Six high school football teams from Orange County took part Monday in Public School Media Day, a video call where members of the media could learn about the teams and their players.
Media days have been held in college sports for many years. The Trinity League started media days for its sports teams a few years ago. County public schools have also started having them.
The teams represented Monday were Mission Viejo, Capistrano Valley, La Habra, San Clemente, San Juan Hills and Tesoro. Sunset League football teams plan to have a media day with the date to be announced.
After a long delay because of COVID-19, football practices were allowed to begin at the area schools last week after Orange County met the revised California Department of Public Health guidelines. Contact outdoor sports can now be played if a county’s coronavirus infections rate reaches 14 or below. Orange County was at 11.9 last week.
Some highlights from Monday’s media day, conducted via Zoom:
CAPISTRANO VALLEY
The Cougars (5-6 overall last season, 2-2 in the South Coast League) could be one of the county’s more-improved teams. They have 21 seniors and return six starters on offense and eight starters on defense.
Capistrano Valley players, like athletes in all sports in the county, had plenty of times of doubt that a season would be played.
“We knew we had to stick together as a team and be one unit,” said Cougars senior running back/defensive back Hayden Cook, who committed to Western New Mexico. “We just hoped for the best, kept training every day.”
Some players at Capistrano Valley and at other schools played club football while waiting for high school football to get clearance to resume in California. Among them was Cougars All-South Coast League first-team quarterback Dartanyon Mouissiaux, who is glad he did.
“I got better at reading defenses and get an all-around better understanding,” Mouissiaux said.
The Cougars open the season with a home game March 12 against Aliso Niguel.
LA HABRA
The Highlanders (10-3 overall last season, 5-0 in the Freeway League) will start sophomore Justin Gill at quarterback. Gill spent his freshman year at Villa Park.
La Habra coach Frank Mazzotta said among the team’s strengths will be its offensive line, where the Highlanders return four of five starters from the 2019 team. In that group is David Sanchez, All-Freeway League first team last season. The defensive secondary is new and inexperienced.
Returning all-league receiver Brandon Vasquez said the goal is simple. “Finishing 6-0 is the goal,” he said. “I don’t think anything less than that is the goal.”
The Highlanders open their six-game season with a nonleague game March 12 at Mission Viejo. That will be a matchup of teams likely to be in the Orange County preseason top 10.
MISSION VIEJO
Often acknowledged as the best public school football program in Orange County, the Diablos (11-1, 4-0 in ’19) bring back last season’s South Coast League player of the year, Easton Mascarenas, a senior linebacker who signed with Oregon State.
Many of Southern California’s top football players opted to not play during this spring 2021 mini-season, some because they were heading to college before June and others because they decided to focus on a sport that had a better chance of having a full season. Among them is Peter Costelli, a senior quarterback who already is at the University of Utah.
Kaiden Semonza, a sophomore, will start at quarterback for the Diablos.
Mascarenas decided to stay put and play for Mission Viejo after he received the approval of the Oregon State coaching staff to do so.
“It was an easy decision,” Mascarenas said. “It was full go.”
SAN CLEMENTE
The Tritons were 9-3 overall and 3-1 on the field last season. They had to forfeit their wins for using an ineligible player.
That and the recent death of popular assistant coach Joe Wood has San Clemente playing with plenty of motivation.
Wood’s passing from COVID-19 was especially tough on Arizona-signed senior running back James Boles. Wood was Boles’ position coach at San Clemente.
“Coach Wood is a hero to me,” Boles said. “If I was having a bad day, and knowing that Coach Wood would be there, and seeing him smiling every day … my bad day would become a good day just seeing him.”
San Clemente returns six starters on offense and five starters on defense.
SAN JUAN HILLS
The Stallions, who won the CIF Southern Section Division 4 championship and the Sea View League championship in 2019, move into the challenging South Coast League this season.
“We’re the toughest public-school league in Southern California,” said San Juan Hills coach Robert Frith.
San Juan Hills brings back senior quarterback Hudson Jones, a starter since his sophomore year. With high school football in California doubtful for a time, Jones and his family considered moving to Arizona.
“But you’ve got to say loyal,” Jones said.
TESORO
The Titans (10-2, 3-1 in ’19) don’t have many returning players. It was a senior-heavy team in 2019.
Tesoro coach Matt Poston said the players who are seniors now are talented, as are the juniors, and he expects them to perform well. Among them are center Marc McGill (“absolute bulldog,” Poston said) and defensive end/tight end Jason Baum.
One of the Titans’ better players will be one who plays a position that has become rare in football: Tyler Adams, at fullback.
McGill said the players are willing to do all the mask-wearing and social distancing required to keep COVID-19 from interrupting the season.
“No large gatherings on the weekends or on the weekdays,” McGill said. “One positive (COVID-19) test, and the season goes downhill for the whole team.”
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