Carson Diehl of La Jolla (left) reacts after scoring one of the five TDs he had during win last week vs Patrick Henry. At right is Soquel QB Sam Whelan from a game last season. Photos: ljhsvikingsfb / Instagram.com & John Lee / Santa Cruz Sentinel.
With the CIF North Coast Section and CIF Central Coast Section in action this past week for the first time this season we had one NorCal winner each from those two sections. Those two stops were in Lafayette and Soquel, while in Southern California we visited Orange, La Jolla and a stone’s throw away from Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. We didn’t have any entries in the Cal-Hi Sports Online Record Book to track but we uncovered some very deserving talent that gets statewide recognition to go with local kudos.
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Notes: We will continue to have flexibility to one of the honorees by calling it 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
Special Teams/Multi-Purpose Player of the Week
Carson Diehl (La Jolla) Sr.
The search for the Southern California Special Teams/Multi-Purpose Player of the Week takes us to “The Jewel” in Spanish because La Jolla is so picturesque with its view of the coast and the Pacific Ocean, and it’s about a half mile from the ocean where we find this week’s honoree, and it’s pretty apparent Diehl is the real deal for his amazing performance last week that takes the Special Teams/Multi-Purpose category to another level.
All Diehl did in a 52-14 victory over Patrick Henry (San Diego) was score five touchdowns four different ways.
On special teams, Diehl returned a punt 43 yards to pay dirt for a touchdown. On defense, he had two interceptions he returned to the house for scores. Offensively, the 6-foot scatback and wide receiver rushed for 51 yards on seven carries with one TD, he caught four passes for 58 yards for the fifth score, and although it didn’t produce a score Carson completed a halfback pass for 10 yards.
Since it’s a Multi-Purpose award, Carson completes just about every category except kicking since on defense the Vikings’ free safety had three tackles.
The five TDs in a game isn’t close to making the Cal-Hi Sports Online Record Book, and the two pass interceptions in a game falls one short of making it, but five touchdowns scored four different ways is something Carson can brag about to his grandkids, and it earns him a statewide honor.
Star Thomas of Orange had a 476-yard game for passing as a freshman last season. Photo: X.com.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Offensive Player of the Week
Star Thomas (Orange) Soph.
The heart of Orange County in the middle of an oblong rectangle bordered by Highway 22 on the south, Highway 91 on the north, Highway 55 to the east and Highway 57 on the west, and not far from Angel Stadium is where we find this week’s Southern California Offensive Player of the Week.
In this feature not only are we looking for potential entries for the Cal-Hi Sports Online Record Book and for discovering hidden talent that might only get local recognition, but when possible we like to have fun with the award honoree’s name, and this one is too easy because not only is Star a star but Thomas is an award winner that now gets statewide honor.
Cal-Hi Sports executive editor Mark Tennis saw Thomas in a season-opening loss to Huntington Beach and remarked that he was a tough kid to sack after he passed for 336 yards and two TDs and ran for 76 yards and a third score.
That was two weeks ago. Now, after catching Tennis’ eye, Star gets a star next to his name this week after passing for 334 yards and two TDs and rushing for 196 and two mores scores in a 46-43 victory over Laguna Hills that reportedly went to five overtimes.
The 6-foot, 200-pound signal caller now has 670 yards passing and four TDs with a 60-percent completion rate, and he’s rushed for 272 yards and three touchdowns.
Thomas is among the early reported stat leaders coming in at No. 12 in the state and No. 7 in the CIF Southern Section for passing. His rushing yardage also is one of the higher marks for a quarterback.
Last season, Star started as a freshman and in one game he did etch his name into the Record Book after passing for 476 yards in a loss to Huntington Beach.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Defensive Player of the Week
Kane Casani (Loyola, Los Angeles) Jr.
Big wins for the Cubs with a member of the Casani family racking up huge tackle totals is becoming a common occurrence. The oldest school in Southern California, located near downtown, had a CIF Southern Section D3 playoff win last season over Tustin and our defensive player of the week for the region was senior linebacker Henry Casani, who is now graduated and is the nephew of Loyola head coach Drew Casani.
Loyola had a tough time in its first game this season (a loss to Cathedral of Los Angeles), but last week the Cubs bounced back with a 35-25 win over Millikan of Long Beach, which had opened with an impressive win over preseason state No. 12 Newbury Park. Kane Casani, the cousin of Henry and the son of the head coach, was all over the field. He piled up 17 tackles (with a former Loyola QB leading Millikan) plus he came up with one of the Cubs’ two interceptions.
Henry Casani is now playing lacrosse as a freshman at the University of North Carolina. His father, Jason, was an all-league nose guard at Loyola in 1988, according to longtime school sports info director Pat Jacobs.
Kane is playing the same inside linebacker position when his dad was at Loyola. Drew was named the 1990 CIFSS D1 Defensive Player of the Year for a Cubs’ team that won the CIFSS D1 championship.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Offensive Player of the Week
Sam Whelan (Soquel) Sr.
Santa Cruz County is our destination in search of the Northern California Offensive Player of the Week and it’s in Soquel at Soquel High off Highway 1 and around 5-miles southeast of the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk where we find our award winner.
Talk about coming out of the box fast and picking up where he left off last year. In the season opener for the Knights, the Player of the Year in the Pacific Coast League – Gabilan Division last year was facing a Los Gatos team that was a CIF Northern Regional Division 2-AA Bowl Game champion two years ago and a finalist in the CIF Central Coast Section Open/Division 1 playoffs last year.
No problem. All the 6-foot-2, 190-pound senior quarterback did was orchestrate a 42-40 victory after completing 22-of-31 passes for 373 yards and two TDs with an interception. Whelan used his wheels as well because he scored three touchdowns on the ground in seven carries for 47 yards.
Last year, Whelan, who is a three-sport star (baseball, basketball), helped Soquel to land a spot in the CCS Open/D1 playoffs as the No. 6 seed where they lost to Archbishop Riordan of San Francisco, but two years ago as a sophomore Sam was the man since not only did he lead Soquel to a CCS title but also a CIF Northern Regional Division 4-AA championship and then the cherry on top: CIF Division 4-AA Bowl Game state champions.
They’ll have to call Grant Ricker “the picker” if he comes coming up with interceptions for Acalanes like he did in his first game vs Archbishop Mitty. Photo: Acalanes HS / MaxPreps.com.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Defensive Player of the Week
Grant Ricker (Acalanes, Lafayette) Sr.
The Central Contra Costa County area of the East Bay portion of the CIF North Section in Lafayette is our destination, and it’s at Acalanes High where we find this week’s Northern California Offensive Player of the Week.
While there was joy in the performance of Ricker and the fact the Dons beat visiting Archbishop Mitty of San Jose, 33-12, in the season opener for both teams, there was sadness in the Acalanes community since the game was being played to honor the memory of a player that passed away in a swimming accident last spring. There were memories of the late Amin Noroozi everywhere, including his name etched on the field on the 25-yard-line
Ricker is being honored for his defense but he got into the act on offense as well.
Defensively, the 6-foot-2, 190-pound strong safety only had one tackle, but he intercepted three Mitty passes.
On offense, the Acalanes wide receiver had four catches for 55 yards and one touchdown.
Noroozi was a defensive player too so this week’s honor going to a teammate of his seems very appropriate indeed.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Special Teams/Multi-Purpose Player of the Week
Jimmy Ducksworth (Chavez, Stockton) Jr.
The CIF Sac-Joaquin Section and the Port City of Stockton is where we head in search of the Northern California Multi-Purpose Special Teams Player of the Week and we end up at one of three high schools in California named after the famous labor leader and civil rights activist Cesar Chavez.
Chavez is off to a 2-0 start, including a big 37-30 win over perennial power Escalon last week, and Duckworth has made his worth known in both victories.
In the Escalon win, the Titans’ junior defensive back and return specialist took a kickoff 93 yards all the way to the house for a touchdown.
On defense, he only had two tackles but he matched that number with two interceptions and a batted pass.
We had said Jimmy had a hand in both wins this season since last week in a 22-3 victory over Pacheco of Los Banos Ducksworth had five tackles and two passes defended, but he also had two picks in that game. It means he had two interceptions in two consecutive games and four for the season.
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
