Friday Night Lights – A Look into the Future of Cal Football Part VII
Another week of high school football concludes for our 2026 Cal-commits
We are beyond the halfway point for college and high school football season across the nation, and as for the California Golden Bears and the future of their program, we are only being given more reasons to be excited to see what the 2026 recruiting class has in store for Cal once they arrive in Berkeley.
This week’s edition of Friday Night Lights consists of some blowout victories, some injuries, and school(s) gatekeeping their stats once again after a hot streak of sharing them with us. Let’s get right into it as always!
Taimane Purcell - 4/5-Star (90 OVR) - TE - Kamehameha (Honolulu, HI) – Taimane Purcell and the Kamehameha Warriors had back-to-back matchups against the Saint Louis Crusaders, but could not secure the back-to-back victories, splitting the two games as Kamehameha dropped their Oct. 17th game, 7-35. With the offense limited to just one touchdown pass to Sophomore WR Jayden Braun - Cal’s top commit and No. 3 commit in the state of Hawaii was not given any post-game stats or highlights to write about.
Victor Santino - RB - 3/5-Star (89 OVR) - Bishop Montgomery (Torrance, CA) – DNP: Season Forfeited.
Nemyah Telona - DL - De La Salle (Concord, CA) – De La Salle is doing typical De La Salle things, as the Spartans keep on rolling over their opponents with a 56-13 win over Pleasanton’s Amador Valley High School. Nemyah Telona had a bit of a better week this time around, picking up 3 total tackles (2 solo and 1 assisted) as well as 1.5 TFL in the blowout victory over the Dons. De La Salle remains at No. 6 in the state of California and No. 19 in the nation.
Cam Brooks - EDGE - 3/5-Star (88 OVR) - Thomas County Central (Thomasville, GA) – The Thomas County Central Yellow Jackets are legit. With another shutout victory added to their record, this time a 70-0 blowout over the Northside Eagles, Cam Brooks had a solid game on defense without having to do too much – getting 3 total tackles, all assisted, and 3 QB hurries as the backfield picked up 2 interceptions on the defensive lines’ pressure and work all night.
Kamo’i Huihui-White - IOL - 3/5-Star (88 OVR) - Saint. Louis (Honolulu, HI) – Like Kamehameha, Saint Louis did not upload their stats for their game against the Warriors, except for the final score, extra points made, punt returns for touchdowns, and a couple of defensive statistics (2 INT and 2 Sacks).
Nainoa Lopes - QB - 3/5-Star (88 OVR) - St. Louis (Honolulu, HI) – See above. While statistics for the game were not posted, an ESPN Honolulu article covering the game did mention how Lopes helped seal the victory for the Crusaders with a 17-yard TD pass to Kingston Siliado with 3:16 remaining in the game.
EJ Morgan - WR - 3/5-Star (88 OVR) - Central East (Fresno, CA) – Central East’s lone loss this season to Grant High School is looking weirder and weirder, as the Bengals defeated the (then) 6-1 Clovis West Golden Eagles, 46-39. EJ Morgan continues to be the Bengals’ most targeted receiver, bringing in 5 receptions for 49 yards with a long of 25 yards and an average of 9.8 per carry.
Tyree Sams - WR - 3/5-Star (87 OVR) - Clovis North (Clovis, CA) – The Clovis North Broncos lost a close game to the Buchanan Bears by a score of 20-30, with WR and Cal-Commit Tyree Sams not playing in this matchup.
Ernest Nunley - S - 3/5-Star (87 OVR) - Western (Anaheim, CA) – The Pioneers pulled off a 34-27 win over the Cypress Centurions last Friday night, with the Cal-committed CB playing both sides of the ball and producing for the Western offense when needed. Nunley, who typically plays back as a Safety/CB, had 6 receptions for 58 yards and brought in 1 TD on offense, while also collecting 5 tackles on defense (2 solo and 3 assisted) as well as causing 2 fumbles and deflecting 1 pass attempt. An extremely well-played game for the Senior.
Jonathan McKinley II - LB - 3/5-Star (87 OVR) - Centennial (Corona, CA) – Jonathan McKinley II and the Huskies remain in the No. 2 spot in the California rankings (and No. 5 in the nation) as they dismantled the Murrieta Valley Nighthawks in a 48-20 victory on the road. McKinley II did play in the game for Centennial, but did not pick up any defensive stats (tackles, sacks, QB hurries, PD, etc.) in the conference victory.
Esaiah Wong - OT - 3/5-Star (87 OVR) - Kailua (Kailua, HI) – The Surfriders won via a comeback victory over the Waipahu Marauders, where Waipahu left the Surfriders scoreless in the first half and down 0-15. Esaiah Wong and the O-Line were able to help generate 22 unanswered points for Kailua, which included protection for 122 passing yards and 1 TD, and generated 90 rushing yards for 1 TD.
Jaxon Pyatt - LB - 3/5-Star (87 OVR) - Arvada West (Arvada, CO) – The No. 6 team in the state of Colorado continues to climb to the peak of the Rockies, as they dismantled Denver East High School 48-0 at home last Friday. Pyatt, who has been having an incredible season thus far, only added to his resume with 9 total tackles (3 solo and 6 assisted) with 1 TFL, as he currently ranks 8th in all of Division 5A in defensive tackles.
Elisha Faamatuainu - IOL - 3/5-Star (87 OVR) - Murrieta Valley (Murrieta, CA) – Murrieta Valley’s offense hit a wall against the Centennial defense last week, as the Nighthawks could only get 20 points on 1 TD from 134 generated rushing yards and 0 TDs on 78 passing yards.
Brady Palmer - QB - 3/5-Star (86 OVR) - Cathedral Catholic (San Diego, CA) – The Cathedral Catholic Dons had a comeback week after losing against the De La Salle Spartans up in Concord on October 3rd and then losing in Point Loma on October 10th. The Dons dominated against Scripps Ranch, winning 41-0, but Brady Palmer remained out for this one after sustaining a shoulder injury against De La Salle.
Artem Korchagin - IOL - 3/5-Star (86 OVR) - Thomas County Central (Thomasville, GA) – Korchagin and the Thomas County Central Offensive Line were lights out against the Northside Eagles, as the O-Line helped generate 192 rushing yards for 6 TDs and created enough protection for 191 passing yards and 2 TDs as the Yellow Jackets won 70-0.
Rocky Cummings: LB – Carlsbad (CA) (3/5 Star, 86 OVR) – Carlsbad star-LB and Cal-commit Rocky Cummings did not play in Carlsbad’s matchup against San Marcos, and his absence showed. The Lancers barely edged out the San Marcos Knights 31-28 in the non-conference game last Friday night.
Frank Fanua - IOL - 3/5-Star (86 OVR) - Mount Miguel (Spring Valley, CA) – Frank Fanua and the Mount Miguel O-Line were a wall for their QBs last Friday, as they helped create enough protection for their Junior and Sophomore QBs to throw for 297 yards combined and 2 TDs (1 each), as well as helped generate 144 yards and 2 TDs in the rushing game as the Matadors won 28-21 over the Steele Canyon Cougars and allowed only 2 sacks and 0 QB hurries.
Deon Jackson - CB - 3/5-Star (85 OVR) - Long Beach Poly (Long Beach, CA) – The Long Beach Poly Jackrabbits dropped their 5th game of the season, this time to Woodrow Wilson High School, after the Bruins came back with less than 3 minutes remaining in the 4th quarter and took the lead by going for a 2-point conversation rather than settling for a tie and going to overtime. The Jackrabbits did not upload final stats for the game.
Luca Wolf - TE - 3/5-Star (85 OVR) - NFL Academy (London, EN) – While final stats for this game were not posted, the NFL Academy (London) dropped their matchup against IMG Academy 24-41 in Bradenton, Florida.
Kingston “Lucky” Schirmer - DL - 3/5-Star (85 OVR) - Centennial (Corona, CA) – In Centennial’s game against the Murrieta Valley Nighthawks, Lucky Schirmer picked up a season high 7 tackles (2 solo and 5 assisted) and 1.0 TFL as the Huskies won dominantly by a score of 48-20.
Hope we can keep them
Thanks Justin. Nice work.