Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. My name is Eric Sondheimer. It’s time to start previewing top football players for the coming season. The Times’ nine-part series looking at each position begins Aug. 12, but let’s start providing a sneak peek.
Quarterbacks to watch
Newbury Park quarterback Brady Smigiel throws a pass during a 43-14 nonleague win over Ventura on Sept. 26, 2024.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
Quarterbacks can be broken down into three groups — exceptional returnees, rising players entering their senior seasons and newcomers with potential.
Brady Smigiel of Newbury Park returns for his senior year having thrown 147 career touchdowns. Bryson Beaver of Vista Murrieta surged in the off season as a college prospect before committing to Oregon after passing for 3,214 yards. Luke Fahey of Mission Viejo is an Ohio State commit with big ambitions for his senior season. Brady Edmunds of Huntington Beach enters his junior season after passing for 3,222 yards as a sophomore. He’s also committed to Ohio State.
Corin Berry of Charter Oak passed for 3,034 and committed to Purdue. Oscar Rios of Downey is committed to Arizona and one of the best passers and runners. Jackson Taylor of Thousand Oaks committed to Boise State.
Alexander Lundsberg of Anaheim Canyon was one of the state leaders in passing at 3,646 yards. Travis Frazier of Esperanza is a 6-foot-4 senior who passed for 2,600 yards.
Ryan Hopkins of Mater Dei moves from JSerra as one of the fastest quarterbacks in the state and is a Wisconsin commit. Koa Malau’ulu of St. John Bosco should continue his rise after a freshman season that saw him get the Braves into the Division 1 final. Wyatt Brown moves from Santa Monica to Sherman Oaks Notre Dame ready to test himself against Mission League competition. Cathedral’s Jaden Jefferson had 2,641 yards and 30 touchdowns as a sophomore. Edison’s Sam Thomson led his team to a state title as a sophomore.
Santa Margarita turns to Tulane commit Trace Johnson, a transfer from Florida. Agoura gets back from injury Gavin Gray, who had more than 1,100 yards passing in four games. Chaparral’s Dane Weber completed 67% of his passes as a sophomore. Dominik Hardy of Calabasas passed for 2,100 yards as a sophomore. Deshawn Laporte of Burbank had 2,600 yards passing as a sophomore for a 9-3 team. Joseph Mesa of Paraclete passed for 3,414 yards and 30 touchdowns. Isaiah Arriaza of Damien passed for 2,892 yards and was Baseline League MVP.
Russell Sekona of Leuzinger is coming off a freshman season in which he passed for 1,600 yards. Caden Jones of Crean Lutheran might be the best football/basketball athlete in the Southland entering his junior season. Jacob Paisano of Hart and Brady Bretthauer of Valencia are both senior quarterbacks with strong arms and proven performances from the Foothill League.
The City Section could have its best collection of quarterbacks in years, led by Eagle Rock’s Liam Pasten, who had 3,602 yards passing last season. There’s also Chris Fields at Carson, Jack Thomas at Palisades, Elijah McDaniel at Dorsey, Diego Montes at Kennedy, Seth Solorio at San Pedro and freshman Thaddeus Breaux at Hamilton.
Speaking of freshmen, the class of 2029 quarterbacks look promising. Evan McCalister of Valencia, Ezrah Brown of Orange Lutheran and Marcus Washington of Cajon have already made positive impressions this summer.
Orange Lutheran quarterback Makena Cook throws a pass.
(Steve Galluzzo For The Times)
In girls flag football, Makena Cook of Orange Lutheran, injured during the girls’ soccer season, is expected back this fall to lead the defending Southern Section champion Lancers. Here’s the report.
San Pedro is up to nearly 30 players going out for flag football. The Pirates have lost in the City Open Division finals the last two seasons. King/Drew is joining the Pirates in the Marine League this season.
Summer competition
It’s my favorite week of the summer, because Edison’s Battle at the Beach seven on seven passing tournament is set for Saturday. The 9 a.m. games are some of the best matchups, with Cathedral vs. St. John Bosco and Edison vs. Santa Margarita.
St. John Bosco, Mission Viejo, Santa Margarita, Servite, Los Alamitos, Palos Verdes, Long Beach Poly and L.A. Cathedral are among the schools scheduled to participate. Mission Viejo gets the favorite nod, having beaten Mater Dei in its own tournament on June 28. Action starts at 9 a.m. and ends by early afternoon. Bring a lawn chair, then sit back and enjoy lots of outstanding skill-position players.
Ocean View is hosting its own tournament on Saturday.
The transfer portal continues nonstop. Matt Smith, who took over starting quarterback duties during last season’s playoffs as a sophomore, has left Loyola for Villa Park. Two other Loyola players have also left, defensive back Brandon Lockhart to Sierra Canyon and running back Sean Morris to Orange Lutheran. The Cubs have lost at least eight players since January.
Richard Dunn, a linebacker and running back who was All-City selection as a freshman at Hamilton, has transferred to Sherman Oaks Notre Dame. Jordan Spigarelli, a 6-foot-3 junior quarterback, has left JSerra for Newport Harbor. Here’s the transfer tracker.
New stadiums
Garfield’s new all-weather football field will be ready for games this fall.
(Garfield HS)
Rivals Garfield and Roosevelt will unveil new football fields and stadiums this fall. Construction could be finished by the end of this month.
Here’s a report.
City Section pride
Andrew Williams of Fremont is a 6-foot-5, 220-pound senior who committed to USC.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
Unsung defensive end Andrew Williams of Fremont should serve as inspiration for City Section players this season after committing to USC last February. It’s a story that gives others hope.
Here’s the report.
Basketball
The Section 7 tournament in Arizona revealed lots of top boys basketball teams for the coming season.
Among the teams winning bracket championships were Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, Crespi, Crean Lutheran, Sierra Canyon and Orange Lutheran. Among the new stars emerging were junior Davy Harris of Windward and junior NaVorro Bowman of Notre Dame. Bowman received a scholarship offer from UCLA.
☀️ Boys California LIVE 2025 ☀️
Presented By Passport Sports@simplyy_bball @CoachesCorner__
🏆 LEADING SCORER
Jason Crowe Jr., was a certified 🪣 averaging 37.0 points per game! Scoring from the field, off the dribble and at the rim, a truly outstanding performance! pic.twitter.com/1LCP8YNZIs
— Boys California Live 2025 🚨 (@BoysCALiveHoops) July 4, 2025
Brentwood’s girls’ team made a positive impressive at the CaliLive competition.
Guards were standouts in the CaliLive boys competition. Jason Crowe Jr. (Inglewood), Luke Barnett (Mater Dei), Joe Sterling (Harvard-Westlake), Kaiden Bailey (Santa Margarita) all indicated they are ready for big senior seasons. Notre Dame or St. John Bosco will be the the No. 1 team to start the season.
Transfers have moved into Crespi, JSerra, Campbell Hall, Sierra Canyon, La Mirada and St. John Bosco, adding to already talented teams. But plenty more transfers are expected before school begins next month.
Cleveland has added St. Bonaventure’s Charlie Adams, who was a star freshman last season.
MLB draft
Corona High’s Seth Hernandez circles the bases after hitting a two-run home run.
(Jerry Soifer)
The MLB amateur draft begins Sunday in Atlanta, and it should be a good draft for Southern California products.
Corona pitcher Seth Hernandez and Corona shortstop Billy Carlson are both likely first-round picks, if not top 10 picks. Hernandez was the Gatorade national player of the year and is a two-time player of the year by The Times.
Great Oak infielder Gavin Fien is another likely first-round selection. Shortstop Quentin Young of Oaks Christian is another potential first-round pick. Pitcher Angel Cervantes of Warren, a UCLA commit, is expected to be taken in the first three rounds and sign.
Here’s a look at ESPN writer predictions.
Here’s an MLB mock draft.
Also, for the first time, two Harvard-Westlake grads have earned spots in the MLB All-Star Game. Pete Crow-Armstrong of the Chicago Cubs and Max Fried of the New York Yankees can wear their old Wolverine caps.
Volleyball
The Manhattan Beach volleyball club team, MB Surf.
(Olivia Duval)
Good things happen when volleyball players from Loyola and Mira Costa join together. The MB Surf club team won the 18 Open division championship at the AAU Junior National Volleyball Championships in Florida. It’s owned by Loyola coach Mike Boehle. His sons, Parker and Davis, coached the team.
The MVP was Mira Costa’s Andrew Chapin. All-tournament picks included Grayson Bradford from Mira Costa and Blake Falbusch from Loyola. MB Surf also won the 12 Open division title, so watch for future Loyola and Mira Costa players.
Kendall Omoruyi, the top-ranked girls’ volleyball player from the class of 2027, has enrolled at Sierra Canyon. She’s a Nebraska commit who attended Casteel High near Phoenix.
Notes . . .
Jackson Eisenhower, the pitcher of the year in the Mission League from Crespi, has committed to Colorado Mesa. . . .
Megan Hall has become an athletic director at Harvard-Westlake. She previously was at Notre Dame Academy. . . .
Defensive end Richard Wesley of Sierra Canyon, previously committed to Oregon after a fancy social media video of taking a swim with Oregon head coach Dan Lanning, has committed to Texas. . . .
Huntington Beach receiver Troy Foster has committed to Colorado State. . . .
Crespi defensive lineman James Moffat has committed to Princeton. . . .
Cathedral receiver Jalen Ross has committed to Idaho State. . . .
Corona Centennial offensive lineman Jakob Mckindley has committed to Northern Arizona. . . .
Servite tight end Luke Sorensen has committed to Nebraska. . . .
Mission Viejo defensive back Jeron Jones has committed to Washington. . . .
Khary Wilder, the standout defensive lineman from Gardena Serra, has committed to Ohio State. . . .
Offensive lineman Mateo Bilaver of Chaminade has committed to UNLV. . . .
Kyle Sanders, a 6-10 sophomore at St. Bernard, has transferred to Campbell Hall. . . .
Trinity League boys basketball has decided to hold a post-regular season tournament and will play each league team once during the regular season. . . .
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame has completed a project adding new bleachers to its gymnasium. . . .
AJ Garcia, the former football coach at Ayala, is the new athletic director at Chino. . . .
Former Bishop Montgomery and UCLA guard David Singleton is the new assistant coach at UCLA. . . .
Joe Hoggatt, the baseball coach and athletic director at Bishop Amat, is leaving to become an assistant commissioner with the Southern Section. . . .
The City Section is up to 85 schools planning to have flag football teams this fall. . . .
Jesse Mercado is the new boys basketball at Villa Park. . . .
Here’s the All-CIF softball team. . . .
Senior Kai Staniland of Ventura has committed to Point Loma Nazarene for women’s basketball. . . .
The South Bay will be the site for the LA Throws Cup on Friday. . . .
A new skatepark has opened in San Juan Capistrano. . . .
From the archives: Nico Young
Nico Young representing Newbury Park in 2019.
(Raul Roa/Staff Photographer)
Nico Young was the premier distance runner in Southern California running for Newbury Park, and now he’s one of the best in the world. He set an American record in the 5,000 meters on June 12, running 12:45.27.
Here’s a story from 2019 on his climb through the high school record books.
Here’s an interview from 2020 with Young discussing the future after the pandemic ended his season.
Recommendations
From The562.org, a story on Long Beach Poly’s campus beginning a six-year, $450 million upgrade.
From ESPN.com, a story on the rise of former Harvard-Westlake outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong.
From the Los Angeles Times, a story on former Chatsworth guard Alijah Arenas discussing his accident.
From ESPN.com, a story on the rise of former Thousand Oaks shortstop Jacob Wilson, who made the All-Star Game.
Tweets you might have missed
Former JSerra girls’ basketball coach Chyanne Butler has filed suit in Orange County Superior Court alleging discrimination and sexual harassment after her dismissal last March. She guided the team to a 3A title during 2024 season https://t.co/9rHsveugWA
— eric sondheimer (@latsondheimer) July 3, 2025
Thank you Fillmore/Piru! Your New Fillmore High Athletic Complex Construction has begun! Athletic Complex construction news will be updated regularly on our blog, social media, and website at this link: https://t.co/pb04U1uTlj pic.twitter.com/91bZae0qgH
— Fillmore Unified School District (@FUSDDistrict) June 17, 2025
STORY: Lakewood alum Anthony Eyanson led LSU to an NCAA baseball championship yesterday. Next up: the MLB Draft next monthhttps://t.co/F7ij59L6X3
— The562.org (@562sports) June 23, 2025
Alijah Arenas describes for the first time publicly how the steering wheel of his Tesla Cybertruck locked up and led to his fiery April wreck in Reseda.
“The wheel wasn’t responding like I was in the car,” Arenas said pic.twitter.com/OUb2bBacfT
— Ryan Kartje (@Ryan_Kartje) June 24, 2025
It’s going to be the summer of turmoil at Southern Section office dealing with transfers. As soon as transfer paperwork gets entered into data base, the work begins. Expect lots of forfeits this season if AD’s don’t do their jobs checking addresses and pre-enrollment contact.
— eric sondheimer (@latsondheimer) June 27, 2025
CSUN Athletics is mourning the passing of Matador Hall of Fame @CSUNBaseball coach and former Athletics Director, Bob Hiegert at the age of 83.
A legendary figure in CSUN Athletics’ history, Hiegert is the longest tenured and winningest coach in Matador baseball history with… pic.twitter.com/RpPgWk9MG8
— CSUN Matadors (@GoMatadors) June 27, 2025
Today marks Jamal K. Adams’ ’90 first official day as the new president of Loyola High School.
A Loyola alumnus, he was most recently the school’s principal. With full support from the community, join us in welcoming President Adams as he begins a new era for Loyola. #AMDG pic.twitter.com/9rC6Ws8aw6
— Loyola High School (@LoyolaHigh) July 1, 2025
Until next time….
Have a question, comment or something you’d like to see in a future Prep Rally newsletter? Email me at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com, and follow me on Twitter at @latsondheimer.
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