California high school football: News and notes from every section in the Golden State

With the football playoffs in full swing throughout the state of California, MaxPreps takes a look at some of the top stories coming out of every section in the state.

Southern Section
Brady Smigiel of Newbury Park has already broken state records in California for a freshman quarterback. The question now is whether or not he has a shot at breaking the national freshman records.

Through 11 games, Smigiel has 3,224 yards, which leads the nation among freshmen. He also has 43 touchdown passes, which breaks the old record of 40 by A.J. Duffy of Rancho Verde (sent in 2018).

The national record for passing yardage in a season by a freshman is Ty Keyes of Taylorsville (Miss.), who threw for 4,562 yards in 2017. Ironically Keyes, currently a redshirt freshman at Southern Miss, threw for fewer yards each of his successive high school seasons, but finished his career with 14,565 yards.



Jack Miller set the freshman national touchdown pass record with 53 while at Scottsdale Christian Academy in 2016. He finished his career at Chaparral.

State records are nothing new for Newbury Park quarterbacks, who were definitely ahead of their time. In 1993, Keith Smith set a state record, according to the Cal-Hi Sports Record Book, with 4,244 yards. At the time, that total ranked No. 3 in the nation. With the expansion of the passing game across the nation, the total now ranks No. 260 all-time.

Two years later, Chris Czernek broke Smith's state record with 4,362 yards.The total also ranked No. 3 all-time. It now ranks No. 206.

San Diego Section
Is there a more versatile player in the San Diego Section than Christopher Williams of Francis Parker (San Diego)? He's the third-leading rusher in the section with 1,727 yards on the year, but far from a one-trick pony. Pressed into service as quarterback several times this year, Williams has thrown for 451 yards. He also has 12 catches for 267 yards and three scores.

He also handles the kicking duties, booting 25 of 29 extra points and three field goals. He's punted for a 43.5 average. One of the team's return men, he averages 21 yards on kick returns and 28 on punt returns.

As a defender, Williams has six interceptions and 47 tackles. He also returned an interception for a touchdown.



Williams' best game came in the season opener when he scored all 52 of his team's points on six rushing touchdowns, an interception return and seven extra points and a field goal.

Williams and the Lancers take on Fallbrook in the second round of the San Diego Section playoffs.
Los Angeles City Section
He used to dress like his dad for Halloween when he was a kid, now San Pedro first-year coach Corey Walsh is emulating his dad in another way — by leading the Dons to a Marine League championship and the No. 1 seed in the Los Angeles City Section Open Division playoffs.

Corey is the son of Mike Walsh, who coached San Pedro for 25 years and led the Dons to five city section championships before retiring in 2016. Corey, who told the Daily Breeze that he used to dress up as his dad for Halloween when he was 5-years-old, is a 2008 alum of the school.

The younger Walsh has San Pedro at 10-0 for the first time since the 2011 season. The Dons finished 12-1 that year, losing to Carson in the playoffs. San Pedro has dominated on defense this year, allowing 80 points in 10 games, which is the lowest total of any team in the Los Angeles City Section this year.

Central Section
Former Oregon Duck Kayvon Thibodeaux was the No. 5 pick in the 2022 NFL draft, making him the latest in a long line of successful edge rushers for the Ducks. Central Valley Christian (Visalia) senior standout Jaeden Moore figures to join that list when he makes his way to Oregon next season.

As a junior, Moore led the Cavaliers to a Central Section championship against Bakersfield Christian. CVC finished 11-6 with a loss to Marin Catholic in the Division 4-AA Bowl Game. He led the Cavaliers in receiving with 60 catches for 975 yards and 13 touchdowns and he also had 155 tackles, 30 tackles for loss and 17.5 sacks on defense.



Moore hasn't been targeted as frequently in the passing game this year, but he's still managed 18 catches for 386 yards and 10 touchdowns. He's also among the team leaders in tackles with 52 to go along with 14 tackles for loss and nine sacks. More importantly, the Cavaliers are 10-0 in the regular season after going 6-4 at the same point last year.

Moore committed to play at Oregon in August and is expected to play defensive end in Eugene.

Central Coast Section
While Salinas and Palma have long been the football powers in the Monterey County city of Salinas, there's a new team in town ready to claim its share of the spotlight. Rancho San Juan (Salinas) is the fifth high school in Salinas, the 33rd largest city in California with a population of 162,000, and it is only in its third year of fielding a football program. After a 3-7 record last year, Rancho San Juan finished 8-2 overall and third place in the Pacific Coast Cypress League.

After averaging just 11 points a game in 2021, the Trailblazers averaged 37.9 in 2022. Senior running back Peyton Hatten leads the team, and the Central Coast Section, in rushing with 1,874 yards. He also had 29 touchdowns to lead the section in scoring as well with 176 points.He rushed for over 200 yards five times and scored four or more touchdowns six times.

Both Hatten and quarterback Nolan Tompkins are seniors, but the three leading rushers behind Hatten return along with three of the top five receivers. Nearly the entire offensive and defensive lines also come back next year, giving Salinas's newest school a shot at a league title in 2023.

Sac-Joaquin Section
A year ago, Vanden (Fairfield) won a Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs with a 49-21 victory over Merced. The Vikings then beat Aquinas (San Bernardino) 14-13 for a state championship. Vanden scored a whopping 664 points and quarterback Tre Dimes threw for 3,262 yards and 46 touchdowns.



This year, scoring is down for the Vikings, who managed 306 points during the regular season. Dimes's totals are also way down, throwing for 1,332 yards (yardage totals for a 42-0 win over Fairfield not available) and 10 touchdowns.

So it must be a down season for the Vikings, right? Wrong. Vanden actually has a better record this year after the regular season, going 9-1 compared to 8-2 in 2021. Vanden also entered the playoffs as a No. 1 seed in Division IV after holding the No. 2 seed last year. One reason is the defense, which has given up an average of three less points per game over last season.

Vanden received a bye in the first round of the playoffs and plays Buhach Colony (5-6) this week.

North Coast Section
Longtime Middletown coach Bill Foltmer entered the 2022 season in search of win number 300. With a total of 296 wins in a 41-year coaching career that included 21 league championships (20 at Middletown and one at Princeton) and four North Coast Section titles, Foltmer was a heavy favorite to get win No. 300 in what could be his final year at the helm of the Mustangs. Foltmer had stated previously in an interview with the Press Democrat in 2020 that he would make a decision on stepping down from his head coaching position after reaching the 300 milestone.

But then something unusual happened. The Mustangs lost their first three games of the season and entered North Central I league play tied with Kelseyville for the worst nonleague record of any of the league's eight teams. They also lost four of their first five games of the season thus endangering the probability of Foltmer getting win No. 300 during the 2022 season.

That's when the Mustangs turned things around. Two straight close wins over Fort Bragg and Willits set up a come-from-behind win over Cloverdale. Following a loss to Kelseyville, Middletown defeated St. Helena to put itself in position to finish tied for the league championship.



Of course nearly every team in the league had a shot at winning the league championship. Depending on Clear Lake's matchup with Cloverdale, there was a chance that the league would finish in a five-way tie for first place. Instead, the Cardinals defeated Cloverdale to finish alone in first place. Middletown finished in a three-way tie for second.

The thrilling Cloverdale victory, which saw the Mustangs rally from a 29-8 second-half deficit for a 36-29 win, gave Foltmer win No. 300. The St. Helena win gave him 301. Middletown and Foltmer will look to add to his career total in a North Coast Section playoff opener against Justin-Siena.

Oakland Section
When Oakland Tech (Oakland) meets McClymonds (Oakland) Friday in an Oakland Athletic League game, it could mark the best opportunity for an OAL team to knock off the perennial champion Warriors. Both teams go into the game with identical 4-0 league records, 8-1 overall.

The reason this is noteworthy is because McClymonds has simply dominated the OAL. In fact "dominated" may be understating how the Warriors have played over the past 12 seasons. Oakland Tech is the last OAL team to defeat the Warriors — back in 2009. The Warriors lost 28-0 in a first-round league playoff game and they haven't lost since.

During the Warriors' 12 consecutive OAL championship seasons (including four games this year), they have posted an 86-0 record (including two forfeit wins). They have outscored OAL opponents 3,962 to 409 for an average of 47.2 to 4.9. Of the 84 on-field wins, 47 of them have been shutouts. Twice, McClymonds has yielded zero points during a league and league tournament playoff run. They've also scored 50 or more points 37 times. They've scored 40 or more points 61 times, over 60 points 18 times and over 70 five times. Only one time has McClymond been held to single digits.

Oakland Tech is averaging over 30 points per game and has posted three shutouts on the season. The Bulldogs have struggled the last two times they have played McClymonds, however, losing 54-0 and 53-0 in the last two games of the 2021 season.



San Francisco Section
The big question this year in the San Francisco Section is whether or not the section can continue its strong play in the CIF state bowl games.

Teams from the section have won four straight CIF Bowl Games (not counting the 2020 COVID season) with two wins by Lincoln and one each by Galileo and Balboa. All of the state championships have been played in the lower levels of the Bowl Game matchups, but the S.F. teams have been pitted against large schools from the San Diego and Los Angeles City sections.

At one time in its history, the San Francisco Section fielded powerhouse teams. San Francisco Poly, before it closed in 1973, was regularly one of the top teams in California during the 1940s, 50s and 60s and once won 36 games in a row to set a state record. Mission, Lowell and Galileo also fielded strong teams in the past.

However changing demographics, the increase in available schools and the move of families to the suburbs were all reasons why San Francisco City Section teams became less competitive during the past three decades.

But the recent streak of wins at the state level could mean a reversal of fortune for the section. Lincoln could be the team to keep the streak alive. The Mustangs began the season 1-3, but have won six straight to finish league play undefeated for the first time since the last time they won back-to-back state titles in 2018 and 2019.

The postseason begins Nov. 17 with Lincoln and Washington hosting first-round games. The winners play in the traditional Thanksgiving Day championship game.



Northern Section
Orland finished the regular season 10-0, marking the first time in school history the Trojans have finished the regular season with 10 wins and only the third time in school history the team has finished the regular season unbeaten and untied (full disclosure: Orland is my alma mater).

The Trojans averaged 40.6 points over the season, third-highest total in school history, and averaged 46.6 in league play, easily a school record. Quarterback Grant Foster also set the school record for career points in the playoff opener against Live Oak on Thursday, giving him 230 in two seasons and pushing him past Dominic Garzoli, who had 228.

Orland's last undefeated season came in 1961 when the Trojans were ranked No. 1 in Superior California (Sacramento to the Oregon border) by the Sacramento Bee and were led by prep All-American honorable mention Bob Miller at quarterback and Parade Magazine All-American basketball standout Myron Erickson at receiver.