It just so happens that this week’s two offensive honorees — Jacob Anzaldua of Banning (left) and JuJu Hernandez of Tulare Western — also are the top two reported passing leaders in California. Photos: Banning HS Athletics / MaxPreps.com & X.com.
We had two QBs in Southern California that threw for seven touchdowns in a game last week, so we had to pick one of them for the SoCal Offensive Player of the Week honor. That’s the way it goes sometimes when there are no ties in team rankings or individual honors and haven’t been in more than 40 years of Cal-Hi Sports’ state coverage. The winner for that honor is from Banning (the school in the Inland Empire and not Wilmington). We also have a NorCal winner who did even better than seven TD passes for one game. The other two SoCal winners are from Carlsbad and Santa Paula. For Northern California, our honorees are from Tulare, San Jose and Loomis. Go inside for a free look at what these players did.
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Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Offensive Player of the Week
JuJu Hernandez (Tulare Western, Tulare) Jr.
Usually in the CIF Central Section community of Tulare, it’s Tulare High that has the prolific passer. This season, it’s at one of the other three high schools that has the one who may be among the state leaders all the way through the playoffs.
Hernandez set two school records in a memorable night last Friday as he passed for 511 yards and a whopping eight touchdowns in a 55-20 victory against Porterville. J.J. completed 22 of 35 passes and had the most success going to D1 college recruit teammate Amarion Taylor, who had seven catches for 235 yards and two TDs. Isaiah Gomez also had three TD catches.
The 511 yards also is high enough that it will land JuJu on the single-game all-time state list. His total of eight TD passes is one short of the CIF Central Section record of nine set in 2013 by Brandon Jones of Bakersfield Christian. The last Central Section QBs to throw for eight TDs in game both happened in 2023 as both Tanner Wilson of Fresno Sunnyside and Jerod Bubba Smith of Fowler did it.
In Hernandez’s first game this season, he went 24 of 33 passing for 416 yards and seven TDs in a 51-7 win vs El Diamante of Visalia. He added 28 of 37 for 367 yards and three TDs in a 55-21 win vs Mt. Whitney of Visala. He’s leading the state so far in reported passing yards (1,294) and touchdown passes (18). This year’s final game of the regular season on Oct. 30 against Tulare High (2-1 so far this season) should be nuts.
Archbishop Mitty has an aptly named LB this season who can Chase down opposing ball carriers. Photo: amhsathletics / Instagram.com.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Defensive Player of the Week
Ethan Chase (Archbishop Mitty, San Jose) Sr.
Also a catcher in baseball, Chase did his catching of a different type during Mitty’s 21-7 win last week over Clovis North of Fresno, which has had top teams in the CIF Central Section for quite a few years now.
Chase ran down the opposing quarterback of the Broncos and caught him four times for sacks to key the big win. He also had 12 total tackles. He added 30 yards rushing on offense on three carries. In his first game, Ethan had one sack and eight tackles but the Monarchs fell to Acalanes of Lafayette, 35-14.
Last season as a junior, Chase earned first team All-West Catholic Athletic League honors for the Monarchs. He was charted with 73 tackles and he had two sacks, one interception and 10 tackles for loss.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Special Teams/Multi-Purpose Player of the Week
Malik Harris (Del Oro, Loomis) Sr.
A few weeks ago, Malik was just a player on the Del Oro soccer team. He decided to do kicking for the football team and it has proven to be a great decision.
In his first game for the Golden Eagles, a 42-20 win over Downey of Modesto, head coach Josh Parry singled out Harris in the postgame on-field team meeting for going 4-for-4 on PATs. Malik did even better in last week’s second game at St. Francis of Mountain View. He kicked four field goals, including the game-winner with one second left from 24 yards as Del Oro knocked off a Lancers’ team that had beaten preseason state top 50 squad Manteca in its first game.
Now, after Harris’ four field goals game, Del Oro has moved up inside the state top 50 and entering this week at Foothill of Palo Cedro is sitting in the No. 42 position.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Offensive Player of the Week
Jacob Anzaldua (Banning) Sr.
Sitting just behind our NorCal offensive player of the week both for early season passing yards and early season TD passes is this senior from Banning High (not the one in Wilmington but the one from the Riverside County town by the same name).
Anzaldua is one of two QBs from the region who had seven TD passes in a game (the other was Seth Solorio of San Pedro). He got the nod over Seth for SoCal player of the week based on his career stats so far and because he also added one rushing TD in Banning’s 56-21 victory over Carter of Rialto. In the game, Jacob also connected on 20 of 32 passes for 451 yards.
Anzaldua started his first varsity game for the Broncos as a freshman. He was the fulltime starter as a sophomore and 2,630 yards passing and 33 TDs in 11 games. His totals last year for regular season and overall passing yards plus TD passes are both in the single-season state records with 3,711 yards and 40 TDs.
So far this season, through just three games, Jacob has had two 400-yard games and entering this week has 1,248 yards passing with 17 TD passes. Tulare Western’s JuJu Hernandez has 1,294 yards and 18 TDs.
Last week, we ran a list of all of the QBs in our state record lists with at least 10,000 yards and 100 TD passes in their high school careers. Anzaldua’s hot start to this season makes him a very likely candidate to join the club. As of this week, he has 8,312 yards and 96 TD passes.
La Costa Canyon LB George Collins wraps up a ball carrier during a game earlier this season. Photo: lccfootball_official / Instagram.com.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Defensive Player of the Week
George Collins (La Costa Canyon, Carlsbad) Jr.
Here is a 6-foot-4, 210-pounder who is listed as both a linebacker and a defensive back. The bottom line, though, is that the lanky defender has been making plays all over the field for one of the top-ranked teams in the CIF San Diego Section.
In La Costa Canyon’s 41-24 victory last week over Del Norte of San Diego that raised the Mavericks’ early-season record to 2-1, Collins racked up 13 tackles and intercepted a pair of passes. On one of them, the other QB pretty much looked like he threw the ball right at him and George then had clear sailing for an interception return touchdown.
Collins, who also plays rugby, could be a key player for La Costa Canyon in its big game this week vs San Clemente.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Special Teams/Multi-Purpose Player of the Week
Cole Whitehead (Santa Paula) Sr.
Our NorCal special teams/multi-purpose honoree was not the only kicker in the state last week who had four field goals in one game. Whitehead did it for Santa Paula in a 39-31 win over Del Sol of Oxnard. His longest was only 30 yards but he also went 4-for-4 on PATs.
Counting his team’s first game, a 45-30 loss to Grace of Simi Valley, Whitehead also enters this week at 7-for-7 on PATs and 7-for-7 on field goals. If he keeps making three or four field goals every week, Cole will set a lot of records. He also has played soccer and golfed for Santa Paula during his high school career.
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
