The West team received the opening kickoff, but the first possession for each team resulted in quick three and outs. During the West’s second drive, Connor Wood, a quarterback committed to The University of Texas, led the offense down the field and struck first by sailing a ball over the defenders to his emergency tight end, Ronald Powell, in the back of the end zone for a 23-yard score. Powell, known as a terrific defensive end and the fifth ranked player nationally, showed that he has the potential to be a two way player at the college level with his leaping grab.

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.

Read on for the second half and college commitments

In a year filled with deserving candidates, Mission Bay superstar Dillon Baxter took home the hardware.  The Buccaneers QB and future USC Trojan was announced as the 11th winner of the KUSI Silver Pigskin, awarded each year to the top high school football player in San Diego Section.

Baxter led Mission Bay to a 13-0 record and a D-IV San Diego Section championship, setting the all-time section single-season rushing record in the process.  Baxter carried 261 times for 2,974 rushing yards and 50 touchdowns, while throwing for 1,922 yards and 25 more touchdowns.

Baxter beat out Escondido’s Ricky Seale, LCC’s Kenny Stills, Eastlake’s Tony Jefferson, Scripps Ranch’s Brennan Clay, and Valhalla’s Pete Thomas for the yearly honor (all pictured above).

After the announcement, Baxter spoke with 619 Sports about the honor, his future at USC, and the challenge of potentially matching up with Oklahoma and their three new San Diego stars in the future:

–Courtesy 619Sports.net

Sport: Football Positions: WR / FS Height: 6’1” Weight: 185 Class: 2010 School: Oceanside High School Oceanside, CA

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

Positions: RB / DB  Height: 5’10” Weight: 170 Class: 2010 School: Santa Fe Christian High School Solana Beach, CA

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

Positions: RB / LB Height: 5’10” Weight: 200 Class: 2010 School: Mission Hills High School San Marcos, CA

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

Positions: RB Height: 5′ 11″ Weight: 200 Class: 2010  School: Mira Mesa High School San Diego, CA

The CIF playoffs are finally here, and Damien Williams made sure his Mira Mesa Marauders weren’t going to have an early exit.  The 5’11” 200 lb running back ran all over the Carlsbad Lancers, rushing for 275 yards and 2 touchdowns as he led his team to a 48-29 victory.  Lancers head coach Bob McAllister was well aware of the explosive ability of Williams telling the North County Times, “He’s the real deal, we knew we had to stop him, and we didn’t. We just had to tackle better than we did.”  Williams now has 2, 285 rushing yards with 24 touchdowns on the season.  Next up for Williams and the Marauders is a date with the #3 ranked Escondido Cougars in a division 1 showdown this Friday.  With Williams and the all-time CIF San Diego rushing leader Ricky Seale positioned to receive a lot of carries, both defenses might want to brace themselves for an all out rushing assault for the ages.

Visit Damien’s full SportsForce profile

Positions: RB Height: 5′ 8″ Weight: 165 Class: 2010 School: Mt. Carmel High School San Diego, CA

Kenneth James Jr. ran, and ran, then ran some more, and didn’t stop running until he had rewritten the record books.  The 5’8” 165 lb running back out of Mt. Carmel High School set the CIF San Diego Section single-game rushing record by torching the defense for 424 yards and 4 touchdowns last Friday, while beating the Westview Wolverines 49-32.  James edged the previous rushing mark set back in 2003 by 14 yards.  Mt. Carmel football coach Sanford Carvajal told the North County Times, “If the opportunity presented itself, we were going to ride that horse until he fell over dead.”  As it turned out it was the defense that looked 6 feet under, allowing rushes of 84, 70, 63, 39, 34, and 21 yards by James.  James, however, was quick to share the glory with his teammates telling the North County Times, “I just hit the holes, and everyone made their blocks. Everyone played a part in it.”  Now, James and his Sundevils can only wait and hope their impressive victory will be enough to vault them into the playoffs.  After witnessing James’s spectacular performance, Coach Carvajal is positive his team will receive a playoff bid saying, “I can’t see us not getting in now.”  Very few would be inclined to disagree.

Positions: QB Height: 6’5″ Weight: 215 Class: 2010 School: Valhalla High School, El Cajon, CA

Quarterback Peter Thomas has etched his name into San Diego high school football history.  With a 14-7 win last Friday, Thomas led his Valhalla Norsemen to their first league football championship in the school’s 35-year history.  Thomas threw the game winning 65-yard touchdown pass late in the 3^rd quarter to secure the win.  He was elated after the game telling The San Diego Union-Tribune, “This is absolutely awesome, no one in the 35 years of our school has ever experienced this moment before.”  Thomas, who is ranked by MaxPreps.com as a top 100 player and the 6^th best pro-style quarterback in the country has committed to playing football at Arizona State University next fall.

Many SportsForce athletes have been receiving local recognition and one continues to receive national press coverage as Dillon Baxter continues his quest to be the national player of the year for high school football. With the high school fall sports season wrapping up, national signing day is inching closer we are looking forward to more amazing athletic performances throughout the play offs.

Dillon Baxter is receiving constant attention as he moves forward in a phenomenal season breaking records along the way. This has caused many people to draw comparisons between Dillon and a few other football players from San Diego. MaxPreps took on the subject comparing Dillon to Helix High School Alum, Reggie Bush:

Visit Dillon Baxter’s SportsForce profile HERE

Baxter has had an outstanding season, punctuated by his performance Friday night against Lincoln. The 6-foot, 205-pounder, who lines up at quarterback for Mission Bay, threw for 282 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for 268 yards and two scores. He also intercepted a pass on defense.

For the season, Baxter has amassed 781 passing yards and 1,090 rushing yards. He’s even kicked three PATs.

Baxter has good speed, excellent balance and the ability to catch the ball out of the backfield, all characteristics that have folks in the San Diego buzzing about the area’s next great rusher.

In a September matchup with Paloma Valley, Baxter rushed for three touchdowns and threw for another as Mission Bay won 38-15. Paloma Valley head coach Bert Esposito was highly complementary of Baxter after the game.

“That’s the best high school football player I’ve ever seen, and I saw Reggie Bush at this age,” Esposito told North County Times afterward. “But this kid’s phenomenal.”

The San Diego Union-Tribune published November’s Athletes of the Month.  Two former SportsForce Athletes of the Week received honors, Lauren Birks for Girls Volleyball and Kenny Stills for Football. The Union-Tribune writes of Lauren:

Lauren Birks, La Jolla Country Day

Helping the Torreys to a glittering 27-1 season record, Birks, a junior outside hitter, was credited with a team-leading 287 kills on 478 attempts. Showing her all-around ability, Birks compiled 230 digs and 39 service aces.

Visit Lauren Birk’s SportsForce profile HERE

While Kenny had another month of stand out performances,

Kenny Stills, La Costa Canyon

Stills, a senior, led the Mavericks to a 4-0 record in October. For the month, Stills caught 23 passes for 447 yards and three touchdowns. He tossed a 29-yard touchdown pass and ran for 26 yards on four carries. On defense, he picked off one pass and recovered a fumble.

Visit Kenny Stills’ SportsForce profile HERE

By Craig at 619Sports.net

VALLEY CENTER- The Valley Center Jaguars are an elite Division IV program, with five CIF championship banners to prove it.  But each year when they meet Oceanside in Valley League play, coach Rob Gilster’s team gets to see a level of talent and speed that rarely travels up Cole Grade Road.

“Our kids only see speed like that once a year,” said Gilster.

On Friday night, #1 Oceanside raced past #4 Valley Centerso quickly, the Jaguars and their fans barely got a glimpse before the Pirates were off with the treasure.  Oceanside (9-0, 5-0) jumped out to a 24-0 lead at the end of the first quarter and completely throttled the Valley Center offense in a 45-7 final that was not nearly as close as the score.

Pirates head coach John Carroll was proud of his team’s intensity on a night when the Pirates’ first-team defense held the Jaguars (8-1, 4-1) to 37 yards, three first downs and zero points in 13 possessions.

Oceanside scored two touchdowns in the first 2:44 of the game to quickly drain any drama from a matchup of 8-0 teams.  The Pirates marched 72 yards on the opening drive, scoring on a Devin Taverna wide receiver option TD pass to Demario Coleman.  Moments later, senior cornerback/running back Noah Tarrant picked off a Beau Reilly pass in the left flat and easily scampered 26 yards for a pick six, making it 14-0.

Oceanside racked up 152 of their 381 total yards of offense in the first quarter, with quarterback Quentis Clark (9-for-17, 125 yards, TD) hooking up with Jerry Whittaker on a 27-yard scoring toss to make it 21-0.  The Pirates ran for a combined 210 yards, with Whittaker (8 carries, 82 yards) and King Holder (3 carries, 52 yards, 2 TD) leading the way.

But the story on this night was on the other side of the football, where the Pirates’ defense regularly induced gasps from the Valley Center crowd with their pad-rattling hits.  Stanton Upson, an all-league running back who entered the game with over 1200 yards and 13 touchdowns, was held to a paltry 26 yards on 22 carries.

With Upson under wraps and the score out of hand, the Oceanside defenders were left free to pin their ears back and chase the quarterback.  Beau Reilly wound up being sacked six times, three times by Molesi.

Noah Tarrant, meanwhile, enjoyed an unusual two touchdown day.  After his pick six score as a corner, Tarrant found himself in the right place at the right time in the third quarter, when a bad snap on a punt left Jaguars’ punter David Last awkwardly booting a scrambling kick from his end zone.  Tarrant grabbed the short wobbler on the run and raced 12 yards for his second non-offensive touchdown of the game:

On a night where there wasn’t much to enjoy from a Valley Center perspective, head coach Rob Gilster saw something very important on the field: a Jaguars team that met the physical challenge offered by the Pirates without backing down.

Oceanside further bolstered their #1 section and #5 state ranking, and at 9-0, they are a week (and a win over Ramona) away from both securing another Valley League title and completing a 10-0 regular season.  While John Carroll’s team once had a 10-0 season that included a forfeit, they’ve never completed a 10-0 regular season on the field, a fact he shared with his team in the postgame huddle.

Meanwhile, the Jaguars will still be a #1 or #2 seed for the Division-IV playoffs, where they will likely roll until they see another brilliantly fast San Diego athlete, Mission Bay’s Dillon Baxter.

–Courtesy 619Sports.net