Centennial is posied for another run at a State Bowl berth as several top players return, including (left to right) Tre Watson, Austin Maloata, Barry Ware, Viane Talamaivao, Jaylen Johnson, John Plattenburg and Robert Webber.
Photo by Rob Carmell
has played De La Salle three times in CIF Bowl Games. To say that the Huskies have been Southern California's top program in the latter half of head coach Matt Logan's tenure is no stretch.
Last December, De La Salle prevailed 48-28, as Centennial could not recover from several costly mistakes.
With what it returns from last year's team, particularly on offense, Centennial is poised to play deep into December once more.
Following a prolific season in which he passed for 3,968 yards and 41 touchdowns, quarterback
Robert Webber returns behind center. He also rushed for 781 yards and seven scores, making him a threat on the ground as well.
Quarterback Robert Webber
Photo by Rob Carmell
, who approached 1,500 yards rushing last year, will be the team's premier running back. He found the end zone 22 times. Given Centennial's record of cultivating highly-productive halfbacks, don't be surprised to see Watson double his production from a year ago.
Receiver
Barry Ware provides a true vertical threat in the team's offense.
Viane Talamaivao, who is committed to Alabama, will lead an offensive line that, traditionally, is both big and physical.
On defense there's no shortage of talent either, especially thanks to
Austin Maloata, who moved in from American Samoa and was promptly offered by USC.
He'll line up on a defensive line that will also feature
Jaylen Johnson and
Will Nicholson.
John Plattenburg, a shutdown cornerback, will lead the secondary. Outside of
Xavier Hughes, the linebackers will be new.
Local outlook: "Centennial wasn't supposed to be as good as it was last season and made it to the Open Division Bowl Game. Key players are back throughout the team. The Huskies don't figure to lose, if at all."
- Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times (@latsondheimer)
