Tag: California high school football

Former Oakland Raider hired as California high school football coach

Former Oakland Raider and University of Washington running back Napoleon Kaufman was announced as the Dublin High School head coach.

The legend of Napoleon Kaufman continues as the former California prep star, University of Washington standout, and Oakland Raiders running back has been hired as head coach of the Dublin High School football team in California.

He will replace Brandon Black, who became head coach of Granada High School (Livermore, Calif.) earlier this month.

Kaupman has a track record of high school dominance. As a teenager, he broke 1,000 rushing yards as a sophomore, got 2,953 all-purpose yards and 39 touchdowns as a junior, and as a senior, rushed for 1,960 yards and 34 touchdowns despite injuries as he led Lompoc High School to a CIF state championship, according to the Dublin Gaels website. The USA TODAY First Team All-American was also a track star, winning CIF titles in the 100- and 200-meter races.

At Washington from 1991-94, he became the lead back as a sophomore, breaking 1,000 yards in each of his final three seasons and averaging 1,345 rushing yards and 23.5 rushing touchdowns over his junior and senior seasons, still standing as one of just three Huskies running backs to rush for 1,000 yards in three straight seasons. Kaufman was a first-round draft pick by the Raiders, where he spent six seasons and rushed for about 4,800 yards.

According to the Gaels site, Kaufman coached his sons in the Pleasanton Junior Football League for almost a decade and then became their head coach at Bishop O’Dowd (Oakland, Calif.) in 2014. He spent six years as head coach of the program, winning a championship in 2016 and recording a record of 51-25 overall during his tenure.

According to the Mercury News, Kaufman has been a pastor at a nearby church for the Last Four Years.

Now he’s back on the sideline, taking over for the Dublin team that went 25-21 over five years with Black as the head coach. After going 6-4 in 2022, the Gaels went 5-5 in 2023.

More: Sundays take on new significance for former Raiders RB Napoleon Kaufman

Crazy stat: Only one of California’s top 10 recruits is staying in-state

California recruits are not staying in-state to play college football.

There is a talent drain going on in California with the top recruits not staying to play college football in-state.

Given that the state consistently turns out dozens of players each year that are Power Five quality athletes, it is shocking to see that just one of the top 10 recruits in the class of 2024 stayed in-state and played for a California program.

It is crazy to think that five of the state’s top 10 recruits are heading to the SEC and just one athlete is staying in California to play college football. A decade ago, this would have been unthinkable, especially with USC seemingly cherrypicking the state’s top recruits each year.

Why are California’s top players leaving the state? Recent college football expansion and re-alignment might have something to do with it.

 

For starters, USC and UCLA were underwhelming this past season and it couldn’t come at a worse time. With a jump up to the Big Ten this fall, it isn’t a good look to see the two storied programs limp through their final year of the Pac-12.

With the Big Ten expected to be a significant jump up in competition, recruits might be eyeing both USC and UCLA with some caution. The Pac-12 teams are expected to have some learning curve over the next year or two, both with travel and the deeper talent in the conference. Those concerns might be leaving top recruits a bit wary about the transition to the Big Ten.

And then there are Cal and Stanford, both of whom were very much left behind in conference re-alignment. While both landed in the ACC, it is a tough sell to recruits to play in this hodgepodge of a conference.

But the biggest factor is clearly up north with Oregon. The Ducks, also heading to the Big Ten, have become the ‘it’ school on the West Coast and are hot. Between NIL and their in-style uniforms, Oregon is a big factor for California athletes.

Two of the state’s top 10 players are heading to Oregon, part of a 2024 class that includes 10 commits from California. Nine of the commits are ranked as four-star players.

Factor in head coach Danny Lanning and his young staff and it is an easy sell for many recruits to look up north a few hours to Eugene.

Oregon finished the season 12-2 and No. 7 in the USA TODAY LBM Coaches Poll.

No California program finished in the top 25. USC received votes in the final poll.

No. 3 Mater Dei vs. No. 18 Serra: How to watch California high school football state championship

A massive amount of Super 25 implications in this week’s CIF Open Division State championship.

California high school football supremacy comes down to a massive Super 25 matchup between No. 3 Mater Dei (Santa Ana) and No. 17 Serra (San Mateo) on Saturday.

The CIF State Open Division championship game at Saddleback College (Mission Viejo, Calif.) will be a final chance for both teams to showcase their top-tier talent synonymous with California high school football while significantly impacting the final Super 25 in the weeks ahead.

For Mater Dei, it’s a chance to close out the year on top in the Golden State, a playoff finale that included a big-time win over No. 9 St. John Bosco in the CIF-SS championship.

Stanford commit Elijah Brown leads the offensive attack at QB, with key talents like 4-star running back Jordon Davison and two-way threat Marcus Harris helping the Monarchs put up 42 points on average in 2023.
The defense under first-year head coach Frank McManus has continued to provide a nearly impossible scenario for offensive coordinators, a staked group from the line to the secondary that has only surrendered an average of just over 10 points per game.

In short, keeping the Monarchs from winning state title No. 4 will be a tall task.

But don’t count out/overlook/dismiss Serra.

The Padres haven been rolling in 2023, including a big win over perennial power De La Salle (Concord, Calf.).

Oklahoma State commit Maealiuaki Smith is an impressive pro-style QB who has the arm talent (and at 6-4, the height) to handle the torment from the other side of the line. Three-star tight end Cole Harrison provides options within the Padres’ offense, while sophomore running back Nano Latu can add elements of a balanced attack.

However, for Serra to complete the upset and secure state title No. 2, it’ll take an outstanding performance by the defense, with some of that focus on taking machine and San Jose State commit Jabari Mann.

Can the Padres flip the script on the 2021 meeting that ended in a 44-7 Monarchs win?

High school football fans around the nation who are looking to watch the Super 25 matchup can live stream the game on the NFHS Network.

Open Division State Championship: Watch Mater Dei vs. Serra

(Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)

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Game of the year? No. 3 St. John Bosco edges No. 18 Centennial in semifinal thriller

St. John Bosco stifled a two-point conversion with eight seconds left to beat Centennial in the high-scoring CIF-SS Div. I semifinals.

Centennial (Corona, Calif.) had a chance to take a leap toward the top of the California Southern Section in the semifinal game against St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.) on Friday.

After scoring a touchdown with eight seconds remaining to cut the deficit to one point, the Huskies could choose whether to send the game to overtime with an extra point attempt or go for the win with a two-point conversion.

The Huskies went for the latter in a game with nearly 90 total points scored and a missed PAT already. Quarterback Husan Longstreet faked the handoff to running back Cornell Hatcher Jr., who had scored five touchdowns throughout the night. Longstreet took the ball himself, slightly slipped, and was tackled by a pair of St. John Bosco defenders.

Centennial had one more chance, recovering an onside kick at the Bosco 41-yard line, but was prevented from moving the ball any further.

With that, the Braves eked out a 43-42 win and secured yet another CIF-SS Div. I championship game appearance against Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.).

Bosco quarterback Caleb Sanchez led the offense by passing for six touchdown passes and 330 yards on 13-for-23 passing, according to the San Bernadino Sun. His first three completions of the game were touchdowns of 23 yards, 62 yards and 65 yards, respectively.

On Centennial’s end, Hatcher was unstoppable, rushing 221 yards for five touchdowns on 45 carries, according to the Los Angeles Times.

It’s hard to overstate how good Hatcher was this season. In 12 games, he rushed for more than 2,300 yards and 42 touchdowns. He had at least 100 yards in every game except one — when he got 99 yards on 10 carries.

As close as Centennial came, they missed out on opportunities that could have won them the game. The Huskies missed a field goal, an extra-point attempt, and a pair of two-point conversions trying to make up for the lost points.

The loss for Centennial represents the plight of playing in the Trinity League. During the regular season, the Huskies played a demanding schedule, testing themselves against Mater Dei, Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas) and Liberty (Peoria, Ariz.). They cruised through division play and established themselves as a clear top-three team in California. They had a game plan that helped them put up 42 against Bosco.

Yet in the end, it ended the same way it has year in and year out for more than half a decade: Bosco vs. Mater Dei for the title.

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Deion Sanders responds to incident of prospective UCLA recruits accused of stealing from Colorado locker room

A group of potential UCLA recruits were accused of stealing Colorado possessions. Deion Sanders called for leniency in consequence for them.

A group of potential recruits for UCLA were accused of stealing jewelry and cash from the Colorado locker room during the Buffaloes’ game against the Bruins at the Rose Bowl Stadium on Oct. 28, according to a variety of reports.

The names of suspects, from Beaumont High School in Riverside County, were not released. The suspects are minors, Pasadena police said to USA TODAY, and the case was handed to the juvenile division of the district attorney’s office, according to the outlet.

No arrests had been made as of Monday, according to USA TODAY.

UCLA said the students were not there on an official visit. Beaumont Unified School District is cooperating with the investigation.

Colorado head coach Deion Sanders called for the Rose Bowl to reimburse players for the missing items, but he also said on Tuesday that he doesn’t want the students accused of theft to “lose opportunities to change their lives.”

“Let’s not crucify and punish these high school kids,” he said. “They are kids. They made a stupid, dumb, idiotic mistake. When I was 17, 18, so did I. All right? So did you.” See his full statement in Bleacher Report.

(Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports)

Some of the items have been returned to the victims since the theft, Pasadena police said to USA TODAY.

UCLA won the game 28-16.

2 California and Arizona teams faced off and the result skewed heavily to Cali

Sierra Canyon and Centennial high schools took down Saguaro and Liberty, respectively, the night before USC traveled to Tempe to play ASU.

Ahead of this weekend’s college football game between the University of Southern California and Arizona State University, two of the top California high school teams faced off against two of the top Arizona teams. In what may be a precursor to the result of USC vs. ASU this weekend, Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.) and Centennial (Corona, Calif.) took down Saguaro (Scottsdale, Ariz.) and Liberty (Peoria, Ariz.), respectively.

We’ll start with Sierra Canyon vs. Saguaro because this game was brutal. Saguaro is a historically dominant team that once again reached the Open Division championship last year, but with the departure of head coach Jason Mohns at the end of last season, there has been some transition. Nevertheless, between the classes of 2024 and 2025, there are seven three-star players on the Sabercats, who entered the evening 3-1.

No matter. It was a 63-6 beat-down in which the Trailblazers took a 28-0 lead in the first quarter and continued racking up points through the third quarter. Wyatt Becker, ranked a three-star QB by 247Sports and four-star on the 247 Composite Ranking, had twice as many total touchdowns (8) as he did incompletions (4) as he finished the game 18-22 with 364 yards, seven passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown, according to Dan Lovi of the Los Angeles Daily News.

According to ArizonaVarsity, Saguaro’s worst loss previously had been 65-0 in 2011. Friday’s game comes close.

Across Los Angeles County, past Anaheim, and into Corona, No. 17 Liberty was putting up a much better fight against Centennial. The Lions took a 35-21 lead over Centennial at the beginning of the fourth quarter, and it looked like they may hold on to beat what is widely regarded as a top-3 team in California.

Arizona’s optimism quickly turned as Centennial drove down the field in less than two minutes, with four-star QB Husan Longstreet connecting on a deep pass to three-star receiver Cory Butler, and then Cornell Hatcher ran in a 17-yard touchdown.

Hatcher has been playing absolutely out of his mind this month. Against No. 2 Bishop Gorman two weeks ago, he rushed for 233 yards and four touchdowns. This week, he one-upped himself and practically dragged Centennial to a win, rushing for 300 yards and four touchdowns, according to MaxPreps.

He scored that 17-yard TD to cut the deficit to a single touchdown. He punched in a one-yard touchdown that cut Liberty’s lead to one point after a missed PAT. And then he punched home the game-winning 13-yard run that preceded a two-point conversion, leading the way for 21 Centennial points in the fourth quarter alone.

With his rushing and tough fourth-quarter defense that caught an interception midway through the fourth and then iced it at the end, the Huskies eked out the victory and improved to 3-2, with their two losses coming against top-2 teams in the Super 25. Liberty’s loss is its first of the season.

As for USC and ASU, who will meet in Tempe on Saturday night? There’s definitely a chance it’ll look more like the Saguaro-Sierra Canyon game than that of Liberty-Centennial. Southern California will look to go 3-for-3 this weekend.

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California HS football player dies after severe asthma attack

His name was Julius Poppinga, and he played defensive end for Westlake in their season opener against Taft (Calif.) two weeks ago. 

According to a report by LA Times’ Eric Sondheimer, a football player at Westlake High School in California, has died after suffering a severe asthma attack.

His name was Julius Poppinga, and he played defensive end for Westlake in their season opener against Taft (Calif.) two weeks ago.

Head coach Mark Serve told Sondheimer that he visited Poppinga at the hospital earlier this week, and he seemed to be improving. The 17-year-old wanted to talk about football rather than his health.

“He didn’t want to talk about his health. He wanted to talk football… We talked about him getting back on the field. I was texting last night, letting him know, ‘I love you.’ This morning, I got the news.”

At a team meeting, players were informed of Poppinga’s death. Principal Jason Branham informed the rest of the school via email.

Westlake (1-1) will visit Thousand Oaks (Calif.) this Friday night. Their next home game will come against 2-0 Paraclete (Calif.) the following Friday.

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SCORES: Live in-game results around the nation as they happen

Live-Stream High School Sports on the NFHS Network

Oregon recruits a pair of 4-star linebacker prospects from California

Oregon’s class of 2024 now has 20 hard commits and ranks No. 8 in the nation.

The Oregon Ducks have managed to create a significant boost to their linebacker corps this week with a pair of blue-chip recruits from the same region.

On Friday, they got a commitment from Long Beach Poly (Calif.) four-star linebacker Dylan Williams.

Williams (6-foot-2, 210 pounds) had offers from 30 other programs, including Michigan State, UCLA, Washington and USC. He is ranked No. 17 at his position and No. 18 overall in the state of California, going by the 247Sports composite rankings.

The Ducks followed that up with another big get at this position when Los Alamitos (Calif.) four-star linebacker Kamar Mothudi announced his commitment.

Mothudi (6-foot-3, 220 pounds) is ranked one spot lower among linebackers in his class and No. 20 in the state. He was also being pursued by many of the same schools, including Michigan State, Utah and Washington.

Oregon’s class of 2024 now has 20 hard commits and ranks No. 8 in the nation.

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A top showdown at the Rose Bowl: Preview of Mater Dei-St. John Bosco rematch

A look at the championship clash between two of the top high school football teams in the country.

The high school football playoffs are heating up. On Friday, fans will be treated to a rematch of two of the top teams in the nation when No. 1 ranked Mater Dei and No. 4 St. John Bosco meet again in the playoffs.

Here’s a preview of what may be the biggest high school game of the year.

Mater Dei vs. St. John Bosco (Part 2)

Mater Dei (12-0)

(File)

Last week the reigning national champion Monarchs crushed Los Alamitos (Calif.) 52-0 to advance. Sophomore phenom running back Jordon Davison led the charge once again, posting 124 yards and two touchdowns on just 10 carries. Overall, Mater Dei is still undefeated this season and hasn’t won by any fewer than 10 points since they last faced Bosco back in early October.

St. John Bosco (11-1)

(File)

Meanwhile, the Braves’ only loss this year was in that first matchup with Mater Dei. In the last round, they cruised past Mission Viejo (Calif.), 41-6. Senior quarterback Pierce Clarkson only threw nine passes but three of them went for touchdowns on his way to a 149.3 QB rating.

In the first matchup between these teams, Mater Dei held St. John Bosco scoreless in the second half on their way to a 17-7 victory. It was mostly a defensive slugfest, highlighted by six total interceptions thrown by the quarterbracks.

However, both teams did have some success running the ball. The Braves were led by Junior running back Cameron Jones, who posted 108 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries. As for the Monarchs, Jordon Davison managed 114 and a score of his own on 22 attempts.

Getting a quarterback going would be ideal this time around, but whoever runs the rock more effectively might have the advantage.

California School for the Deaf-Riverside wins 8-man football championship

California School for the Deaf-Riverside’s ascent to the top is complete with its championship victory over Faith Baptist.

California School for the Deaf-Riverside’s ascent to the top is complete. With an 80-26 victory over Faith Baptist on Friday, the Cubs won the CIF Southern Section eight-man Division 1 championship, getting vengeance for last season and winning the first section title of any sport played at the school, according to the Press Enterprise.

It has been a rapid rise CSDR and its football team comprised of deaf players and coaches. Prior to last season, the team never had a winning record through the course of a season; in 2021, the team broke through, reaching the division championship but falling to the same Faith Baptist team 74-22.

Head coach Keith Adams told the Press Enterprise through a translator that “unfinished business is now finished.”

“It’s an honor to be the first team to win a title,” Adams said.

Quarterback Trevin Adams put up remarkable numbers through the air, on the ground and on the defensive side of the ball for the Cubs. He passed for 202 yards and a pair of touchdowns, ran for 202 more yards and scored on the ground six times, and had two pick-sixes. When all was said and done, he had 10 total touchdowns.

CSDR finished the season 12-0.

It’s the crowning of an unbelievable two-year run, one that has caught the attention of television executives. Disney+ is developing a series based on the football team, and executive producer Marlee Matlin attended the championship game on Friday.

Variety has more information on the upcoming series.

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