State Football Players of the Week

Vaughn Reinert of Torrance (left) & Carson Tidwell of King City both had outings last weekend that gained statewide acclaim. Photos: X.com & Michael Ramirez / King City Rustler.

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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
Offensive Player of the Week

Carson Tidwell (King City) Jr.

The search for the Cal-Hi Sports Northern California State Football Offensive Player of the Week takes us to a school that is the southernmost school in the CIF Central Coast Section, and it’s a little over 100-miles south of San Jose on Highway 101 at King City High where we find our honoree.

Perusing X/Twitter on Friday night Cal-Hi Sports Executive Editor Mark Tennis came across a post by veteran Monterey County prep scribe John Devine that pretty much said it all.

“What a night for junior tailback Carson Tidwell,” Tweeted Devine and what a night indeed.

Last week, in a battle of teams with each coming in the contest with 5-1 records overall and 1-0 in the Pacific Coast Athletic League – Mission South Division, and on the road around 50-miles north in Salinas at Alisal High, Tidwell bid adieu to the host Eagles after a record-setting 419 yards rushing on a whopping 42 carries with five going for TD’s in 42-28 victory.

The 419 yards rushing is not only a school record, but it breaks the Monterey County Record of 401 yards set in 2017 by Andy Hernandez of Greenfield.

Not only that, but according to the Cal-Hi Sports Online Record Book it’s the second-most yards in CIFCCS history after the 435 yards of Trevor Bearden of Morgan Hill Live Oak, which was set during the 2012 season, and it will earn Tidwell a spot in the Record Book on the Most Yards (Game) list in the Football Individual Records: Single-Game Rushing section.

King City will be favored in its next two Mission South games versus Pacific Grove and Greenfield, but in its regular season finale the Mustangs faithful will be hoping Carson will be doing some prancing when King City host current 7-0 and Cal-Hi Sports Small School Bubble team Stevenson of Pebble Beach.

Highly regarded kicker Tyler Hinrichs must get used to kicking in wet conditions up at St. Bernard’s of Eureka. Photo: Hudl.com.

Tyler Hinrichs
(St. Bernard’s Academy, Eureka) Sr.

For the second time this season, we head to the far northern reaches of the CIF North Coast Section and “Behind the Redwood Curtain” as the locals like to say since that part of the Redwood Empire sometimes goes unnoticed. That is usually except when the school this week’s Cal-Hi Sports Northern California Multi-Purpose/Special Teams winner attends wins a CIF Bowl Game state championship like a few others from the far north, and St. Bernard’s in Eureka has won the most of all of them with two to its credit in 2015 and 2019.

If the Crusaders are going to have a chance at winning a sixth NCS title and third state CIF state championship, there’s a strong chance that the legs of Hinrichs are going to have a say in the matter, and his most recent performance is a perfect example.

Last week, in a 16-0 blanking of a host Del Norte (Crescent City) that’s even 90 miles further north than Eureka, Hinrichs, a four-star rated placekicker by Kohl’s Kicking, had a huge part in ending an 8-game losing streak to the Warriors that got the Crusaders to 7-0 overall and 3-0 in the Humboldt-Del Norte League – Big 4 division. He booted home three field goals of with a longest of 49 yards, plus 39 and 27 yarders. Tyler also converted the PAT on the lone TD scored by St. Bernard’s, meaning he had 10 of the 16 points scored in the entire game.

Tyler also fielded a punt on special teams and even got into the act on offense with three pass receptions as a wide receiver, and on defense at linebacker he had two tackles.

Earlier this month, he came up just short on a 61-yard FG attempt, So far this season Hinrichs is 7-of-9 on field goals, including a 51-yard boot in mid-September over Hoopa Valley. Had he converted on the 61-yard attempt it would have gotten Tyler a spot in the Cal-Hi Sports Online Record on the Longest Field Goals (Yards) list in the Football Individual Records: Single-Game Special Teams section, and although the 51-yard field goal doesn’t make the state record book it’s a Humboldt-Del Norte record.

Hinrichs will be almost assuredly be getting some additional shots from long range this season since head coach Matt Tomlin says, “He is really good up to about 57 yards right now,” and with a 4.4 weighted GPA, there are likely some colleges that are going to start taking a closer look at Tyler.

On another note, Hinrichs is a three-sport star and plays baseball and basketball for St. Bernard’s, and that means he plays two of the three sports for Tomlin, who besides wining the two state championships in football, also coaches the St. Bernard’s baseball team, and has also won a CIF state championship coaching the girls basketball team.

Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Defensive Player of the Week

Cameron Hubler (Antioch) Jr.

The East Contra Costa County portion of the CIF North Coast Section is where we head in search of the Cal-Hi Sports Northern California Defensive Player of the Week and we find this week’s award winner at Antioch High School.

Antioch has a rich football history that includes current Los Angeles Chargers’ running back Najee Harris, a holder of more than one spot in the Cal-Hi Sports Online Record Book and a former Mr. Football State Player of the Year, and defensive end and NFL Hall of Fame honoree and 1958 league MVP Gino Marchetti. While Hubler has a long way to go to be mentioned with those two Panther alums he’s currently a defensive star just like Marchetti was in the 1940s.

In his most recent performance, Hubler came up huge to help Antioch get to 6-1 overall so far this season, the best start for the Panthers since 2018.

All Hubler did in a 25-14 victory over crosstown arch-rival Deer Valley was come up with two pass interceptions, one of which he took to the house for a touchdown, forced a fumble he recovered, defended a pass, plus he had a team-leading eight tackles with one for a loss.

In receiving this recognition, Hubler now snags a statewide award to go with being nominated for the Bay Area News Group boys athlete of the week.

So far this season, the hard-hitting junior defensive back has three interceptions, five forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and 35 total tackles.

Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Special Teams/Multi-Purpose Player of the Week

Vaughn Reinert (Torrance) Jr.

We head to the South Bay portion of the greater Los Angeles metro area in search of the Cal-Hi Sports Southern California Special Teams/Multi-Purpose Player of the Week and we find this week’s honoree, who now gets a statewide award to go with local honors, about halfway between the I-405 on the east and Hawthorne Boulevard on the west in Torrance at Torrance High.

Torrance is off to an 8-0 start this season and the all-around play of Reinert has been a key ingredient. Last week was a perfect example with the Tartars’ 5-foot-9, 185-pound junior running back and free safety coming up huge on both offense and defense in a 48-28 victory over host and crosstown Pioneer League rival Torrance South.

On offense, Reinert ran roughshod over South after rushing for 218 yards on 18 carries with two TDs, plus he had two pass receptions with one going for a third touchdown.

On defense, Vaughn had a team-high six tackles and a pass interception.

So far in seven of Torrance’s eight games, Reinert had rushed for 856 yards and nine TDs, and he had 127 yards receiving with four touchdowns. Defensively, he had 48 total tackles and two pass interceptions.

Ceasar Reyes is shown during last year’s game between Garfield and Roosevelt played at SoFi Stadium. Photo: Hudl.com.

Ceasar Reyes (Garfield, East Los Angeles) Jr.

To find the Cal-Hi Sports Southern California Offensive Player of the Week we head to the CIF Los Angeles City Section and find our this week’s honoree just east of the 710 freeway, north of the I-5 and south of Highway 60 in east Los Angeles at Garfield High.

Last week, in a 39-28 victory on the road at nearby South Gate, the fans on the visitor’s side of the stadium probably should have been yelling “Hail, Caesar” after what the 5-fot-11, 170-pound junior running back did to the hosts. All Reyes did against the Rams was ram his way to 420 yards rushing on a mammoth 42 carries with four touchdowns.

The 420 yards is a school record and according to the Cal-Hi Sports Online Record Book it breaks the 40-plus year record of 417 yards set in 1982 by Ricky Solorio. Now, Reyes will get his own spot in the Record Book on the Most Yards (Game) in the Football Individual Records: Single-Game Rushing section. It’s also among the best in L.A. City Section history with the record total of 475 yards set in 1997 by Sherman Austin of L.A. Lincoln. Note: On the same night as Reyes ran for 420, Darnell Miller of L.A. Santee set the new record with 513 yards.

So far this season for 6-2 Garfield and heading into a match-up this week with Los Angeles Roosevelt, Reyes has rushed for 1,643 yards and 23 touchdowns. The 1,643 yards rushing is the top reported mark in the LA City Section and No. 5 overall in the state.

Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Defensive Player of the Week

Jason Homan (St. Bonaventure, Ventura) Jr.

Ventura County is our destination in the search for the Cal-Hi Sports Southern California Defensive Player of the Week, and we find ourselves in Ventura and at it’s at St. Bonaventure where this week’s honoree plies his trade as one of the top defenders on the Seraphs’ team this season.

We’re not sure of the last time Oaks Christian of Westlake Village was shut out, but it’s a team that currently has six players in the NFL, so blanking them like St. Bonaventure did last week in a 19-0 shutout is quite a feat, and Homan was the man just like he has been all season for the Seraphs’ defense.

All Homan did against Oaks Christian was register a mammoth 17 tackles with two for losses, plus a pass interception he returned 39 yards. He also had one carry on offense for 12 yards.

Of note is the 17 tackles is more then twice as many as any of his Seraphs teammates had in the game. That mirrors his season stats where his 117 total tackles (seven for losses) heading into a match-up this week for 4-4 St. Bonaventure with Bishop Diego of Santa Barbara is nearly double of his next nearest teammate. Jason also has a pass interception, four passes defended, a forced fumble and a blocked field goal this season.

The 115 total tackles also is the No. 8 reported mark in the state and No. 7 in the CIF Southern Section.

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