Tag: Los Alamitos

Miami Central getting 3 big transfers from California

Three high school football players from California are transferring to Florida powerhouse Miami Central.

Three high school players from Southern California are moving cross-country and transferring to Miami Central, a Florida powerhouse school that finished the 2022-23 season No. 4 in our final football Super 25.

According to a report by Rivals recruiting analyst Frank Tucker, the three players are Los Alamitos defensive end T.A. Cunningham, his younger brother, and teammate, defensive end T.K. Cunningham, plus Santa Margarita Catholic quarterback Bekkem Kritza.

Kritza (6-foot-4, 180 pounds) is a four-star quarterback who is ranked No. 9 at his position and No. 16 overall in California. He’s in the class of 2025. Kritza has offers from Colorado, Colorado State, Kansas, Miami, Penn State, Pittsburgh and Texas A&M.

T.A. Cunningham (6-foot-5, 265 pounds) has a four-star rating and is ranked No. 13 among defensive linemen in the class of 2024. He’s one of the most highly-recruited players in the country, with offers from 61 schools. According to On3’s prediction model, Miami is the favorite to get his commitment at 76.1%.

His younger brother T.K. Cunningham (6-foot-5, 230 pounds) is in the class of 2027 and is as yet unranked. However, he already has offers from 19 different programs, including Arizona, Cal, Colorado, Michigan and USC.

That’s three serious new pieces for the Rockets, who went 14-0 last season, including a win over American Heritage for their fourth consecutive state championship.

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Malachi Nelson and Los Alamitos face Long Beach Poly in massive CIF matchup

November means big games for #USC commits, not just for the Trojans in the Pac-12 title chase. All eyes will be on Malachi Nelson.

The Long Beach Poly Jackrabbits, ranked No. 5 in California, will play in one of the biggest games of the year in the state on November 11 against No. 4 Los Alamitos. Both teams are in the top 25 in the nation according to Max Preps. The game will take place at Veterans Memorial Stadium in the Division 1 quarterfinals.

The Jackrabbits were part of a 10-team Division 1 bracket, seeded No. 5. The top six teams will get a bye in the first round, with the Jackrabbits and Griffins both getting two weeks to prepare for their game a week from Friday.

It’s truly a marquee matchup for a Jackrabbits program that won the CIF-SS Division 4 title last year, then earned a No. 22 national ranking this year as they posted the program’s first undefeated regular season in 15 years.

Los Alamitos is led by USC senior commits Malachi Nelson and wide receiver Makai Lemon. All eyes will be on them as they enter this main-event showdown late in the season.

Nelson, a five-star QB, is rated the nation’s No. 1 overall prospect by ESPN and the nation’s No. 3  overall prospect by 247Sports.

Trojan head coach Lincoln Riley has proven to be a Heisman Trophy-developer during his time at Oklahoma with Jalen Hurts, Kyler Murray and Baker Mayfield.

That magic seems to have carried over to USC with quarterback Caleb Williams, who has emerged as a darkhorse Heisman candidate in his own right.

Both teams feature All-Americans and tons of Division 1 talent, and the game is sure to be televised and viewed as the top game in the state next week. The winner will most likely play No. 1 Mater Dei in the Division 1 semifinals.

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Los Alamitos defensive lineman T.A. Cunningham files injunction over eligibility to play

The top-ranked defensive lineman in the class of 2024 faces some tough legal challenges.

T.A. Cunningham is the top-ranked defensive lineman in the class of 2024 and the second-best player overall in California, according to 247Sports. However, he’s in a legal battle over his eligibility to play.

During the offseason, Cunningham transferred from Johns Creek (Ga.) to Los Alamitos (Calif.), one of the country’s most high-profile high school teams, which features highly ranked quarterback Malachi Nelson. 

But local officials have ruled that Cunningham cannot play.

According to a report by Kyle Bonagura at ESPN, Cunningham filed an injunction on Tuesday in Orange County Superior Court seeking to overturn a decision from the California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section last week that ruled him ineligible. Cunningham’s filing states that the CIF has provided no written explanation for its decision.

The injunction is seeking an immediate order to make Cunningham eligible to play tonight’s game. Los Alamitos is scheduled to visit 4-0 Santa Margarita (Calif.). with kickoff at 7:00 p.m.

Cunningham’s attorney Michael Caspino claims that he’s being victimized.

“Caspino told ESPN that after he provided lawyers for the CIF-SS with a declaration to prove Cunningham’s hardship on Wednesday, the CIF-SS moved the goalposts. According to Caspino, a representative for the CIF-SS told him that while the organization no longer objected to Cunningham’s hardship claim, it had opened an undue influence investigation, during which Cunningham would remain ineligible.”

Cunningham (6-foot-6, 265 pounds) is one of the hottest recruits in his class and has offers from practically every major college football program in the country except Alabama.

So far, Cunningham has offers from 59 colleges, including Arizona State, Oregon, Oregon State, California, USC, UCLA, Michigan, Miami and Georgia. For now, Oklahoma is considered the favorite to get his commitment.

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High school football heavyweights to battle in 2022 ESPN GEICO Kickoff

The 2022 high school football season is starting with a bang with the 2022 ESPN GEICO Kickoff.

The 2022 high school football season is starting with a bang with the 2022 ESPN GEICO Kickoff.

ESPN announced its doozy of a Kickoff field on Tuesday, with a doubleheader of St. Joseph’s Prep (Pa.) vs. St. Thomas Aquinas (Fla.) followed by Los Alamitos (Calif.) vs. American Heritage (Fla.) on Aug. 27.

St. Thomas Aquinas finished ninth in the 2021 USA TODAY High School Sports Super 25 rankings following a 14-1 season that resulted in a state championship. St. Joseph’s Prep returns a talented team in 2022, headlined by West Virginia linebacker commit Josiah Trotter.

American Heritage’s meeting with Los Alamitos might be the juiciest matchup of the Kickoff. Los Alamitos is led by five-star USC quarterback commit Malachi Nelson — the No. 2 recruit in the class of 2023 — and five-star athlete Makai Lemon, who is also committed to the Trojans. Los Alamitos also has four-star wide receiver DeAndre Moore Jr., three-star athlete Ethan O’Connor, three-star defensive end Sinn Brennan and three-star running back Nygel Osborne.

American Heritage welcomes a new head coach in Mike Smith after Patrick Surtain joined the Miami Dolphins’ coaching staff. Smith was previously the program’s strength and conditioning coach and takes over after a stretch that featured a 111-18 record since 2012 and state championships in 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2020.

There are also a pair of heavyweight matchups outside of the Kickoff during the first weekend of the 2022 season. Defending national champion Mater Dei (Calif.) travels to Las Vegas to take on Nevada 5A champion Bishop Gorman, while St. John Bosco heads to Texas for a date with Allen.

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Notre Dame gives offer to quarterback recruit Malachi Nelson

Another quarterback target for the Irish.

While Notre Dame tries to figure out its current quarterback situation, it hasn’t stopped trying to plan for the one down the road. It particularly would prefer that its latest quarterback target prevent any discussion about who should play the position during his time in South Bend. That target is Malachi Nelson, a pro-style quarterback from Los Alamitos, California. He received an offer after a discussion with Tommy Rees:

Notre Dame is the 26th school to make an offer to Nelson. However, both Rivals and 247Sports are convinced that Nelson is headed to Oklahoma, so the question is whether the Irish emerged too late in the game to have a legitimate shot at him. Other contenders for Nelson include Florida State, Miami, Florida, Texas, Ohio State, Arizona State, Arizona, NC State, USC, Michigan, Alabama and Penn State. With this analysis from 247Sports’ Greg Biggins, it’s not hard to see why so many programs are after him:

“Nelson has all the physical tools you could want in a next level signal caller. At 6-foot-3, 180 pounds, he has an athletic body with plenty of room to grow pack on good weight. He’s a very fluid athlete in everything he does. He has a smooth, effortless release and the ball jumps out of his hand. He has a downfield arm, is accurate to all three levels of the field and can throw with touch and change speeds. He’s a mature quarterback and already shows a high football IQ in terms of his decision making and how well he processes the position. He’s a plus-athlete for a quarterback as well and shows the ability to extend plays and get out and pick up yards in the running game. He made a big jump this off-season and needs to show he can put it together with the pads on as a sophomore but no quarterback in the class has a higher ceiling right now then Nelson.”