The USC Trojans (9-4) were recently voted the college football program of the decade and captured two national titles under Pete Carroll’s reign. With the departure of Carroll to the Seattle Seahawks, the University of Southern California should be prepared to lose some of their top- ranked or at least potential recruits. Recalling Lane Kiffin back to USC leaves much to be desired and could prove to be disastrous. His one-year stop at Tennessee (7-6) was quite disappointing, especially if you consider the reputable and expensive coaching staff. Following the uncertainty at the coaching position both Dillon Baxter and Kyle Prater were second guessing their decisions to play for USC, but Lane Kiffin deserves credit for persuading them to stay. Lache Seastrunk, a once potential high-profile recruit for the Trojans cancelled his visit altogether and for the moment looks as if he is headed to another PAC-10 powerhouse in Oregon.

Florida (13-1) faced a similar scenario as Head Coach Urban Meyer announced his resignation due to health reasons in late December, but a day later decided to take an indefinite leave of absence instead. The expected return of Meyer must have been a key factor for Ronald Powell, the top ranked recruit in the 2010 class, when he picked Florida over USC. It is believed that Sharif Floyd, another highly sought after recruit may have discussed college choices with Powell and chosen Florida so the two can play alongside each other. The pairing should provide the Gators with an extremely solid defensive line for the next couple of years.

Not only will these coaching changes play a role in determining the outcome of the recruiting class, but it also may be a factor in whether college players chose to stay for another year or enter the draft. When Notre Dame let Charlie Weis go, it probably made it easier on Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate to leave as underclassman. As signing day quickly approaches keep a close eye on how these coaching changes and uncertainties are affecting player decisions and team dynamics.

On the ensuing drive, facing a third-and-9, Markeith Ambles came up with a spectacular forty-yard catch to keep the drive alive. Just when the East looked like they were going to get on the board, Michael Palardy had his 32-yard field goal attempt blocked by Cassius Marsh and Josh Shirley delivered and put the West up 14-0 at the half.

During the half Dillon Baxter, an explosive all purpose back from Mission Bay High School in San Diego, California, was awarded the U.S. Army player of the year award for his outstanding performance and leadership this past season. Baxter led the Buccaneers on a perfect 13-0 season that resulted in a San Diego CIF Division IV title.  His stats are astonishing as he has accounted for 76 total touchdowns on the season and carried his team with 7 touchdowns in the championship game. With the departure of Pete Carroll to the Seattle Seahawks, Baxter is seriously reconsidering his commitment to USC.

Struggling to get in the rhythm and seeking a big play,the East found one from Spencer Ware who took a carry for 37 yards on the first play of the second half. With the kicking game struggling, the East decided to take a chance on fouth-and-5, but a low pass turns the ball over on downs. Sharrif Floyd, defensive tackle who just committed to the University of Florida, ended the West’s possession with an explosive sack on third-and-3 to force a three and out. Kennan Allan, set to join the Alabama Crimson Tide, received the punt and had an electrifying 52-yard return that provided the East with a much needed spark. But, once again the West defense laid to rest any momentum that the East had hoped to establish.

Off of the turnover on downs, Jake Heaps found Robert Woods for a 40-yard gain.  Heaps, from Skyline High School in Washington, is the #1 ranked quarterback in the nation and a BYU commit. The drive set up Dillon Baxter for an impressive 5-yard touchdown where he weaved around a swarm of defenders to give the West a 21-0 lead.

Perhaps the most surprising performance in the game came from East quarterback, Cole Marcoux, who earned a chance to play in the All-American Bowl by winning a reality television show. On one of his first passes he connected with Ivan McCartney for a 50-yard bomb to score. However, the extra point attempt was blocked and Robert Powell who took the ball 99-yards the other way for two points, bringing the score to 23-6. The East had to perfectly execute two consecutive onsides kicks because the first one was penalized for an illegal formation call.

Marcoux took the field again and fired a perfectly thrown ball to Ambles, who was unable to haul it in. Ignoring the loss of a potential big gain, Marcoux completed a series of passes and drives to bring the East into scoring position. From 22-yards out he fired a ball to his tight end Gerald Christian. The East elected to go for two and Marcoux hit his other tight end C.J. Fiedorowicz for the conversion.

The West went on to recover an onside kick attempt and drove it down to the goal line, where it looked like Dillon Baxter was carrying a crowd of defenders into the end zone. Right before he was able to break the plane the ball was stripped from his hands and rolled into the end zone where Dominic Espinosa recovered for the score, bringing the West to a victory with the final 30-14.

Ronald Powell announced that he will attend The University of Florida. His dominant play throughout the game on both sides of the ball allowed him to take home the All-American Bowl MVP honors. Kyle Prater, the top wide receiver prospect in the nation, looked rattled by the news of Coach Carroll leaving USC and ended dropping a handful of catchable passes. Meanwhile Cole Marcoux is committed to Dartmouth, but awaiting D-I offers and based on his performance it looks like his phone will be extremely busy. From fighting to earn a spot at the game to potential D-I scholarship offers, the Cole Marcoux story might end with a Cinderella style finish.

Commitments on the Day:

C.J. Mosley: LB, Alabama

Latwan Anderson: DB, West Virginia

Demetrius Wright: DB, USC

Victor Hampton: DB, South Carolina

Dior Mathis: DB, Oregon

Sharrif Floyd: DT, Florida

Marquis Flowers: DB, Arizona

Brandon Willis: DE, Tennessee

Matt Elam: DB, Florida

Ronald Powell: LB/DE, Florida

Deon Randall was a one-man human highlight reel as his Francis Parker Lancers came up just short in the CIF State bowl series against Modesto Christian 44-40.  The speedy 5’9” 180 lb quarterback was nothing short of spectacular.  He accounted for 30 of his team’s 40 points, totaled 5 touchdowns: 2 through the air, 3 on the ground, and gained 386 of his team’s 437 total yards on offense.  Often cited as too short to play the quarterback position at the collegiate level, Randall’s leadership has never been questioned.  Head coach John Morrison told the North County Times, “I want the ball in his hands with the game on the line.”  While his Lancers may have come up short, Deon Randall was anything but.

To view Deon’s complete SportsForce profile click here – http://www.sportsforceonline.com/athletes/drandall

Scouting report courtesy of SportsForce – Home for college Sports Recruiting Videos, Tips, Tools and Premium Services – www.sportsforceonline.com

You know, the one Bob Stoops has built between San Diego and Norman, Oklahoma.

Stoops, looking to restore Oklahoma to national title contention in 2010, will do so with the help of a trio of San Diego talents.  All-time San Diego section receiving leader Kenny Stills and hard-hitting Eastlake star

Tony Jefferson both announced on Friday night that they will attend the University of Oklahoma next year, joining Scripps Ranch star Brennan Clay.  The threesome made their announcements at the KUSI Prep Pigskin Gala at the Hall of Champions.

Clay, who had committed months before to the Sooners, was thrilled to have his two talented Silver Pigskin finalists (Mission Bay’s Dillon Baxter won the trophy) join him in Norman:

Hear from all three of the newest Sooners after the jump:

Brennan Clay(full SportsForce profile here) was the first to commit to Oklahoma.  He joined 619 Sports immediately after the announcement of the Silver Pigskin award to talk about the honor of the evening and the process of luring Jefferson and Stills to join him in Norman:

Kenny Stills (full SportsForce profile here) had been heavily recruited by USC but wound up narrowing his choices to Florida, Michigan and Oklahoma.  In the end, Stills told 619 Sports the chance to team up with Jefferson and Clay, and to participate in the Sooners’ vaunted passing attack, was too much to pass up:

Tony Jefferson angered the Arroyo Seco when he first committed to UCLA, only to show up at the UCLA-USC game wearing Trojans garb.  After hearing the barbs from the Bruins, Jefferson withdrew his commitment to the Bruins and took a campus trip to Norman.  The rest was history, as he told 619 Sports:

With Jefferson in the secondary and Clay and Stills in the OU backfield, Boomer Sooner is picking up speed heading into 2010.

–Courtesy 619Sports.net

The Oceanside Pirates struggled to find any production on offense in the CIF San Diego Section DII Championship game, so they turned to their defense and Devin Taverna.  Taverna single-handily secured Oceanside’s sixth straight division title.  The 6’1 senior free safety recorded two interceptions, one returned for a 47-yard touchdown, and recovered a fumble in the end zone for another touchdown.   Oceanside coach John Carroll took notice telling the North County Times, “thank God our defense and special teams came to play.”  With the victory the Pirates have now won a remarkable 38 games in a row and will face San Jose Bellarmine Prep in the state D1 game this Friday at the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA.  Regardless of how the Pirates fair in the state playoffs, they can look back at this game as the day Devin Taverna rallied his team from certain defeat and willed his team to victory. Visit Devin’s SportsForce profile to learn more about this star athlete.

Scouting report courtesy of SportsForce – Home for college Sports Recruiting Videos, Tips, Tools and Premium Services – www.sportsforceonline.com

Cathedral Catholic and Point Loma battled it out in what proved be a closer match than years prior considering the Dons blowout win against the Pointers in the 2007 CIF Championship , beating them 41-3. The Pointers able to lead the Dons in the second half through the third quarter with a score of 14-6, but that is where the lead would end. The Dons finally gained momentum with a touchdown midway through the fourth quarter, however, their attempt at a 2 point conversion pass was knocked down.

After the defense held, Cathedral got the ball back at its own 36 with 5:19 remaining. On 3rd-and-9, Cathedral Catholic coach, Sean Doyle, sent in word to go for the downs. Dons QB, Max Brewer called a slant-and-go for WR Chance Early, who was lined up in single coverage split to the left against Point Loma’s Davis Callejon. The slant move drew in Callejon and allowed Early to get a half-step behind his coverage.

Brewer delivered a perfect throw, running back Early made the catch, then broke free of Callejon’s tackle at the 35-yard-line. The rest was clear sailing to the end zone and a third-straight Section championship.

D-IV Final: Baxter Scores 7 TDs in 48-17 Rout of Valley Center

Baxter, in a performance for the ages, rushed for 384 yards and seven touchdowns as the top-seeded Mission Bay Bucaneers (13-0) ran past Valley Center 48-17 in Chula Vista.  Baxter, who already owns the state scoring record, came within 40 yards of the single-game San Diego section rushing record, held by Kenneth James Jr. of Mt. Carmel, who ran for 424 yards against Westview earlier this year.

His first carry of the night went for 34 yards, but that was just a warmup.  On his final carry of the first half, Baxter broke a 92-yard scoring run.  On his first carry of the third quarter, it was Dillon Baxter for 87 yards and another score.  A 46 yard scoring romp on 4th down sealed the deal in the final quarter.

Baxter’s take on the game:

It was a special night for Mission Bay coach Willie Matson, who saw 30 years of hard work rewarded with his first CIF title:

Baxter said he fulfilled a promise by delivering a title plaque to Matson before he left for USC:

Jaguars head coach Rob Gilster had nothing but praise for his great running back:

But in the end, both coaches could only watch and admire the individual brilliance of Dillon Baxter, who will surely go on to great things at USC in the next four years.  From the opposing sideline, Gilster could only grit his teeth after missed tackles and long Baxter runs:

Meanwhile, Baxter’s high school career can now be compared to the greats who have preceded him, such as Marcus Allen and Reggie Bush.  Has there ever been a more dominant player in the section than Baxter?  Matson said simply that Baxter was the best player he had ever coached:

–Courtesy 619Sports.net

Twelve seconds remained and Vista stood but 15 yards away from the tying score in the D-1 CIF championship game against Eastlake.  Down 21-0 in the 3^rd quarter, the Panthers clawed their way back into the game; both teams’ entire seasons boiled down to these final seconds.  QB Christian Gallardi snapped the ball, rolled to his left, and tossed it towards the end zone.  Qualcomm Stadium was silent as the entire crowd held their collective breaths.

With a tremendous leaping grab, Daniel Johnson intercepted his third pass of the game to secure the D-1 CIF Championship for Eastlake High School (11-0-2).  The Titan’s 21-14 victory over Vista High School (10-3) brought Eastlake the school’s first ever CIF title.

Eastlake RB Tony Jefferson:

Eastlake head coach John McFadden:

D-II Final: Oceanside Opens Championship Six-Pack

The Oceanside Pirates took advantage of sloppy play from the Helix Highlanders to win the DII San Diego Section CIF Championship 26-10.  The win extended their own record to six straight CIF Championships dating back to 2004.

Helix came into Friday’s game after stunning Valhalla and Scripps Ranch the previous two weeks.  The Highlanders started the game as well as they could have hoped.  After a tremendous kickoff return from star DB Jimmy Pruitt, the Helix offense drove the ball 56 yards culminating in a 10-yard touchdown pass from sophomore QB Brandon Lewis.

But as Quentis Clark told 619 Sports after the game, this team knew they would bounce back.  While admitting that they were not used to being down early, Clark reiterated that the team never lost its swagger that had led to a perfect record in 2009. With a sixth straight title, Oceanside is in a class all by themselves.

Oceanside head coach John Carroll:

Helix head coach Troy Starr:

Oceanside quarterback Quentis Clark:

Oceanside linebacker Jake Fely:

Oceanside linebacker Sam Niu:

–Courtesy 619Sports.net

Sam Hoekstra may have played his last game for Santa Fe Christian, but he went out with a performance to remember.  Hoekstra rushed an exceptional athlete with speed and quickness rushed for 313 yards and 4 touchdowns on only 13 carries for a mind-boggling 24-yard per carry average in a losing effort against Mission Hills last Friday.  Hoekstra finished his senior year with over 2,000 all-purpose yards and 24 touchdowns.

Visit Sam’s SportsForce profile for more statistics and details

Scouting report courtesy of SportsForce – Home for college Sports Recruiting Videos, Tips, Tools and Premium Services – www.sportsforceonline.com

The Titans of Eastlake battled the Escondido Cougars in a heated CIF semifinal match-up Friday night in Chula Vista.  Standing in each other’s path towards a CIF championship appearance, the two teams fought to for a chance to play at the “Q.”

The ball found its way into Tony Jefferson’s hands most of the night and the Eastlake Titans (10-0-2) defeated the Cougars of Escondido (8-3-1) 35-14.  The win sends the Titans to the D-1 final against Vista under the bright lights of Qualcomm Stadium.

Jefferson (23 carries, 217 yards) continued upon his fantastic 2009 campaign scoring three touchdowns on offense and making big plays on the defense; including a spectacular leaping interception in the end-zone.

Yet it was the Titans that got off to an extremely slow start.  The team found their 1^st first-down with 1:02 left in the first quarter, and trailed Escondido with under a minute left in the first half.

Escondido’s Ricky Seale, who has more touchdowns this season (35) than the Cougars had passing yards tonight (21), was not a factor in the game.  Seale had 12 first-half carries for 42 yards. On the final play of the half, he was tackled out of bounds and never returned to the game.  Seale injured his left knee and was on crutches after the game.

“We knew Ricky Seale was the main factor of this game,” said Jefferson post-game.  “In the second half he didn’t come back in and we took full advantage of it.”

Without the running threat of Seale, Escondido was forced to throw the ball in the 2^nd half.  Two quick interceptions in the 3^rd quarter resulted in Jefferson TD runs and the Titans would never look back.

A 69 yard TD run by RB Daniel Diaz made the score 28-7 in the final quarter and a stingy defense and clock munching running attack finished the game out with no difficulties.

“We’ve been in some close games they just keep on fighting, there is absolutely no give-up in them,” said Titan head coach John McFadden

The victory at Stan Canaris Stadium was the last of Tony Jefferson and the Eastlake seniors’ high school careers.  Jefferson, who is graduating early and starting college this spring, is still deciding upon USC or Oklahoma.

“This is a very emotional and fun time for me,” said Jefferson. “I’m having a lot of fun right now.”

The excitement will only continue as Eastlake travels to Qualcomm Stadium next Friday, December 11.  There they will face the Panthers from Vista High School (10-2) for the Division 1 CIF Championship.

Vista comes into the bout scorching after upsetting top ranked La Costa Canyon.  The Panthers demolished the Mavericks 47-7 on LCC’s home turf.

But don’t overlook the Titans.  They are riding a ten game winning streak and are scoring 38.7 points per game during that time, while allowing only 9.2.

–Courtesy 619Sports.net

Chad Dobbins and the Mission Hills Grizzlies ran their way into the semifinals of the CIF San Diego DII playoffs last Friday with a dominating 35-7 victory over Grossmont.  The 5’11 200 lb senior running back set a career high with 192 yards and 3 touchdowns on only 13 carries.  Dobbins has gone somewhat under the radar this season as his grind it out style doesn’t receive the same exposure as the flashy style of a Ricky Seale.  Dobbins told the North County Times, “I don’t usually have those big, flashy runs like Ricky does. I’m one of those running backs who chips away. Today, maybe I turned that around.”  And turned it around is exactly what he did with touchdown runs of 76, 54 and 32 yards.  With his stellar performance, Dobbins eclipsed the 1,000 rushing yard mark for the season.  Dobbins may need a little more of the flash he showed against Grossmont as his Grizzlies take on the #1 ranked, undefeated Oceanside Pirates in a semi-final showdown this Friday night.

Check out Chad’s SportsForce profile here

Scouting report courtesy of SportsForce – Home for college Sports Recruiting Videos, Tips, Tools and Premium Services – www.sportsforceonline.com