All-State FB 2024: 1st Team Defense

For this side of the ball on the top, overall unit for the 47th annual Cal-Hi Sports All-State Football Team honors, it wound up being an alignment of four on defensive line, three linebackers and four defensive backs. Go inside this post for writeups of the 11 players on defense plus a punter and three of the six multi-purpose players who have been chosen First Team Overall. These players are being honored regardless of school size or year in school.

For this year’s First Team Offfense plus three more multi-purpose players,
CLICK HERE.

For this year’s Second & Third Team (Gold Club post), CLICK HERE.

MORE OF OUR 47TH ANNUAL ALL-STATE FOOTBALL TEAMS:
Medium Schools | Small Schools | Juniors (Gold Club) | Sophomores (Gold Club) | Players of Year by region | Players of Year by positions QB, RB, WR/TE, Line, LB, DB| FINAL All-State Nominations for CIFSS plus LA, SD & Central plus NorCal

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FIRST TEAM ALL-STATE DEFENSE (ELITE)

DL Jeremiah Tuiileila (Grant, Sacramento) 6-3, 225, Sr.
The Pacers won the CIF D2-AA state championship vs Pacifica of Oxnard after losing in the same game in 2023 and one of the leaders of both teams was Tuiileila. He was a constant force coming off the edge and this year he led the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section with 17 sacks. We wouldn’t have named him ahead of Folsom’s Ryder Lyons as the local and section player of the year, but the Sacramento Bee did and that just shows how strong of a season he had. Jeremiah has signed with San Diego State.

DL Tomuhini Topui (Mater Dei, Santa Ana) 6-3, 320, Jr.
When watching the state/national champ Monarchs dominate with their front seven this season, there was a comment that its front four might all be all-state first team players. We couldn’t go that far, but Topui goes first team at DL, Nasir Wyatt goes first team at LB, senior Semi Taaulanga goes second team at DL and junior Shaun Scott was first team juniors DL. Topui was the Trinity League Player of the Year as a defensive tackle. That’s how impressive he played. He wasn’t the Orange County Defensive Player of the Year and we decided not to try to break it up between himself and Mission Viejo’s Jaden Williams, who did collect that county award. We have both on first team DL. Tomu has committed to Oregon.

DL Juju Walls (Pittsburg) 6-4, 230, Sr.
We would say that for most of the CIF North Coast Section D1 final between Pitt and De La Salle that Walls was the most impressive player on the field. He has high end skills and physicality on the edge as a rusher and run disrupter. Also known as Jewelous, he had 100 tackles with 19 for loss plus six sacks and an interception in 12 games this season. For his career, Walls racked up 313 tackles with 61 for loss and 26 sacks. Juju has signed with UCLA.

DL Jaden Williams (Mission Viejo) 6-4, 255, Sr.
As impressive as it was to watch Mater Dei’s defensive line this season, when the Orange County Register came out with its Defensive Player of the Year honor, it didn’t go for any Monarchs but instead went with Jaden. It’s hard to argue against that and we don’t have to. Williams faced some of the most elusive QBs out there, but that didn’t stop him from collecting 23 sacks in 11 games, which made him the reported state leader. Jaden also led the Diablos with 105 total tackles and his total of 45 tackles for loss is among the best we’ve ever seen. Williams will play next at San Diego State.

LB Marco Jones
(San Ramon Valley, Danville) 6-5, 245, Sr.
It was previously announced that Marco had been chosen as the State Defensive Player of the Year. He now adds State LB of the Year and first team all-state to his list of honors. Jones also was the 2023 State Junior Player of the Year. He didn’t have quite as much offense to add to the defense this season, but he remained one of the top reported tacklers in the state. It also is looking like Jones will be developing as a rush end at Texas A&M in the coming seasons as opposed to linebacker, his primary position at SRV. Either way, he just makes plays all over the field.

LB Noah Mikhail (Bonita, La Verne) 6-3, 230, Sr.
Called the most heralded recruit in the last decade by the San Gabriel Valley Tribune when it named Noah as its Player of the Year, Mikhail adds another all-state first team selection to his resume. Mikhail led the Bearcats to an 11-0 record entering a CIFSS D3 playoff game with Edison of Huntington Beach, but had to miss that game with an injury. Edison won and then proceeded to win the section title plus the CIF D1-A state crown. Noah had 103 tackles, six sacks and two forced fumbles this season. The Texas A&M recruit also was more productive on offense with five TDs rushing and 17 receptions for 264 yards and two scores receiving.

LB Weston Port (San Juan Hills, SJ Capistrano) 6-2, 225, Sr.
Here’s another player we saw in person and that helped Weston get up to first team. He was a MaxPreps Freshman All-American at the start of this career and was all-state as a sophomore. There are others faster than him but he has a sixth sense of being able to get in on tackles and make a differnce. Port was all-Orange County this season for a team that won the Bravo League title and won a game in the CIFSS D2 playoffs. He had 126 tackles in 12 games after getting 128 in 13 games as a junior. Weston has signed with UCLA.

LB Nasir Wyatt (Mater Dei, Santa Ana) 6-3, 215, Sr.
Speaking of three-year standouts, Wyatt has clearly been that for the last seasons at Mater Dei. He also played for the MD varsity as a freshman. He was Trinity League Defensive Player of the Year as a sophomore and has been rolling ever since. It was debatable whether he or Tomuhini Topui should be regarded as MD’s top defensive player for all-state, but we just found room for both. Nasir had 11 sacks and 14 tackles for loss this season. For his career, the Oregon-bound defensive end/linebacker had 43 sacks and 65.5 tackles for loss. He’ll have to bulk up to be a rush end down the road, but has the quickness to be a force at linebacker.

DB Dijon Lee Jr. (Mission Viejo) 6-4, 200, Sr.
We could have used Dijon as a multi-purpose player. He did play a lot on offense as a receiver. Make no mistake, though, he’ll be playing DB at Alabama and he’ll be hard to keep out of the lineup with the length he has against other tall receivers. Lee had 52 tackles with four interceptions on that side of the ball in 2024. Those are good numbers considering Dijon’s reputation and that a lot of activity went in other directions. He was considered the state’s No. 1 recruit entering the season based on a consensus of 247 Sports, Rivals & ESPN and did very little to cause him to drop.

DB Chuck McDonald III (Mater Dei, Santa Ana) 6-1, 190, Sr.
Here’s one of those players that’s hard to quantify for a ton of honors just based on having 32 tackles this season for the Monarchs. Playing on a defense like Mater Dei’s, though, doesn’t present those kinds of stats one would normally see. McDonald was out there in every game and was as polished in all phases you will ever see. The most important factors for him is that he not only was considered the team captain of the No. 1 team in the nation, but at the Navy All-American Game he also was voted one of the team captains there. And at the practices for that game, many analysts there regarded Chuck as one of the best players. Headed to Alabama, it would be remiss in writing up McDonald not to mention the he played 2024 with a heavy heart. His mom, Tameka, died of a heart attack during the 2023 season. MD already has two starters in the Bama secondary with Domani Jackson and Zabien Brown. It could be a great fit for Chuck there as well.

DB Madden Riordan (Sierra Canyon, Chatsworth) 5-11, 170, Jr.
Here’s a big extra honor for Madden to go with being first team all-state: how about being the State DB of the Year. He may still have one year left to go at Sierra Canyon, but Riordan’s junior year was just too terrific to be denied that honor. The USC-committed corner got going right away with three interceptions in the first game vs Punahou of Hawaii. He finished among the state leaders with 10 and he had a pick six vs Loyola of Los Angeles. Madden also had as many as eight tackles in one game. Riordan has played several different positions on offense during his career at Sierra Canyon, including quarterback.

P Tyler Prasuhn (Carlsbad) 6-1, 185, Sr.
He has been ranked among the top punters in the nation and also was named kicker of the year for the CIF San Diego Section. Tyler’s punting average for the Lancers wasn’t gaudy (34.4 yards), but he also dropped five punts inside the 20. As a kicker, he made 7 of 9 field goals with a long of 40. Prasuhn will kick and punt next at the University of Washington.

FIRST TEAM
ALL-STATE MULTI-PURPOSE (ELITE)

QB/RB Ryder Lyons (Folsom) 6-4, 205, Jr.
Already named as the Cal-Hi Sports State Large Schools Player of the Year (medium schools winner was Mr. Football), we have one more honor to get out for Ryder and that is that he will listed as the NorCal Player of the Year. While the Bulldogs had a loss to Pittsburg in the CIF NorCal D1-AA final, that team sort of had its player of the year vote split between two players (Jamar Searcy & Marley Alcantara). Lyons was the best at Folsom and regarded as one of the top five junior QBs in the nation. He was frankly closest to being State Player of the Year from among anyone else in Northern California. In 13 games this season, Ryder threw for 3,011 yards and 46 touchdowns. He had 585 yards rushing with 14 scores. For total offense in two seasons, Lyons now has 7,063 yards and 121 touchdowns. There also is one TD catch. With the way he plays at his size with his running speed and wearing the same red-white-and-blue colors as the Buffalo Bills, let the Josh Allen comparisons begin.

RB/LB McKay Madsen (Clovis North, Fresno) 6-1, 230, Sr.
While he wasn’t on the best team this season in the CIF Central Section and the top players from both Central (Fresno) and Clovis East are very deserving, Madsen was the best player seen from that section and obviously as the 2023-24 State Junior Athlete of the Year he had the type of season that makes him an all-state first team pick. McKay rushed for 1,238 yards and 19 TDs on offense and he had 49 tackles with four interceptions on defense. A devastating blocker as well, Madsen is being looked at most as a linebacker for college, which will be at BYU after he completes a two-year mission for his church. He will be back competing in track and field this spring for Clovis North and is looking to repeat as CIF state champion in the shot put (63-6) and discus (206-8).

QB/RB Akili Smith Jr. (Lincoln, San Diego) 6-5, 200, Sr.
As mentioned when Akili was named as our State Senior of the Year since Mr. Football went to a junior, we have him pegged higher in our selections than the CIF San Diego Section honors, which has RB Maxwell Turner of Granite Hills higher. It was just too hard for us not to go against the three TDs he threw for plus the one TD run he had in Lincoln’s 28-26 win over Pittsburg in the CIF D1-AA state final. Smith Jr. also had 267 yards passing and three TDs with 89 yards rushing and one TD in a 34-27 win over Newbury Park in the regional final. Some of his outings were more spotty, especially in the SD Section Open playoffs, which likely caused the local voting to go differently. All in all, though, it was a strong season for Akili, who is following his dad, Akili Sr., who was at Oregon before going to the NFL.

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