2016 California Preseason Football Fab 5, presented by the Army National Guard

Video: Early Contenders - No. 9 St. John Bosco


1. Mater Dei (Santa Ana)
Head coach: Bruce Rollinson
2015 record: 10-3
Team preview

With 10 sophomore starters back from last season's No. 17 team that went 10-3, along with a talented senior class and probably the best sophomore quarterback in the country in JT Daniels, Mater Dei is back in the national mix.

Daniels, a 6-foot-2, 200-pounder who threw for 3,042 yards, 33 touchdowns and three interceptions as a freshman, has great wide receivers to throw to. Osiris St. brown (6-foot-2, 181 pounds) is the nation's No. 14 senior receiver according to the 247Sports Composite and has 21 college offers. Other top senior recruits are cornerbacks Quentin Lake and Jalen Cole, linebacker Faavae Faavae and safety Chase Ault.

Mater Dei also has stellar recruits in the Class of 2018. Left tackle Tommy Brown (6-7, 323) will protect Daniels' blind side and receiver Amon-Ra St.Brown (6-0, 175) should improve upon his good numbers as a sophomore.

Brown is ranked the fifth-best junior tackle in the country by the 247Sports Composite, and St. Brown is the 30th top junior receiver in the country.

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2. St. John Bosco (Bellflower)
Head coach: Jason Negro
2015 record: 14-1
Team preview

Re-al Mitchell, a 6-foot, 185-pound junior, is set to pick up at the helm after stellar quarterback play from Josh Rosen. He's a different type of quarterback, perhaps the fastest player on the Braves (he ran a 21.96-second 200-meter dash in track). He'll lead a team that returns six starters on each side of the ball.

Another junior, Julian Boyd, and sophomore Joey Yellen look superb, but many eyes will be on much-ballyhooed D.j. Uiagalelei, a 6-4, 230-pound incoming freshman who already has offers from Oregon State and Fresno State.

The transfer of five-star junior safety Jaiden Woodbey (6-1, 195) will be huge for the Braves, and junior Stephan Blaylock (6-0, 170), who played a lot as a sophomore, is another future college safety.

The Braves are brimming with similar multi-threat players at receiver, including Terrell Bynum, Kristian Gilbert and Berkeley Holman, all with multiple college offers. Seniors Jovohn Tucker and Jonathan Bonds and sophomore transfer Colby Bowman give the quarterbacks more weapons than the Braves can possibly use.

Terrance Beasley (639 yards, 14 touchdowns last year), a speedy 5-9, 151-pound senior, will replace 1,800-yard rusher Sean McGrew as the primary ballcarrier.

Line play should be stellar. Wyatt Davis (6-5, 310) is one of the best in the nation and California's best defensive end might be Jacob Callier (6-3, 250). Davis and guard Ben Holmes are two of the three returning offensive line starters, while Callier leads all four returners along the defensive front.

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3. Centennial (Corona)
Head coach: Matt Logan
2015 record: 14-1
Team preview The Huskies and their vaunted spread offense have gone 127-18 over the past decade and reached the state title game six times, winning twice. The 2016 version looks like another mainstay even after losing most of its skill players from a tremendous 2015 team that went 14-1 and outscored opponents 812-298.

Tanner McKee, who got quite a bit of work last season in mop-up time at quarterback, completed 50 of 73 passes for 709 yards with nine touchdowns and no interceptions for a nifty QB rating of 139.2. He's 6-6 and his coach says he's got a great arm.

He'll be handing the ball off to Miles Reed, a 5-9, 190-pound incoming senior who rushed 91 times for 540 yards and nine touchdowns. The team also hopes to get the ball plenty to Tyjon Lindsey, one of the nation's top wide receivers. The 5-10, 185-pound transfer from Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas) is ranked the No. 28 recruit in the country overall by 247Sports. He joins an already talented group that includes Xavier Marshall and Troy Spencer Jr., who combined for 39 catches last season.

Though the Huskies lost four FBS defensive backs to graduation, they return two mainstays in cornerbacks Reggie Whitfield and Jaylan Shaw. They also return a pair of significant players from last season on defense in linebackers Seleti Fevaleaki (6-2, 260) and Camron Pitcher Jr. (6-0, 200).

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4. De La Salle (Concord)
Head coach: Justin Alumbaugh
2015 record: 14-1
Team preview

The Spartans return just four starters from last year's CIF State Open Division champs - the team's seventh in 10 years — but De La Salle always just reloads. The program's junior varsity team went 9-1 last year and many will play key roles for the 2016 Spartans.

The team's top returners are three-star safety Tre White, leading tackler and linebacker Logan Nonies and wide receiver-defensive back Isaiah Randle. Look for junior running back Kairee Robinson to put up big numbers. He was having a superb sophomore season before a season-ending leg injury.

"I really like this group," Alumbaugh said. "We don't have 'stars,' but are working hard. We have some good players too."

Many just haven't been discovered yet.

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5. Mission Viejo
Head coach: Bob Johnson
2015 record: 16-0
Team preview

The Diablos, coming off their first state championship, return 15 starters, including running back-linebacker Colin Schooler (6-1, 210), defensive back-wide receiver Olaijah Griffin (6-1, 175) and wide receiver Austin Osborne (6-2, 180). Griffin and Osborne are two of the top juniors in the state.

Winners of 28 straight games and seven consecutive league titles, the Diablos lost their starting quarterback, Johnson's grandson Brock Johnson, but will pick off many strong players from their undefeated junior varsity team.