2018 Week 5: Helix, La Costa Canyon Lead With 3 NFL Players Each
Of the 1,694 players on active NFL rosters on Kickoff Weekend earlier this month, 18 were from San Diego Section schools, six more than in 2017.
(There is an error in the table below. Alex Mack did attend San Marcos High, in Santa Barbara, not at our local San Marcos).
Helix and La Costa Canyon were among 48 schools in 46 states, District of Columbia, seven countries, and American Samoa that had at least three players. Saint Thomas Aquinas of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, led with 15. Long Beach Poly was second and led California schools with 7.
Florida led with 211 players, followed by California, 185, and Texas, 175.
District of Columbia was the leader with most players per capita. Based on the 2010 census, the District had 11 players, one per 54,702 persons. Lousiana (59) was second with one player for every 78,837 persons.
San Diego Serra was listed with 6 but that was in error. The listing should have been for Gardena Serra.
| NAME | POSITION | SCHOOL | COLLEGE | NFL | YEAR |
| Tony Jefferson | Safety | Eastlake | Oklahoma | Baltimore | 6 |
| Matt Wile | Punter | Francis Pa | Michigan | Minnesota | 3 |
| Joe Cardona | Long Snapper | Granite Hills | Navy | New England | 4 |
| Jamar Taylor | Cornerback | Helix | Boise State | Arizona | 6 |
| Levine Toiolo | Tight End | Helix | Stanford | Detroit | 6 |
| Alex Smith | Quarterback | Helix | Utah | Washington | 14 |
| Royce Freeman | Running Back | Imperial | Oregon | Denver | R |
| Kenny Stills | Wide Receiver | La Costa Canyon | Oklahoma | Miami | 6 |
| Scott Quessenberry | Guard | La Costa Canyon | UCLA | L.A. Chargers | R |
| Erik Magnuson | Guard | La Costa Canyon | Michigan | San Francisco | 2 |
| Tyree Robinson | Safety | Lincoln | Oregon | Dallas | R |
| Damien Williams | Running Back | Mira Mesa | Oklahoma | Kansas City | 5 |
| Fred Warner | Linebacker | Mission Hills | Brigham Young | San Francisco | R |
| Cory Littleton | Linebacker | Mount Miguel | Washington | L.A. Rams | 3 |
| Brian Schwenke | Center | Oceanside | California | New England | 6 |
| Jamal Agnew | Cornerback | Point Loma | San Diego | Detroit | 2 |
| Aaron Wallace | Linebacker | Rancho Bernardo | UCLA | Tennessee | 3 |
| Alex Mack | Center | San Marcos | California | Atlanta | 10 |
| Leon Hall | Cornerback | Vista | Michigan | Oakland | 12 |
IT’S ALL GOOD
It’s seashells and sunsets at some San Diego Section addresses.
As the season passes through the halfway juncture, there are five, 5-0 teams looking forward to practice and enjoying slaps on the back and friendly exchanges in campus corridors.
Francis Parker, coached by Matt Morrison, has not been 5-0 since 2013, when Matt’s father, John Morrison, guided the Lancers.
For Torrey Pines it’s been since 2010, for La Costa Canyon since 2009, and for Lincoln since 2008.
El Centro Central, which was 5-0 a season ago, also is 5-0 and 15-2 under second-year coach David Pena
There are six, 4-0 clubs as most nonleague schedules wind down and teams focus on league play.
IT’S ALL BAD
It had to be a difficult decision but El Cajon Valley coach Nick Osborn was not concerned about the score; he said it was about his players. Osborn pulled the Braves off the field with 9:23 left in the game, trailing, 35-0, at Sweetwater.
The 0-5 Braves, with 21 players, are allowing an average of 50.4 points game and had given up 76, 55, and 44 points in previous routs.
IT’S ALL GOOD
Misery also had followed Sweetwater, which gave up 62 and 69 in its previous two games points but which reversed the carnage while entertaining a Homecoming crowd of almost 3,000.
Castle Park, losing games and players, forfeited its previous two, including a possible win at Fallbrook, and enjoyed the bus ride home to Chula Vista after rebounding to slap Hoover, 37-7.
VOTES
Torrey Pines and La Costa Canyon stayed in lockstep in the Cal-Hi Sports’ weekly ratings. The Falcons moved from 15th to 14th and La Costa from 16th to 15th.
Cathedral went from 19th to 18th. Eastlake is at 41 and Helix at 44, after running St. Augustine off the field in the second half and winning, 35-14. Madison fell from 26th to “On the Bubble”, with St. Augustine.
Week 6 Union-Tribune poll:
| Rank | Team | 2018 | Points | Previous |
| 1. | Torrey Pines (25) | 5-0 | 293 | 1 |
| 2. | La Costa Canyon (5) | 4-0 | 274 | 2 |
| 3. | Cathedral | 3-1 | 239 | 4 |
| 4. | Helix | 2-3 | 184 | 8 |
| 5. | Eastlake | 4-1 | 154 | 7 |
| 6. | Madison | 4-1 | 145 | 3 |
| 7. | St. Augustine | 4-1 | 99 | 6 |
| 8. | Lincoln | 5-0 | 81 | 9 |
| 9 | San Marcos | 3-1 | 68 | 5 |
| 10. | Mission Hills | 2-3 | 61 | 10 |
Others: Carlsbad (3-2, 37 points), Mira Mesa (4-0, 14), Vista (4-1, 6), Christian (4-0, 1).
Voting panel (30 sportswriters, sportscasters, various County football honchos):
- John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune
- Jim Lindgren, Rick Hoff, Terry Monahan, Don Norcross, Tom Saxe, Union-Tribune correspondents
- Paul Rudy, Brandon Stone, KUSI Chl. 51
- Adam Paul, ECpreps.com
- Ramon Scott, EastCountySports.com
- Bodie DeSilva, sandiegopreps.com
- Ted Mendenhall, Tyler Quellman, The Mighty 1090
- Steve Brand, San Diego Hall of Champions
- Troy Hirsch, Fox 5, San Diego
- Rick Smith, PartletonSports.com
- Jerry Schniepp, John Labeta, Ron Marquez, Carlton Hoggard, CIF San Diego Section
- Joe Heinz, Coordinator, Athletics, Sweetwater School District
- Raymond Brown, sdfootball.net
- Montell Allen, MBA Sports/San Diego Friday Night Lights Magazine
- Bob Petinak, Fox 1360 Radio
- John Kentera, Brandon Suprenant, 97.3 FM The Fan
- Steve (Biff) Dolan, Mountain Country 107.9 FM
- Jim Arnaiz, Mike Dolan, John Carroll, San Diego Section Tournament Directors.
QUICK KICKS
Vista hasn’t been 4-1 since 2001, when Chris Hauser was coach, before Hauser began the Mission Hills program, and the Panthers’ 67 points against Mt. Carmel almost equaled the 70 in a shutout of Pasadena Blair that season…the 67-6 loss was the most decisive in the Sun Devils’ 471-game history, dating to 1974…Valley Center whipped Mt. Carmel, 66-14, in 2008…La Jolla sophomore Max Smith made 15 tackles, including two quarterback sacks, rushed 12 times for 63 yards, and caught 2 for 43, including the winning touchdown in a 13-10 win over Scripps Ranch…Lincoln’s Marquese Allen wasn’t far behind with 14 tackles, three forced fumbles, and 1 fumble recovery…Imperial’s Nathan Hart rushed for 185 yards in 26 carries and scored four touchdowns, forced a fumble, and blocked two PAT attempts….