Norwalk defensive end Marcus Castillo ready to cause some havoc. (Photo by: Daniel Medrano)
By George Hernandez
The end of the regular season is here and the CIF playoff pairings are coming. These are some of the youngsters that have had a huge part in their teams playing for a league title this week or already clinching one and leading them into the post season.
Offense:
Alta Loma quarterback Maximus Fierro, a freshman, has taken a 5-5 team to a 7-2 record and a possible league title. Fierro has thrown for 1,238 yards, 17 touchdowns and has only thrown four interceptions through eight games. He has also added 200 yards rushing and four touchdowns on the ground.
Freshmen Jacob Torres stepped in for Schurr facing one of the tougher preseason schedules in the SGV with the likes of La Serna, Bonita and Rio Hondo Prep and has thrown for 1,103 yards with 13 touchdowns with only three interceptions. He has also pounded in three touchdowns on the ground.
Defense:
One of the more known outstanding freshmen is Northview’s defensive end Jeremiah “Juju” Alcantara. A a product from the Trench Dawgz, Juju has led a defensive line that people thought was going to be a weak point of the team. He has accounted for 42 tackles, 12 of those for a loss and seven sacks.
“You don’t get better by accident. You have to want it every single day.” – Alcantara
From one of the most known to probably the most unknown is Norwalk defensive end Marcus Castillo. Wearing #21 Castillo, only a sophomore, has caused problems all year for opposing offenses. Castillo who is also a standout baseball player, has racked up 43 tackles, 15 tackles for loss and five sacks. His motor never stops and he’s played on almost every snap on defense and is a young leader on a 9-0 Lancers team.
“All of our hard work that we put in during the summer is paying off and it shows”, said Castillo on his and the team’s success so far this year.
Others to watch:
Kenai Sumage WR/DB – La Serna (Frosh)
Santino Ballardo DT – Northview (Frosh)
Leauma Leiatua DT/OL – Norwalk (Soph)
Bryant Avila WR – Alta Loma (Soph)
Jayden Harris TE/DE – Charter Oak (Soph)
Julian Minor TE/DL – Charter Oak (Soph)
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You should have definitely called Coach Minor at Bishop Amat. He has been open to talk to the media and is extremely approachable.
Those players who have done well enough academically and have had very good to great season this year (possibly in the past too) , but are not D1 in size , speed, etc, must know a D2/NAIA scholarship is very possible because only D3 does not give athletic scholarships. But with very good academic performance and SAT (or similar?) quality scores D3 colleges/universities often give lots of academic scholarships; and these players will most likely get much more playing time at the smaller schools. Many are very competitive too
ADRIAN MARQUEZ- ROSEMEAD HIGH
Brandon Garcia (La Puente) leads the area in sacks and is top 5 in tackles. Kid is all over the field.
@MVS-GH
I’m not sure why his freshman year stats don’t show for his overall career stats but he had 107 tackles, 6.5 TFLs, 3 ints as a freshman on varsity. He’s a dude!
@Kaviky I only seen he has stats for his year on varsity and great ones 91-tackles think he’ll definitely make the next list. Thanks for the add.
Anyone want to see their guys up here send them in and I’ll check them out.
You should also have thrown in Nicholas Castillo from Los Altos. He led the team in tackles at 107 a year ago and plans on doing the same this year!
Love this spotlight on players we may not be familiar with yet !
Thanks
When you watch a pro or college game, most of the players were these kind of standouts on their high school teams. I particularly want to mention the kids who are not as big and fast as needed for the higher levels, but who still give 100% all the time. These are the young men who know that your own self image is the most valuable commodity in the world.