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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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