Two of this week’s honorees are Dashiell Weaver from Campolindo of Moraga and Troy Leigber of Laguna Hills. Photos: Chace Bryson / SportStars & Laguna Hills Hawks football.
The purpose of this feature is not only to track potential entries into the Cal-Hi Sports Online Record Book, but also to uncover hidden talent that doesn’t always get the spotlight other then local props. We don’t have any state record book entries this week but we have a few diamonds in the rough. In Southern California, our stops are in Laguna Hills, Downey and Laguna Hills, while in Northern California we visit Moraga, Lemoore and Hughson.
We hope you enjoy this free story on Cal-Hi Sports.com. For our state rankings packages in football plus State Stat Stars of the Week, state record updates and special features, please check out our Gold Club membership today. If you’re not a member, CLICK HERE.
Notes: We have a new twist to this feature that gives more flexibility to one of the honorees by expanding the Special Teams category to now be Multi-Purpose/Special Teams. Multi-Purpose is already a category for All State honors. For these honors, we also consider CIF Central Section players for Northern California. To nominate anyone, email markjtennis@gmail.com.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Multi-Purpose/Special Teams Player of the Week
Troy Leigber (Laguna Hills) Jr.
We tweaked the criteria for this award this season to make more players eligible by adding Multi-Purpose to what was previously only a Special Teams category, and this is one of those weeks the new format gets utilized.
Last week, in a 45-33 victory over Anaheim Western in the CIF Southern Section Division 7 semifinals, Leigber didn’t use one leg but two legs after the 6-foot, 200-pound junior rushed for 145 yards on 32 carries with three touchdowns.
Troy wins a statewide honor because of his multi-purpose work on defense where the Hawks’ free safety had two interceptions and four tackles.
So far this season for the 12-1 Hawks and heading into the Division 7 championship game on Saturday at Golden Valley of Santa Clarita, Leigber, who carries a 4.4 GPA and whose brother Mitch Leigber started at running back for Stanford last weekend in the Big Game against Cal, has rushed for 2,133 yards and 37 touchdowns.
He didn’t catch a pass against Western but this season Troy is the team’s leading receiver with 20 catches for 339 yards and five more scores. Leigber also has two TDs on kickoff returns to total 44 combined touchdowns this season. On defense, Leigber has four interceptions.
The 2,133 rushing yards is the No. 6 reported mark in the state and No. 4 in the CIF Southern Section. Troy tops that because his 264 total points is No. 1 in the state and is 42 points more than No. 2 on the list.
Oregon State commit Aiden Chiles will enter the CIFSS D4 championship for Downey High with nearly 3,000 yards passing on the season. Photo: Alex Dominguez / Downey Patriot.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Offensive Player of the Week
Aiden Chiles (Downey) Sr.
Our search for the Southern California Offensive Player of the Week takes us a little less than 15 miles south of downtown Los Angeles off the I-5 in Downey. There we find a quarterback who turned in an amazing performance in a wild affair by using his arm and his legs, and his team needed every ounce of his effort.
Last week, in a CIF Southern Section Division 4 semifinal 55-54 victory over Cathedral of Los Angeles, and where Downey led 28-20 at halftime but trailed 54-42 with just under eight minutes left, Chiles was a pinpoint 13 of 18 passing for 286 yards with four touchdowns, plus he rushed for 101 yards and one more TD on a 56-yard scamper with 10 minutes left.
The icing on the cake came when man-child Chiles connected with Ian Hernandez on a 5-yard touchdown pass reception with under two minutes to go for the game’s final tally.
We know the Vikings’ senior signal-caller would like to give two shout outs. First is to senior wide receiver Bryant Carey. Besides his game-high 131 yards receiving and one touchdown, he took a kickoff 88 yards to the house for a score immediately after Cathedral had taken its 54-42 lead. The second one is to his defense for coming through when it had to and sealed the deal by forcing Cathedral to turn it over on downs to end its final threat.
So far this season for the 11-2 Vikings, and heading into a D4 title game showdown with 13-0 Cypress this Friday night, the Oregon State-committed Chiles has passed for 2,835 yards and 33 TDs with only four interceptions, plus he’s the team’s leading rusher with 838 yards rushing and nine more scores.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Defensive Player of the Week
Tyree McCowen (Lakewood) Jr.
To find our Southern California Defensive Player of the Week we head to a school that’s smack dab in the middle between I-405 to the south, Highway 91 to the north, I-605 to the east and Highway 19 to the west.
At Lakewood is where we find a 6-foot, 193-pound junior who’s listed as playing outside and middle linebacker as well as defensive end, and while we’re not exactly sure where he lined up in his most recent performance, what we do know is McCowen had things covered on defense.
All McCowen did last week in a 25-14 CIF Southern Section Division 8 victory over host Rancho Verde of Moreno Valley was register 14 tackles with three for loss that were all sacks. Tyree also had one pass defended.
So far this season for the 8-5 Lancers and heading into the Division 8 title game this Saturday against 12-1 Northwood of Irvine, McCowen has 165 tackles with 14 for loss including six sacks, plus two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. He’s had double-digit tackles in 11 of 13 games with a high of 22 in a win over Compton.
The 165 tackles is tied for the No. 7 mark in the state among reported leaders and No. 2 in the CIF Southern Section.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Offensive Player of the Week
Dashiell Weaver (Campolindo, Moraga) Sr.
We head to Contra Costa County and the CIF North Coast Section to find our Northern California Offensive Player of the Week.
It’s at Campolindo where we find Weaver, a 6-foot, 170-poud quarterback who has been putting up consistently big numbers and his most recent performance was no exception and earned him this honor.
Last week in the NCS Division 2 semifinals against Rancho Cotate of Rohnert Park, Weaver was 16 of 21 for a season-high 339 yards with two TDs, and Dashiell dashed his way to a team-high 56 yards rushing with four TDs, and Campolindo needed every ounce of his production in a 42-41 victory where the game was tied 7-7 after one quarter, 21-21 after two quarters, and 28-28 at the end of the third stanza.
So far this season for the 12-0 Cougars, and heading into the D2 title game against San Ramon Valley (Danville) as the No. 47 team in the most recent Cal-Hi Sports state rankings, Dashiell now has 3,011 yards and 32 TDs passing, and Weaver has weaved his way to 531 yards rushing and nine more touchdowns.
QB Ty Chambers and the Lemoore offense are entering their Central Section final against unbeaten Central Valley Christian (Visalia) on a roll. Photo: Gabe Camarillo.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Multi-Purpose/Special Teams Player of the Week
Ty Chambers (Lemoore) Sr.
We head to “The Valley” part of the CIF Central Section, where the Lemoore Tigers have been rolling.
It’s around 35 miles south of Fresno not far from the junction of Highways 41 and 198 in Lemoore that we find our honoree, and the nomination of the Tigers’ senior quarterback come courtesy of Central Section historian and longtime Cal-Hi Sports friend and contributor Bob Barnett, who featured Chambers in his weekly Milestones column.
With the new expanded format of this category to include multi-purpose performances along with special teams excellence, it’s the former for which Chambers is being honored.
In a 56-21 CIF Central Section Division 2 semifinal victory over Frontier of Bakersfield, the Tigers’ senior signal-caller passed for a season-high 306 yards and two TDs and rushed for 107 yards and two more scores.
So far this season for 11-1 Lemoore, and heading into the D2 title-game showdown with host Central Valley Christian of Visalia (12-0), Chambers has passed for 2,301 yards and 30 TDs with only four interceptions and that translates into a very solid 141.0 quarterback rating. Ty has also rushed for 598y ards and 12 TDs and last week’s performance was his third 100-yard plus effort of the season.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Defensive Player of the Week
David Burns (Hughson) Jr.
Our destination in search of the Northern California Defensive Player of the Week takes us around 10-miles southeast of Modesto where we find the honoree.
We land in Hughson where Burns, a junior middle linebacker came up huge for Hughson on defense in his and the Huskies’ most recent outing.
Last week, in a CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division 6 triumph over 10-1 Orestimba of Newman by a 21-17 score, Burns burned the Warriors’ offense with a team-high 11 tackles, including a sack.
Heading into the CIF SJS championship match up on Saturday for 10-2 Hughson against Summerville of Tuolomne, Burns now has 116 tackles with three for loss including the sack, and he’s forced and recovered a fumble. Last week’s performance was the eighth time David has been in double-digits for tackles.
Teams like Hughson, Escalon, Summerville and Hilmar always seem to have a hard-nosed linebacker who can get after it on defense. Burns fits that mold perfectly for Hughson.
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
