Jewel Jones (left) is believed to be the first ever NorCal player of the week in any category from Justin Garza High in Fresno (opened in 2021). At right, El Rancho’s Isaiah Sandoval collects an interception during game vs Fontana. Photos: Garza HS Athletics / MaxPreps.com & @WeAreERFootball / X.com.
Although we didn’t have any entries for the Cal-Hi Sports Online Record Book to track this week, which along with discovering some hidden talent that most often only gets local recognition which are the purposes of this feature, for the second-straight week we got a chance to play a rhyme game like we often like to do with our honorees’ first and last names. This week, we visit Fresno, Anderson and San Jose in Northern California, while our stops in Southern California are at Pico Rivera, San Diego and Murrieta.
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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 Northern California
Multi-Purpose/Special Teams Player of the Week
Jewel Jones (Garza, Fresno) Sr.
To find the Northern California Multi-Purpose/Special Teams Player of the Week, we head to The Valley as the locals like to call the CIF Central Section, and whenever we visit the Central Section we like to remind readers that The Valley is considered Northern California for all player of the week features.
It’s at Justin Garza High, a fairly new school in only its fourth season of varsity football where we find this week’s award winner, a truly multi-purpose star in his most recent performance. The school named for a late football head coach at Central of Fresno also now has its first-ever honoree.
Last week, in a 27-24 victory on the road at a Lompoc High that boasts 1990 Mr. Football State Player of the Year, former NFL star and current Dublin head coach Napoleon Kaufman as its best football player ever, Jones was seemingly everywhere on both offense and defense as well as special teams.
All told, Jewel shined and accounted for two of the Guardians’ touchdowns, including a 97-yard kickoff return that cut a 10-0 deficit to 10-7 in the second quarter. As a wide receiver, he had two receptions for 50 yards, including a 36-yard third quarter TD pass that was the final tally and Garza’s 27th straight point before the defense had to hang on for the victory. On defense, the 5-foot-9, 155-pound Jones, who’s listed on the roster as an athlete, had two pass interceptions for 83 yards and one tackle.
So far in a 4-1 start this season for Garza, Jones, who also plays guard on the Guardians’ basketball team, has intercepted five passes. On offense, he has 318 yards receiving with three touchdowns, and on special teams the diamond in the rough named Jewel has 190 yards on kickoff returns, 115 yards on interception returns and 25 yards on punt returns.
The five interceptions is tied for the No. 3 reported mark in the state and is tops in The Valley.
Cooper Crye’s team at Anderson has been happy about all of the points it has scored so far this season. Photo: Hudl.com.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Offensive Player of the Week
Cooper Crye (Anderson) Sr.
It isn’t often that we head to the far north to honor a player from the CIF Northern Section since there are only around 70 high schools in the section and many of them play 8-man football and we don’t cover that sport for any of our weekly or statewide awards. However, occasionally we find a player worthy of a statewide honor in the CIFNS and this one of those weeks.
We find this week’s Northern California Offensive Player of the Week just about 10 miles south of Redding and just west of the business portion of the I-5 in Anderson, and it’s the Cubs’ signal-caller who now secures more than just local recognition. Cooper’s outing was first brought to our attention by local writer Jennifer Corriea.
It’s not a stretch to say that when Cooper has his passing game clicking, opponents might not cry when Crye takes a snap and drops back to pass, but the results have led to a 3-1 start for Anderson and some huge numbers for the Cubs’ quarterback. Last week was a perfect example.
In a 58-51 scoreboard lighter-upper with Los Molinos that the Cubs once led 26-7 on the road, Cooper was cooking with gas after going 20-of-31 passing for 431 yards and five TDs with one interception. Of the five TD passes, one went for 90-yards.
So far this season, the Cubs’ senior two-sport star (basketball) who also does some punting and kick-offs for Anderson, has passed for 1,325 yards and 12 touchdowns. The 1,325 yards is a top 25 reported mark in the state but No. 5 for players with four games, and it’s the top mark in the Northern Section and almost double the yards of the No. 2 reported mark.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Defensive Player of the Week
John Leonard (MacDonald, San Jose) Sr.
The search for the Northern California Defensive Player of the Week takes us to San Jose and to a new school that’s actually part of the Santa Clara Unified School District and only in it’s second year of varsity football. It’s at MacDonald High where we find our award winner, a 6-foot-2, 205-pound linebacker and occasional running back named John Leonard. He also becomes the first player ever to be honored from the school and is part of the school’s first graduating class.
We could say the search for Leonard took us to San Jose, but in reality we found him and his most recent exploits in a Bay Area News Group nomination for last week’s Boys Athlete of the Week.
MacDonald was only 4-6 last season in its first varsity season, but the Condors are off to a 3-0 start this season and defense, of which Leanard is the linchpin, has been front and center, and last week was a perfect example.
In a 51-14 victory over Gunn of Palo Alto, Leonard led the way with two sacks and a 26-yard pick six.
Full season defensive stats were not available for Leonard but its pretty obvious his defensive leadership has been stellar since the Condors have only given up 20 points in their three games, including the Gunn win. John also was voted a team captain last year and again this season. The offense has registered 120 points so far this season. Leonard had two TDs and 79 yards rushing in a season-opening 28-6 win over Santa Clara.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Defensive Player of the Week
Isaiah Sandoval (El Rancho, Pico Rivera) Sr.
Just a little over 10-miles southeast from downtown Los Angeles and just east of Rosemead Boulevard, west of the I-605 and north of Downey in Pico Rivera at El Rancho High is where find this week’s Southern California Defensive Player of the Week, who now garners a statewide honor to go with local recognition.
Last week, in a 27-17 win over host Fontana, the Dons’ senior cornerback had four interceptions and one batted pass in the victory.
The four interceptions falls one short of making the Cal-Hi Sports Online Record Book for Most Pass Interceptions (Game) list in the Football Individual Records: Single-Game Defense section. It’s still the first report we’ve seen in the state this season for a player getting four interceptions in one game.
The four in game combined with another one he had, Isaiah also now has five interceptions for the season. That is tied for the No. 3 mark in the state and tied for No. 2 in the CIF Southern Section.
In his four-year varsity career, Sandoval also now has intercepted eight passes.
Trey Arnold of San Diego Mission Bay has already passed for more than 1,700 yards this season. Photo: X.com.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Offensive Player of the Week
Trey Arnold (Mission Bay, San Diego) Sr.
San Diego is our destination in search of the Southern California Offensive Player of the Week and we find our award winner right next to the Rose Inlet of Mission Bay for which the school is named.
If you recognize Arnold’s name from the Cal-Hi Sports website it might be that in a 5-0 start for Mission Bay he has been written up for our Stat Stars feature twice already in his first four games. Now, the Buccaneers’ quarterback gets the whole enchilada after snagging one of this week’s six statewide individual honors to go with the local San Diego Union Tribune Athlete of the Week for football.
Last week, in a 49-14 win over visiting Coronado, Arnold, a 6-foot-2, 210-pound quarterback with a 247Sports.com profile that shows no current offers, might start getting more recognition. Trey threw for 421 yards with six TDs on 25-of-35 passes with no interceptions.
It’s the second time Trey has thrown for over 400 yards and six touchdowns this season, and this past week wasn’t even his season high. That came in a season-opening 55-0 blanking of San Diego Kearny when the four-year varsity signal-caller graced the Stat Stars for the first time after passing for a career-high 457 yards and once again no interceptions. So far this season, Arnold has passed for 1,704 yards and 23 TDs with only three picks.
The 1,704 yards is the No. 3 reported mark in the state and tops in the San Diego Section, and the 23 TD passes leads the entire state.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Multi-Purpose/Special Teams Player of the Week
Jacob Taddi (Murrieta Valley, Murrieta) Sr.
The far southern reaches of the Inland Empire is our destination in the search for the Southern California Multi-Purpose/Special Teams Player of the Week and we find our honoree at Murrieta Valley in Murrieta just west of the I-15 and not far northwest from where the interstate branches off in a V to create the I-215.
It seems like Murrieta Valley always has a speedster who can break long kick returns and this year it’s been Taddi who has been taking them in for touchdowns. Last week, Taddi was ready to roll.
In a 49-7 victory at home against visiting M.L. King of Riverside that got Murrieta Valley to 3-1 and up to No. 19 in the most current Cal-Hi Sports State TOP 50 rankings, Taddi scored two TDs on special teams. Taddie took a kickoff 69 yards to the house and had 102 yards on three punt returns, one of which Jacob took to pay dirt as well. He didn’t score on offense but he was the leading wide receiver in the game with six receptions for 80 yards and he even had a 4-yard rush.
It was the second time Taddi has returned a kick-off for a touchdown after he had one in a 56-35 loss to Cal-Hi Sports No. 11 Servite of Anaheim.
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
