Two of this week’s honorees are dual threat quarterback Graham Lunzer from Valley Christian of Cerritos and running back Devonte Troutt of Los Gatos. Photos: Steve Fericean / Los Cerritos News & sarahksmithphoto & lghsathletics / Instagram.com.
We begin this week at a school in the Santa Clara Valley area of the CIF Central Coast Section with one of the top all-time win totals in state history and a school that began in playing in 1897. That’s Los Gatos and then after that we head to Hughson and Woodland for our other stops in Northern California. Down south, we begin with a look at a prolific dual threat QB in Cerritos, then go to another really old school (Santa Barbara) and finish up in San Diego.
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Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Offensive Player of the Week
Devonte Troutt (Los Gatos) Sr.
One of the main reasons that Los Gatos has emerged as one of the top teams in Northern California this season (especially after a big win over Pittsburg when that team was in the top 15 of the state) has been the breakout season that Troutt has had at running back.
As a junior, Devonte only had 32 carries but showed a glimpse of what he could do by averaging 10.2 yards per carry. He scored six touchdowns. So how much improved has he become as a senior and in the starring role for the Wildcats’ offense? Well, in last week’s 49-10 victory over Menlo School of Atherton, Troutt scored more touchdowns in that game (seven) than he had all of last season.
In the win, as Los Gatos improved to 7-1, Devonte also ended up with 18 carries for 234 yards and two receptions for 94 yards. He had six of his TDs on runs with another on a reception. The seven TDs has been reported as tying the school record.
Trout rushed for 219 yards in the previous week when the Wildcats beat King’s Academy of Sunnyvale, 49-12. He enters this week with season totals of 967 yards rushing and 15 TDs with 17 receptions for 260 yards and three other scores. Devonte also returned a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown in the first game vs Soquel and he had a kickoff return TD vs Sacred Heart Prep of Atherton.
Titus Beers has been the top defender this season for Hughson and is among the reported state leaders for sacks. Photo: elev8sportsmedia / Instagram.com.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Defensive Player of the Week
Titus Beers (Hughson) Sr.
There are some occasions for this honor in which a player is essentially being picked for not just the previous week’s game but also for the one before that. Such is the case for Beers, a 6-foot-3, 205-pound senior linebacker for Hughson.
In this last Friday’s game, Beers had a whopping total of six tackles for loss to help the Huskies defeat Orestimba of Newman, 49-10. He also had 11 total tackles and 1.5 sacks. In the previous game, he racked up 21 tackles and in that game Hughson topped Sonora, 31-14. Sonora, remember, won the CIF D2-A state title last season and won the CIF D4-A state crown the year before that.
Beers does a lot more the Huskies than just make tackles for loss on defense. He had three catches for 37 yards and one TD as a tight end last week and in that big win vs Sonora he had five catches for 153 yards and two touchdowns.
For the season, Beers ranks among the reported state leaders with 8.5 sacks. He’s also almost to 100 tackles on defense with 97. On offense, he has four TDs rushing with 36 receptions for 838 yards and nine TDs. As many other small school stars from the Sac-Joaquin and Central Section over the years, Titus also plays multiple sports. He averaged nearly eight points and 11 rebounds per game last season in basketball.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Special Teams/Multi-Purpose Player of the Week
Cohen Dwyer (Woodland) Jr.
Here’s a player we’ve looked at every week to get him in as a multi-purpose player of the week and this is the week we’re doing it for him.
Dwyer first gained attention at Woodland as a freshman in baseball with freshman teammate Riley Salvemini. They’ve been ranked as top prospects since that season, but unlike Riley, Cohen also plays football and has been a highly productive player on both offense and defense.
This past week, Dwyer had a season high of 156 yards receiving on four catches and he came up with an interception on defense as the Wolves defeated Dixon, 35-24. Dwyer also had three tackles and one tackle for loss on defense. He now has 13 touchdown catches on the season and most importantly for this honor he now has eight interceptions. That is tied for the reported state lead with Chula Vista Hilltop’s Lajuan Johnson.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Offensive Player of the Week
Graham Lunzer (Valley Christian, Cerritos) Sr.
After a junior season in which Lunzer had more than 2,000 yards passing and more than 500 yards rushing, he’s on track to perhaps get to 3,000 yards passing and 1,000 yards rushing this season, especially after what he did in last week’s wild-and-wacky 55-50 triumph over Western Christian of Upland.
Lunzer, a 6-foot-2, 185-pounder, completed 13 of 22 passes for 368 yards and five touchdowns. With his legs, he was very effective as well. Graham gunned it for 162 yards rushing on 20 carries and three scores. For those math majors, that’s a total offense in one game of 530 yards and eight touchdowns.
For the season, which has seen the Defenders post a 6-2-1 record, Lunzer has passed for 2,013 yards and 27 TDs while for rushing he enters the final regular season game with 631 yards rushing and 14 scores.
We don’t know if Graham will be a math major in college, but he’d qualify as one of the state’s top scholar athletes. He has a reported 1500 on his SAT and a 4.5 combined GPA.
Santa Barbara High multi-purpose star Cade Mault is shown after he was the Santa Barbara Athletic Roundtable player of the week after game he had earlier this season vs. Moorpark. Photo: Gary Kim / Santa Barbara Independent.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Special Teams/Multi-Purpose Player of the Week
Cade Mault (Santa Barbara) Jr.
One of the teams that dropped out of this week’s overall State TOP 50 rankings was Westlake of Westlake Village, which lost its first game in league with a 13-10 loss to Santa Barbara. Mault was the player of the game for the Dons. He connected on field goals of 49 and 43 yards, and kicked the PAT after he caught an 85-yard touchdown pass from QB Griffin Arnold for the team’s only touchdown of the night. Mault also picked up a first down executed a fake punt.
Mault’s season stats also reflect his versatility. Santa Barbara hasn’t put in the totals from its win over Westlake, but before that ha had 48 receptions for 733 yards and six TDs. No kicking stats are available, but in a story in the L.A. Times about him being a self-taught kicker it was mentioned that Cade had not missed a PAT this season. In a win earlier this season vs Moorpark, Mault caught seven passes for 119 yards and two TDs, make a 31-yard field goal and went 5-for-5 on PATs.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Defensive Player of the Week
Niko Cato (Mira Mesa, San Diego) Sr.
He’s been one of the reported leaders for tackles in the CIF San Diego Section and in recent weeks Cato also has been piling up some yards as a running back. We had some other really strong multi-purpose candidates this week, but Niko’s defensive accomplishments alone in his team’s 33-20 win last week over Coronado were plenty strong enough so that he could be honored on defense.
Cato, who has been averaging nearly 14 tackles per game on the season, rang up his average against Coronado. But what put him over the top for this honor was getting his first interception of the season plus Niko came up with three tackles for loss. He also showcased a skill at blocking field goal attempts in this game as he had two of them.
Cato chipped in for the win on offense by rushing for 165 yards and two touchdowns. He had 275 yards rushing in one game earlier this season.
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