It's undeniable. Everyone around California knows the big dog on the farm is the Southern Section, especially when it comes to high school football.
With 581 schools, the Southern Section is more than three times the size of the next largest of the 10 sections, the Sac-Joaquin Section with 174. Only eight states boast more schools.
But well beyond numbers, the Southern Section demonstrates yearly its quality in athletics, including football. Especially at the top. St. John Bosco is the defending MaxPreps National Champion with Mater Dei ranking No. 2 in 2019.
Those two programs have hovered around the nation's top for the past half-decade and have separated from the talent-rich Southern California pack. The two schools seem to produce approximately 10 FBS prospects per class.
Lately, it's been a case of which school is No. 3 in the section. For more than a decade, public school power Centennial (Corona) has battled for one of the top three spots, however in an abbreviated 2021, a new team has emerged as the No. 3 contender.
With so many athletes opting out of the two-month, five-to-six game season, picking a Top 25 is clearly unclear. No playoffs in section, regionals or state will be played. But here's our best shot.
DJ Harvey, Sierra Canyon
File photo by Larry Gasinski
MaxPreps Top 25 Southern Section football rankings
Ranked
No. 1 or 2 nationally the last three seasons, these Monarchs would have
very likely made it season No. 4. And with all the highly ranked
sophomore and juniors, 2021 and 2022 look more than promising as well.
Ten Monarchs made Zack Poff's preseason All-State squad, including the
top-rated running back, junior
Raleek Brown, and linebacker,
Raesjon Davis.
2. St. John Bosco (Bellflower), 13-1There's no more DJ Uiagalelei, but his 6-5, 263-pound sophomore brother
Matayo Uiagalelei
is even bigger and plays tight end. The defending national champs and
Mater Dei could be 1A and 1B every season it seems. Preposterous
collection of FBS talent, including the state's top-ranked
offensive (
Earnest Greene) and defensive (
Nathan Burrell) linemen.
3. Servite (Anaheim), 7-4When you have the top ranked quarterback (
Noah Fifita), wide receiver (
Tetairoa McMillan) and tight end (
Keyan Burnett) in the state, chances are you'll have a strong squad.
It's
difficult for public schools to keep up with the privates, especially
during a pandemic, but Centennial has with big rosters and one of the
best coaches in the state, Matt Logan. They'll be without the nation's
No. 1 recruit
Korey Foreman, who opted out, but the Huskies should continue their 55-game win streak in league.
The Trailblazers have loads of talent, led by Virginia Tech-bound
DJ Harvey, a superior all-around athlete, and four-star safety
Kamari Ramsey.
The Diablos will be without
Peter Costelli under center after he opted out of the spring season, but they return a lot of talent led by California-bound receiver
Mavin Anderson and Oregon State-bound linebacker
Easton Mascarenas.
Texas-bound quarterback
Maalik Murphy
takes over as the full time starter for Serra and the five-star recruit
checks in as the fourth-rated pro style quarterback in the Class of
2022.
USC-bound cornerback
Ceyair Wright is one of the top at his position in the country. The Cubs have much more than Wright.
Back-to-back seasons of 9-2 and coach Steve Hagerty definitely feels like team is moving in the right direction.
The
Tritons went 10-2 on the field and reached the Division 2 semifinals,
but had to forfeit all 10 wins for using an ineligible player. Leading
rusher
James Bohls (6-3, 210) and tackler
Cole Batson (6-4, 190) return from last season.
12. Grace Brethren (Simi Valley), 12-2
Mikey Zele (1,998 yards passing, 18 touchdowns, 4 interceptions, 531 yards rushing) is back at quarterback but will be without top rusher Julien Stokes (1,365 yards, 18 touchdowns) who opted out of the spring season and recently committed to Penn.
Semaj Freeman and
Derek Boyd combined to runs for almost 1,000 yards and 13 touchdowns and should be workhorses in 2021. Leading receiver
Kaylin Moore (35 catches, 408 yards) also is back. The state's top-rated punter
Brenden Segovia was selected to the 2021 All-American Bowl.
With the state's third rated quarterback, sophomore
Malachi Nelson, running the show, the program is in good shape. Another sophomore,
Makai Lemon,
is ranked the eighth-best sophomore in the state overall after hauling
in 800 yards of passes and adding four interceptions as a freshman.
Former Narbonne (Harbor City) head coach Manuel Douglas starts first season and with Arizona State-bound
Larry Turner-Gooden as a centerpiece, he's in good shape. Defensive lineman and UNLV signeee
Nick Dimitris (6-4, 245) also transferred in.
A very young and promising squad brings back junior quarterback
Logan Gonzalez. Another junior
Malik Blackmon was the team's top receiver. Senior
Ashton Logan is one of the best punters in the nation. He has scholarship to Colorado.
California-bound defensive end
Derek Wilkins will lead the way for a very talented defense.
One of the nation's top offensive lineman
Mason Murphy (USC signee) anchors the team and sophomore quarterback
Jaxon Potter is a name to keep tabs on from the Class of 2023.
With
home grown kids, CDM brings in a new crop of kids who largely backed up
a stellar senior group. Some of the key returners, however, are running
back
Jason Vicencio and top defenders
Michael Wein and
Kevin Ledezma.
2
1. Oxnard, 10-2Quarterback
Jaden Jones
builds off a tremendous junior season when he threw for almost 2,000
yards, 22 touchdowns and just two interceptions. He also rushed for six
touchdowns. The team's two two tacklers
Anthony Lopez (110) and
Tytus Hutchison (91) also return.
Coach
Dean Herrington hopes to get back to 2016 and 2017 when the Spirits won
a combined 25 games and won a state crown in 2016.
Quarterback
Brandon Rose
completed almost 70 percent of his passes for 3,087 yards and 30
touchdowns and just four interceptions last season as a sophomore.
DJ Watts had 656 yards rushing and seven scores last year as well and
Kaden Damico led the team in tackles with 102. Sophomore wide receiver
Tiger Bachmeier has already landed offers from Arizona State, Boise State and Pittsburgh.
Hudson Jones
had a monster junior season with 207 completions in 291 attempts for
2,599 yards and 33 touchdowns with just five interceptions. Few other
skill players return but receiver
Cole Monach showed lots of promise in 2019.
Billy Hester (84) is the most active returning tackler.
Starting quarterback Zachary Siskowic transferred to Crespi, but back is leading receiver
Mason Cotton.
MaxPreps national football editor Zack Poff contributed to this report. Brandon Rose, Murrieta Valley
File photo by Louis Lopez