Friday Night Lights: A Look Into the Future of Cal Football - Part IV
Some blowouts, bye weeks, and some lazy box score posters that make this series more difficult - but not impossible.
Every week is another week for the future of Cal Football to continue to prove why they are Berkeley. This week’s rendition of “Friday Night Lights” highlights some high-tier matchups between top-ranked programs, and also saw some of the lightest production/output from our future Golden Bears, but some stellar performances were still absolutely in play.
Let’s waste no time and get right into it - Friday Night Lights Part IV:
Taimane Purcell - TE - Kamehameha (Honolulu, HI) – On September 24th, TE and Cal commit, Taimane Purcell announced on X that he had received a scholarship offer at Auburn, his third SEC school to give him an offer, but the first since he’s committed to Cal and earned a 4-star designation on 24/7 sports and an 88 overall on on3.
It's not time to hit the panic button yet, as Purcell has been actively promoting Cal Football on his social media accounts each week and remains committed to the Golden Bears. The Hawaiian two-way player and the Warriors won 31-10 over the Punahou Buffanblu (the same school Barack Obama went to). Still, neither team posted any final statistics outside of the scoring drives.
Victor Santino - RB - Bishop Montgomery (Torrance, CA) - DNP: Season Forfeited.
Nemyah Telona - DL - De La Salle (Concord, CA) – Nemyah Telona and the No. 24 team in the nation, the De La Salle Spartans, stormed into Sacramento and defeated The Grant Pacers 47-20. Telona had a quieter game on defense this last weekend, picking up only 2 assisted tackles on the evening, bringing his season total up to 8 assisted and 4 solo tackles.
Cam Brooks - EDGE - Thomas County Central (Thomasville, GA) – Bye Week!
Kamo’i Huihui-White - IOL - St. Louis (Honolulu, HI) – St. Louis and St. John Bosco did not post their postgame stats for their marquee matchup in Bellflower, but the Crusaders defeated the Braves 49-20
Nainoa Lopes - QB - St. Louis (Honolulu, HI) – See above...
EJ Morgan - WR - Central East (Fresno, CA) – EJ Morgan brought in 6 receptions for 91 yards for the Bengals, averaging 15.2 yards per reception, and brought in his 3rd touchdown this season, as Central East narrowly defeated Liberty 35-33. Morgan is currently 4th in receiving yards in the Tri-River district, with 322.
Tyree Sams - WR - Clovis North (Clovis, CA) – Tyree Sams had a great game against San Ramon Valley High School, as the Clovis North Broncos went on to defeat the Wolves 43-14, with Sams picking up 4 receptions for 80 yards and a touchdown. Sams also had a single rushing attempt for 3 yards, when the Broncos went for a 2-point conversion and handed it off to Tyree for 8 total points on the day for the senior WR/DB, who did not record any tackles on defense this time around.
Ernest Nunley - S - Western (Anaheim, CA) – Western demolished the San Dimas Saints 55-6 on the road, with Ernest Nunley seeing limited snaps, as the senior WR/DB brought in 1 single reception for 11 yards in the offense’s 336.
Nunley's midseason film (via Hudl)
Jonathan McKinley II - LB - Centennial (Corona, CA) – McKinley II had a monster game on defense for the Centennial Huskies, as he picked up 5 total tackles (3 solo and 2 assisted), a sack, a QB hurry, AND a blocked FG. The Huskies went on to defeat the Rancho Cucamonga Cougars 42-14 to improve to 4-1 on the season, and remain ranked No. 2 in the state on CA and No. 5 in the nation, with McKinley II ranked 6th in the Big West region in total tackles with 38.
Esaiah Wong - OT - Kailua (Kailua, HI) – The Kailua Surfriders shut out the ‘Aiea Na Alii 42-0 on the road last Friday, with OT Esaiah Wong being a crucial piece of the OLine that generated 223 rushing yards between 3 RBs, 130 QB passing yards, 0 sacks, and an average of 7.2 yards per attempt.
Jaxon Pyatt - LB - Arvada West (Arvada, CO) – Arvada West adds a 70-0 victory to their record, and has outscored opponents 229-80. Jaxon Pyratt continues to be everywhere on defense for the Wildcats, as the senior LB picked up 5 total tackles (3 solo, 2 assisted) and an interception and did not play any snaps on offense this time around.
Elisha Faamatuainu - IOL - Murrieta Valley (Murrieta, CA) – The Murrieta Valley Nighthawks improved to 3-1 and are No.18 in the state after a 49-7 win over King High. Faamatuainu and the OLine helped generate 213 rushing yards and 4 rushing touchdowns, and 194 passing yards with 0 sacks.
Brady Palmer - QB - Cathedral Catholic (San Diego, CA) – Brady Palmer and the Cathedral Catholic Dons came back from a Bye week hot out of the gates with a 49-0 shutout over the Helix Highlanders, where Palmer went 14-17 with 320 passing yards, 42 rushing yards, 4 passing TDs, 1 rushing TD, 0 INT, 1 sack, and a QBR of 162.4! Palmer and the Dons are nationally ranked at No. 96 and No. 13 in the state of California.
Jayden Crowder - CB - Santa Margarita Catholic (Rancho Santa Margarita, CA) – Bye week!
Artem Korchagin - IOL - Thomas County Central (Thomasville, GA) – Bye week!
Rocky Cummings - LB - Carlsbad (Carlsbad, CA) – While Rocky Cummings has been tearing it up for Carlsbad this season, we did not get to see what the senior LB/TE could contribute last week, as the Carlsbad Lancers won via forfeit over the Valley Center Jaguars, due to the Jags not having enough healthy/available players. (via The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Frank Fanua - IOL - Mount Miguel (Spring Valley, CA) – Mount Miguel won a close game over Poway, 35-32, with Frank Fanua picking up no tackles on the evening, but he did collect a fumble recovery as the Matadors improved to 4-1.
Deon Jackson - CB - Long Beach Poly (Long Beach, CA) – Deon Jackson and the Long Beach Poly Jackrabbits came off a bye week with a 56-7 blowout victory over the Jordan Panthers, where Jackson had a blocked punt and 2 solo tackles on the evening.
Luca Wolf - TE - NFL Academy (London, EN) – The final stats for NFL Academy vs BNL National were not posted.
Kingston “Lucky” Schirmer - DL - Centennial (Corona, CA) – In this marquee matchup between the state’s No. 2 Centennial Huskies and the No. 33 Rancho Cucamonga Cougars, the Huskies took the road win 42-14 with Kingston “Lucky” Schirmer picking up 2 total tackles (1 solo, 1 assisted) and 1 sack, putting his total for the season at 18 tackles and 26th overall in the Big West.
Schirmer's highlights through the first half of the season: (via Hudl)
Great looking group of recruits. Lets hope the follow through.
San Dimas High School football did not rule last night.
We seem to have Hawaii locked down.