All-State FB 2021: Small Schools

All-State small schools repeater Garrett McCray of East Nicolaus (left) was recently named small schools player of the year by the Sacramento Bee. At right is San Jose State-bound RB Camdan McWright from St. Genevieve of Panorama City, who is also all-state small schools for a second time. Photos: Twitter.com & @gens_football / Twitter.com.


Six players from the 2021 spring season have repeated as all-state small schools first team selections for the 2021 fall campaign. There are also three from second team in the spring who repeated but moved up to first team. The No. 1 team in the final small schools state rankings, Menlo School of Atherton, leads the way with three who have landed on either first team or second team.

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The 43nd annual Cal-Hi Sports All-State Football Teams are continuing this week with players selected for small schools and medium schools with the overall top 30s still to come. It takes us extra time to get out all of these all-state teams after a season concludes, but there are a lot of reasons to keep doing it this way.

Jason “J.T.” Thompson of Harvard-Westlake was one of the top receivers in the San Fernando Valley regardless of school size. Photo: Twitter.com.


It’s always hard to finalize these teams and there are position requirements that have always been followed such as 30 players for each with at least five offensive linemen, three defensive linemen, three linebackers and three defensive backs. One aspect for the small schools this year that made it easier was the higher than usual number of juniors who were all-state small schools just eight months ago from the 2021 spring season.

One of the six from first team in the spring who has repeated is 2021 spring Small Schools Player of the Year J.T. Thompson from Harvard-Westlake of Studio City. While Thompson didn’t repeat for that honor — Menlo School QB Sergio Beltran accounted for more than 4,300 yards of offense with 51 TD passes — it was easy for the Stanford-bound Thompson to be all-state at receiver once again.

The other five first team all-state small school repeaters are offensive linemen Nate Maier from Rim of the World (Lake Arrowhead), linebacker Keanu Kuma from Washington (Easton), linebacker Garrett McCray from East Nicolaus (Nicolaus), multi-purpose Dante Antonini from St. Vincent de Paul (Petaluma) and multi-purpose Camdan McWright from St. Genevieve (Panorama City). We noticed that Maier, who goes by the nickname “Mountain,” is going to play next at Fresno State. McWright has signed to play running back at San Jose State.

There are also three players who’ve moved up from small schools second team from the spring to first team for the fall. Running back Tyler Harrison of Paradise, who also was an all-state player as a sophomore when he led that school to an 11-1 record in that season that followed the devastating Camp Fire, is one of those three. Another is linebacker Zac Sheets from Nordhoff of Ojai, who led the state this season for reported tackles with 166. The third is junior TE/DE Derek Taylor of Hilmar, who will be looking to three-peat after the 2022 season.

There are a number of schools with more than one honoree, but the only one with three is Menlo School of Atherton. In addition to Beltran, the Knights are repped by defensive lineman Ralston Raphael on first team and receiver Carter Jung on second team.

Note: Schools broken down into large, medium and small based on section playoff divisions but also on where they’ve been traditionally. We also will not generally consider a school close to or above 1,500 enrollment small school at all no matter what section or state playoff division that school is placed. This means schools like Quartz Hill or Balboa of San Francisco, which won CIF SoCal or CIF state titles this season, can’t ever be a “small” school. Medium, yes. Small, no. Many of the CIF L.A. City Section playoff teams, including D2 and D3, can’t be small schools, either, for same reason.

Cal-Hi Sports All-State Football
Small Schools

Justin Guin led San Marin of Novato to the CIF D5-AA state championship. Photo: Harold Abend / Cal-Hi Sports.


FIRST TEAM OFFENSE

WR J.T. Thompson
(Harvard-Westlake, Studio City) 6-1, 175, Sr.
TE Derek Taylor (Hilmar) 6-7, 215, Jr.
OL Roger Alderman (Sonora) 6-5, 275, Jr.
OL Sam Alligood (La Jolla Country Day) 6-7, 235, Sr.
OL Max Haro (Salesian, Richmond) 6-3, 300, Sr.
OL Jaxon King (Union Mine, El Dorado) 6-8, 300, Sr.
OL Nate Maier
(Rim of the World, Lake Arrowhead) 6-6, 305, Sr.
QB Sergio Beltran
(Menlo School, Atherton) 5-11, 175, Sr.
RB Sone Aiupiu (St. Anthony, Long Beach) 6-0, 210, Sr.
RB Justin Guin (San Marin, Novato) 5-11, 180, Sr.
RB Tyler Harrison (Paradise) 6-2, 205, Sr.
PK William Azar (Ontario Christian) 6-1, 180, Sr.

FIRST TEAM DEFENSE

DL Caleb Alalem (Mission Prep, San Luis Obispo) 6-1, 285, Sr.
DL E.J. Lewis (Escalon) 6-4, 235, Sr.
DL Zach Mercado (Vacaville Christian) 6-3, 255, Sr.
DL Ralston Raphael (Menlo School, Atherton) 6-3, 225, Sr.
LB Keanu Kuma (Washington, Easton) 6-1, 225, Sr.
LB Garrett McCray (East Nicolaus, Nicolaus) 6-3, 230, Sr.
LB Shay O’Kelly (Sacred Heart Prep, Atherton) 6-1, 205, Jr.
LB Zac Sheets (Nordhoff, Ojai) 5-9, 180, Sr.
DB Dominic Castaneda (Liberty, Madera Ranchos) 5-8, 165, Sr.
DB Jordan Shaw (St. Pius X-St. Matthias, Downey) 6-1, 170, Jr.
DB Michael Whaley (Hercules) 6-2, 165, Sr.
P Sean Garvey (Big Bear, Big Bear Lake) 6-1, 175, Sr.

FIRST TEAM MULTI-PURPOSE

WR/DB Dante Antonini (St. Vincent de Paul, Petaluma) 6-2, 200, Sr.
QB/LB Beau Davis (Argonaut, Jackson) 5-11, 195, Sr.
RB/LB Camdan McWright (St. Genevieve, Panorama City) 6-1, 190, Sr.
QB/RB/DB Ryan Osborne (Fall River, McArthur) 6-0, 210, Sr.
RB/LB Ryker Peters (Escalon) 6-0, 190, Jr.
RB/DB Jack Susank (Mission Prep, San Luis Obispo) 6-0, 200, Sr.

SECOND TEAM OFFENSE

Sone Aiupiu from St. Anthony of Long Beach has a D1 offer from New Mexico. His cousin, Anakin, also has gained all-state small schools honors. Photo: @SAHS20Athletics.


WR Carter Jung (Menlo School, Atherton) 6-1, 175, Sr.
OL Cristian Escobedo
(Xavier Prep, Palm Desert) 6-2, 295, Sr.
OL Kai Faucher
(Harvard-Westlake, Studio City) 6-5, 250, Jr.
OL Cal Lehman (St. Helena) 6-3, 240, Sr.
OL Karson Seaman (Los Molinos) 6-5, 300, Sr.
OL Fermin Villegas (LeGrand) 6-2, 305, Sr.
QB Garrett Bass-Sulpizo
(La Jolla Country Day) 6-5, 215, Jr.
RB Sone Aiupiu (St. Anthony, Long Beach) 6-0, 210, Sr.
RB Qwentin Brown (Santa Cruz) 5-11, 195, Sr.
RB Zach Gross
(Rim of the World, Lake Arrowhead) 6-0, 180, Jr.
RB Jonathan Guerrero
(Rio Hondo Prep, Arcadia) 5-5, 155, Sr.
RB Ivan Robledo (St. Helena) 5-11, 195, Sr.
PK Andre Alves (Hilmar) 5-9, 205, Sr.

SECOND TEAM DEFENSE

DL Conner Gilbreath (University Prep, Redding) 6-4, 235, Sr.
DL Brandon Saavedra (Pierce, Arbuckle) 6-2, 230, Sr.
DL Samuel Schauerman (Del Norte, Crescent City) 6-0, 275, Sr.
LB Anakin Aiupiu (St. Anthony, Long Beach) 6-0, 210, Sr.
LB Nathan Burger (San Marin, Novato) 5-10, 195, Sr.
LB Will Henderson (Immanuel, Reedley) 6-2, 210, Jr.
LB Nolan Smith (Scotts Valley) 6-2, 230, Sr.
LB Xavier White (St. Genevieve, Panorama City) 6-1, 200, Jr.
DB Aemon Aldrich (Foresthill) 5-11, 165, Sr.
DB Colby Eckhart (Argonaut, Jackson) 5-10, 170, Sr.
DB Leighton Tarke (Sutter) 5-8, 180, Sr.
P Tristin Creed (Vacaville Christian) 6-4, 190, Sr.

SECOND TEAM MULTI-PURPOSE

RB/DB Carter Abel (University Prep, Redding) 6-0, 190, Sr.
QB/RB Dieter Barr (St. Pius X-St. Matthias, Downey) 6-3, 170, Jr.
LB/TE Mat Bucher (Sacred Heart Prep, Atherton) 6-1, 205, Sr.
QB/RB Trent Calvert (Dos Palos) 6-1, 200, Sr.
QB/RB Marcus Martin (Salesian, Los Angeles) 6-2, 180, Sr.
RB/LB Danny Olvera (Firebaugh) 5-11, 185, Sr.
WR/DB Dylan Turner (Morro Bay) 5-10, 175, Sr.

SMALL SCHOOLS STATE PLAYER OF THE YEAR (previously announced):
Sergio Beltran (Menlo School) QB

SMALL SCHOOLS STATE COACH OF THE YEAR (previously announced):
Rick Davis (Argonaut, Jackson)

Mark Tennis is the co-founder and publisher of CalHiSports.com. He can be reached at markjtennis@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow Mark on the Cal-Hi Sports Twitter handle: @CalHiSports


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2 Comments

  1. Mark Null
    Posted January 26, 2022 at 9:19 pm | Permalink

    Is Vanden of Fairfield not considered a small or medium school?

    • Mark Tennis
      Posted January 27, 2022 at 11:54 am | Permalink

      Vanden & D3-AA teams for state considered medium.

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