

It’s not like Los Angeles City Section Open Division top-seed and Cal-Hi Sports No. 15 ranked Narbonne hasn’t been putting the hurt on teams this season from the L.A. City Section. The Gauchos outscored their Marine League opponents 304-20 combined, but about the only thing you can say about the their 71-0 semifinal victory over Los Angeles Fairfax is Ouch!

The special teams play of Taylor was one of the highlights of a third 70-plus point shutout for Narbonne in the last four games. The 6-foot, 175-pound senior punt and kick returner, defensive back and backup quarterback, had a 50-yard punt return for a touchdown.

He also leads the team with seven interceptions and had one he returned 21 yards against Fairfax. He also had two pass deflections and four tackles in the game.

Taylor and his Gauchos’ teammates now have a date to see who gets a CIF SoCal Bowl Game bid with a No. 2 seed Los Angeles Crenshaw team they defeated 45-7 last year in the CIFLACS Open quarterfinals before eventually losing 35-28 to San Diego Cathedral Catholic in the CIF Southern Regional Division 1-AA title game.

Harold Abend is the associate editor of CalHiSports.com and the vice president of the California Prep Sportswriters Association. He can be reached at marketingharoldabend@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow him on Twitter: @HaroldAbend