The first round of the CIF football playoffs is complete and there were plenty of dominant performances across Southern California and TeamFB7 highlights the best performers of the week.
The pool of Southern California high school football teams is withering down after the first round of the CIF playoffs. The Southern Section Division 1 playoff teams were on a bye this week but many players from other divisions had big games to help their teams advance. Standouts from across the LA City Section, San Diego Section and Southern Section shined for their teams last week, and we want to highlight them.
Top High School Football Performances From Round 1 Of The CIF Playoffs In Southern California
Here are the top high school performances in Southern California from the opening round of the CIF playoffs following a busy first weekend.
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Top Passing Performances
Madin Gardini, Patrick Henry
Madin Gardini threw for a career-high 486 yards with 5 touchdowns for Patrick Henry in its first round win over Imperial in the San Diego Section Division 2 playoffs. His previous career-high was 431 yards earlier this season against Otay Ranch and Gardini has led Patrick Henry to an 11-0 record.
Taylor Lee, Pacifica
Taylor Lee threw for 346 yards with 5 touchdowns in Oxnard-Pacifica’s first round shootout win over Bishop Amat. It was the second consecutive game in which the Portland State commit threw for over 340 yards with 5 touchdowns. Pacifica will host Chaminade in the Division 2 quarterfinal this week.
Ryan Rakowski, Palos Verdes
Ryan Rakowski completed 13 of 15 passes for 269 yards with 3 touchdowns for Palos Verdes in its 38-20 win over Serra of Gardena. The Nevada commit also ran for a team-high 82 yards with a touchdown. Rakowski has led Palos Verdes to back-to-back CIF championship games and won a championship as a sophomore. The Sea Kings will host Inglewood in the quarterfinal round of Division 2. The Sentinels handed Palos Verdes its only loss of the season so far.
Star Thomas III, Orange
Nobody had their stock rise more this week in a loss than Star Thomas III. The junior lefty threw for 334 yards with 3 touchdowns and ran for 149 yards with a touchdown in Orange’s loss to Chaparral. Thomas III left the game with an injury in the third quarter and Orange only trailed by one score at the time of his injury.
Top Rushing Performances
Adrian Cervantes, Segerstrom
Adrian Cervantes ran for 161 yards with 2 touchdowns and had 124 yards receiving with 3 touchdowns in Segerstrom’s win over South Pasadena. He has rushed for an average of 174 yards per game with 10 touchdowns during Segerstrom’s three-game winning streak.
CJ Dickerson, La Habra
The sophomore running back had a breakout game in La Habra’s first round win over Etiwanda. CJ Dickerson ran for a career-high 209 yards with 3 touchdowns for the Highlanders. It was his first game with over 15 carries and his first rushing for over 115 yards.
De’andre Eleby, Morse
De’andre Eleby ran for a career-high 279 yards on just 8 carries with 4 touchdowns in Morse’s 63-44 win over Monte Vista. He also had 75 yards receiving with 2 touchdowns.
Trevor Vaivao, Ocean View
Trevor Vaivao ran for 268 yards on 38 carries with 4 touchdowns in Ocean View’s 34-28 upset win over Lawndale, who was the No. 1 seed in the CIF Southern Section Division 9 bracket.
Marlon Watson, Inglewood
Marlon Watson ran for 233 yards on 24 carries with a touchdown in Inglewood’s 44-35 win over Huntington Beach. The victory sets up a rematch with Bay League foe Palos Verdes in the quarterfinal round of Division 2. Watson had 109 yards rushing in the first meeting between the two teams.
Top Receiving Performances
Jack Norman, Dana Hills
Jack Norman had 181 yards receiving on 5 catches with a pair of touchdowns in Dana Hills’ 28-17 win over Westlake. His two touchdown catches were from 89 and 61-yards out, respectively.
Kingston Pellum, Xavier Prep
Kingston Pellum caught 7 passes for 163 yards with 2 touchdowns and ran for a touchdown in Xavier Prep’s 27-14 win over Banning. He also had an interception that he returned 30 yards on defense.
Alijah Royster, Pacifica
Alijah Royster had 173 yards receiving on 4 catches with 3 touchdowns in Pacifica’s 56-50 win over Bishop Amat.
Top Defensive Performances
Boogie Baker, Chino Hills
Boogie Baker had 6.5 sacks in Chino Hills’ win over Culver City. He has 21.5 sacks on the season which is the second most in the state and the most in the Southern Section.
Elija Harmon, Inglewood
Oklahoma commit Elija Harmon had 7 tackles with 3.5 sacks in Inglewood’s 44-35 win over Huntington Beach. Looking ahead, Harmon had 7 tackles, 3 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks against Palos Verdes earlier in the season. The two teams will meet this week in the quarterfinal round.
Will Kimball, Laguna Beach
Will Kimball had 2 interceptions and returned one for a touchdown in Laguna Beach’s win over Lancaster. The interceptions were his first of the season and three of his four career interceptions have come in the playoffs.
Caleb McNickle, Mt. Carmel
Caleb McNickle had 19 tackles, 7 for a loss and 2 sacks in Mt. Carmel’s 17-13 win over Hilltop. He has had double-digit tackles in three consective games.
