Five Catholic high school football stars were selected as CIF-Southern Section “Players of the Year” in their respective divisions, as the All-CIF Football selections for their 2017 season were announced Jan. 29.
An additional 72 players from Catholic schools in the L.A. Archdiocese and Orange Diocese were named All-CIF First Team, and three coaches were named Coaches of the Year after directing their squads to CIF-SS championships last fall: Mater Dei’s Bruce Rollinson (Division 1), Paraclete’s Dean Harrington (D-5) and Bishop Diego’s Tom Crawford (D-6).
Presented by the LA84 Foundation, and selected by the Football Coaches Assn., Player of the Year honors (accorded to offensive and defensive players) were received by:
---(Division 1) Mater Dei junior quarterback JT Daniels (offense) and senior linebacker Solomon Tuliaupupu (defense), instrumental in the Monarchs’ 15-0 run to the CIF Division 1 title, Open Division state championship, and the No. 1 ranking in the U.S. from MaxPreps.
---(Division 5) Paraclete senior quarterback Brevin White (offense), who led the Spirits (13-2) to the CIF Division 5 championship.
---(Division 6) Bishop Diego senior running back John Harris (offense) and senior linebacker Ashton Borgenson (co-defensive POY, with Mira Costa’s Jonah Tavai), who helped power Bishop Diego to a 15-1 record, the CIF Division 6 title, and the state Division 3-AA championship.
Following are the All-CIF first team selections, by division.
D-1 Offense: Mater Dei seniors Amon-Ra St. Brown, Tommy Brown, Christopher Murray and Kekaniokoa Gonzalez; Chaminade seniors Michael Wilson and Andrew Van Buren; St. John Bosco senior Kevin Coblentz, junior George Holani and sophomore DJ Uiagalelei; Bishop Amat junior Andrew Rowe.
D-1 Defense: Mater Dei senior Nathan Logoleo, juniors Masefield Funa and Horace “Bru” McCoy, and sophomore Elias Ricks; St. John Bosco seniors Stephan Blaylock, Sal Spina and Spencer Gilbert; Chaminade senior Jonah Lipel and junior Blake Antzoulatos; Serra senior Merlin Robertson and junior Max Williams; Bishop Amat senior Aaron Maldonado.
D-2 Offense: Cathedral sophomore Bryce Young; Notre Dame/Sherman Oaks senior Jordan Palmer; St. Bonaventure senior Tyler Ostrom.
D-2 Defense: Cathedral senior Halid Djibril and junior Stephen Wright; Notre Dame/SO senior Michael Whiteside.
D-3 Offense: St. Francis seniors Matthew Barriga, Elijah Washington and Greg Dulcich, and junior Darius Perrantes.
D-3 Defense: St. Francis seniors Bobby Gazmarian, Gabriel Grbavac and Blake Howard, and sophomore Kevin Armstead.
D-4 Defense: Damien senior Nathan Alba.
D-5 Offense: Paraclete seniors Aaron Blaylock and Andre Hunt, junior Melquan Stovall and freshman Amir Bankhead; St. Joseph/Santa Maria senior Jayden Vargas.
D-5 Defense: Paraclete seniors Elijah Gates, Antonio Hunt, Jayson Haywood and Jaylin Tynes, and junior Travis Hansen.
D-6 Offense: Bishop Diego seniors Chris Jablanta and Adrian Guillen, and junior Jack Luckhurst; St. Paul seniors Alexis Reyes and Armando Velasco, and junior Que Allen.
D-6 Defense: Bishop Diego seniors Isaiah Veal and Evan McKeegan; St. Paul seniors Francisco Avena, Joseph Troncoza and Alexander Dumis.
D-9 Offense: St. Anthony senior Deshaun Harvey and junior Jake Buska.
D-9 Defense: St. Anthony senior Noah Nieto.
D-11 Defense: St. Genevieve senior Alex Acosta
D-13 Offense: Santa Clara junior Amos Scott; Cantwell Sacred Heart senior Jalen Chavez.
D-13 Defense: Santa Clara senior Michael Baragas and junior Jacob Gayton; Cantwell Sacred Heart senior Anthony Ruiz; St. Pius X-St. Matthias senior Leonard Payne; Don Bosco Tech senior Roman Hernandez.
D-1 Eight-Man Football: Villanova Prep seniors Raegan Mang and Bobby Caron, and junior Anthony Martinez.
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