Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. The Times begins a nine-part series previewing Southern California’s top high school football players Tuesday. In a final sneak peek, let’s look at defensive backs and kickers/punters.
Secondary power
Oregon commit Davon Benjamin of Oaks Christian returned three interceptions for touchdowns last season.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
The hardest projection this coming season involves which school has the best secondary. That’s how much depth and talent some teams have at defensive back.
Sierra Canyon has two USC commits, Madden Riordan and Brandon Lockhart, plus an LSU commit, Havon Finney Jr., and a terrific junior safety, Myles Baker.
Gardena Serra is loaded with Duvay Williams, Marcellous Ryan, Wesley Arce and Devohn Moutra Jr. Mater Dei has Cory Lavender, Aaryn Washington and Ace Leutele. St. John Bosco counters with USC commit Josh Holland, standout junior safety Isala Wiley-Ava and improving junior cornerback Dorian Franklin.
Murrieta Valley has the Johnson brothers, Derrick Johnson Jr., an Oklahoma commit, and junior Darius Johnson. Long Beach Poly has juniors Julius Johnson and Donte Wright Jr. Rancho Cucamonga has cornerbacks Joshua Mensah and Justin Lewis, both committed to UCLA.
There’s top defensive backs throughout the region, from Jeron Jones of Mission Viejo to Davon Benjamin of Oaks Christian. Sophomore Jalen Flowers of Palos Verdes is coming off an exceptional freshman season and keeps getting better and better. Sophomore Jordan Slye Jr. of Salesian is someone to keep your eye on because of his athleticism and size. Sophomore Micah Hannah of Simi Valley already has proven himself as a freshman.
They can kick
San Pedro junior kicker Dylan Moreno was seven of nine on field goals last season.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
The band of kickers and punters keeps getting better aided by an army of private coaches.
Aiden Migirdichian of Orange Lutheran was nine of nine on field goals last season. Jacob Kreinberg of Loyola could be doing double duty after making 11 field goals.
Dylan Moreno of San Pedro is headed for All-City honors for his accuracy. Oscar Reyes Ramirez of Hemet returns after making 15 field goals as a junior. Jackson Shevin of Mira Costa is headed toward averaging better than 40 yards on punts. Washington commit CJ Wallace of St. John Bosco reaches his senior year ready for a big season.
Sophomore Jerry Shifman has left Agoura for Mater Dei and junior Carter Sobel has left Chaminade for Sierra Canyon. Each has shown strong kicking skills. Gabriel Goroyan of Westlake is a junior who figures to receive lots of kicking opportunities. Carter Montgomery of Claremont holds a school-record 48-yard field goal.
Top 25 preseason rankings
Mater Dei coach Raul Lara receives Division 1 championship plaque after win over St. John Bosco last season.
(Craig Weston)
Drum roll, please. The Times’ top 25 preseason football rankings are out, and Mater Dei starts out as the No. 1 team.
The Monarchs went unbeaten last season and there’s no reason they can’t go unbeaten again. Their receiving group is exceptional but there are top players throughout positions.
Here’s a look at the top 25 rankings.
Practice notes
Los Alamitos and Inglewood will open the football season on Friday night at Inglewood in an official game a week ahead of most schools. Los Alamitos has a game scheduled in Hawaii on Aug. 22, so it gets to have a double zero week game. Simi Valley is playing Spanish Springs at Simi Valley. Santa Monica is traveling to Honolulu to play Kaimuki on Saturday.
Long Beach Millikan is also opening on Friday in Nevada against Foothill in Henderson. Most schools will be playing scrimmages this week, such as Corona Centennial hosting Sierra Canyon on Thursday night. Scrimmages are considered practices, so players who won’t be eligible because of a sit-out transfer period are allowed to play.
The Moore League, led by Millikan and Long Beach Poly, held its first media preview session. Here’s a report.
The Meeker twins, quarterback Liam (left) and receiver Luke, are key players for Mira Costa.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
Mira Costa is turning to twins Liam and Luke Meeker, surfer and football dudes. Here’s a report.
The Tri County League held a media day in Ventura. Here’s a report.
The Marmonte League held its media day at Oaks Christian. Here’s a report.
Narbonne is engaged in another rebuilding year after an exodus of players because the team is banned from the playoffs for the next three years. Here’s a report.
Dymally has canceled its scheduled season opener against Palisades on Aug. 22 for lack of players.
Orange Lutheran quarterback Makena Cook throws a pass.
(Steve Galluzzo For The Times)
The flag football season has begun with new rules and new pressure on quarterbacks to adapt to having defensive players only one yard away from the line of scrimmage to start a play instead of seven yards.
Here’s The Times’ flag football preview.
Jesic to Nelson for first ever TD in sports history. Jesic follows up with a pick six and then the dynamic due Jesick to Nelson strikes again! 18-0 over Calabasas with 2:50 left in the first quarter pic.twitter.com/1O6VvOQaE5
— Chaminade Athletics (@Chaminadesports) August 9, 2025
Panorama has some key players returning and could be a factor in the City Section. Here’s a report.
Anthony Barr retires
Dallas Cowboys linebacker Anthony Barr (51) warms up in 2022.
(Ashley Landis/AP)
Former Loyola High, UCLA and NFL linebacker Anthony Barr, 33, has retired from football.
His coach at Loyola in 2009, Jeff Kearin, said, “He was real pleasure to coach. High level and high profile and he knew his hard work would get him to where he wanted to be. Never felt a need to thump his own chest or transfer three times to feed his own ego. And believe me, the sharks were swimming around. His mom and family were well grounded. Different time. And different kind of guy.”
Here’s a look at Barr in a story from 2009 when he was a star running back.
Notes . . .
Transfers in California during the 2024-25 school year totaled 17,041, according to CIF stats. That’s down from the record 17,068 the previous school year. . . .
Final totals are in for prep sports transfers in California for 2024-25. For second straight year, they exceeded 17,000. Last year was a record 17,068. This past school year, it was 17,041. Southern Section led the way with 7,139. City Section had 1,085. San Francisco had 163.
— eric sondheimer (@latsondheimer) August 4, 2025
The CIF announced a record number of students — more than 820,000 — participated in high school sports during the last school year in California. . . .
Brock Livingston, Crespi’s long-time lacrosse coach, has resigned to move back east to take care of his family. . . .
Max Luchs is the new boys lacrosse coach at Chaminade. . . .
Mater Dei and Santa Margarita have won the Southern Section Commissioner’s Cup for boys and girls sports as the top athletic programs for 2024-25. . . .
Pitcher Grayson Martin of Temecula Valley has committed to Cal Baptist. . . .
The girls volleyball season begins this weekend with teams traveling to Hawaii for the Ann King Invitational. Top teams entered include Mira Costa, Sierra Canyon, Redondo Union, JSerra, Los Alamitos, Huntington Beach and Harvard-Westlake. . . .
Golfer Hill Wang from La Serna has committed to Pepperdine. . . .
Standout girls soccer and flag football quarterback Makena Cook of Orange Lutheran has committed to Georgia. . . .
Pitcher Juju Diaz-Jones from Sherman Oaks Notre Dame has committed to Cal. . . .
Junior pitcher Roy Kim from Great Oak has committed to Stanford. . . .
Softball pitcher Liliana Escobar of JSerra has committed to Florida. . . .
Outfielder Ethan Price of Harvard-Westlake has committed to Santa Clara. . . .
Cory Skinner is the new softball coach at Chaminade. . . .
Standout junior guard Grayson Coleman is leaving Calabasas for Milken. His father, Ryan, will take over the Milken program after being head coach for many years at Shalhevet. . . .
Incoming Harvard-Westlake freshman baseball players Louis Lappe and Mateo Mier have made the U.S. 15U national baseball team. Also selected was Mira Costa sophomore Kekoa Delatori. Lappe was the hero on El Segundo’s championship Little League team in 2023. They will compete at the U-15 Pan American Championship in Mexico Sept. 13-18. . . .
Former Mira Costa and UCLA third baseman Kyle Karros made his major league debut for the Colorado Rockies on Friday and got a single and RBI in his first at-bat.
From the archives: Giancarlo Stanton
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame baseball coach Tom Dill with his former pupil, Giancarlo Stanton.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
Former Sherman Oaks Notre Dame standout Giancarlo Stanton continues to move forward in his pro baseball career with the New York Yankees. Last week he hit his 438th career home run, tying him for 46th on the all-time list.
Stanton will go down as one of the three greatest athletes in Southern California high school history, having been All-CIF in football, basketball and baseball.
Here’s a story from 2016 on Stanton talking about being a multi-sport athlete in high school.
Here’s a story from 2007 when Stanton’s first name was Mike and his skills were becoming known.
Recommendations
From FIBA basketball, a story that shows former Harvard-Westlake guard Robert Hinton playing for Taiwan.
From Gpb.org, a story on a high school in Georgia opening its $62 million stadium.
From Newstribune.com, a story on a high school football player in Tacoma who got too big to be a UFC fighter.
Tweets you might have missed
The fan who hit the home run as a walk-on player was former Thousand Oaks standout Eli Steinhaus, who happens to play Division III baseball at Lewis & Clark. A great ringer. https://t.co/2hGCihzDXb
— eric sondheimer (@latsondheimer) August 4, 2025
I asked former Narbonne coach Malcolm Manuel if he knew where the City Section championship trophy was. “No clue,” he said. It’s missing.
— eric sondheimer (@latsondheimer) August 5, 2025
LB Anthony Barr, 33, is retiring from football. He starred at Loyola High, UCLA and the NFL. A look back in 2009. https://t.co/oF198KlkgF
— eric sondheimer (@latsondheimer) August 5, 2025
The Coliseum has confirmed that San Fernando’s football team will play Sylmar in the San Fernando Valley Classic on Friday, Oct. 17. There also will be JV boys game and girls flag football game on the same day at the Coliseum.
— eric sondheimer (@latsondheimer) August 5, 2025
Thank you to the Los Angeles Dodgers @Dodgers and Bosco Baseball alum, Nomar Garciaparra for recognizing our accomplishments this 2025 season. First-class treatment from a first-class organization! pic.twitter.com/vGZQawDe9G
— Coach Andy Rojo (@CoachAndyRojo) August 6, 2025
David Hilton, the parent of a Loyola football player, was planning to address Southern Section Executive Committee today. Then his son broke his leg last night. Here’s what he was going to say. pic.twitter.com/eTVCBDAAtu
— eric sondheimer (@latsondheimer) August 7, 2025
The Los Angeles-based Dodgers Dreamteam won the RBI World Series 13-15 division in Florida with 5-2 win over Detroit. Lennex Minor tossed two innings of shutout relief with three strikeouts. Marc James had two RBIs. Minor finished with nine RBIs in the tournament.
— eric sondheimer (@latsondheimer) August 9, 2025
Let me be blunt. I don’t write about players simply because they have stars next to their name. I write about people who are good players, good students, good teammates, good citizens. That’s my mission.
— eric sondheimer (@latsondheimer) August 10, 2025
Serra at Servite scrimmage on Thursday at 5 pm. I’ll never forget the best scrimmage I ever went to between the two teams years ago. There were so many future pros. Most intensity ever for a scrimmage.
— eric sondheimer (@latsondheimer) August 10, 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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