ENCINITAS — In the runup to this week’s prep football’s return under the stadium lights starting Aug. 23, The Coast News traveled around North County to meet the coaches, players, and teams competing in the upcoming football season.
Here is what we learned:
La Costa Canyon (Avocado League)
Last Year: 5-6; 1-4 league play
Coach: Sean Sovacool
Key Returning Player: Quinn Roth, Jr, quarterback
Key Departing Player: Trevor Ladd, tight end
Season Opener: 8/23 – at St. Augustine
Outlook 2024: La Costa Canyon opened last season hot, dropping 41 points in a win over University City. Going into October, the Mavericks were 5-1 behind an offense that scored 49 points in back-to-back games.
And then, the bottom fell out with four straight Avocado League losses.
Six-foot-four junior quarterback Quinn Roth was second-team all-league as a sophomore, throwing for 2400 yards and 20 touchdowns. Sovacool, in year 15, said of Roth, “he’s arguably the best quarterback I’ve ever coached at La Costa Canyon.” After an “on-fire summer,” expectations are high.
Coby Herman can line up both in the backfield and out wide and is as dangerous as they come with the ball in his hands. Last season he tallied 800 all-purpose yards.
Tight end Nolan Keeping doubles as a soccer goalie and is a physical blocker with “great range.”
On the defensive side of the ball, junior linebacker Henry Mallory is, as Sovacool says, “a Silverback Gorilla.”
Only one returning starter on the offensive line could make pass and run protection a problem.
Fun Fact: La Costa Canyon alum David Quessenberry is a reserve offensive lineman for the Minnesota Vikings, head coached by another La Costa Canyon alum, Kevin O’Connell.
Quotable Notable: “It’s crazy – they [Quessenberry and O’Connell] are both great guys with very different stories to get there. It’s super exciting that several of our players are in and around the NFL.” – Former La Costa Canyon head coach Darrin Brown.
El Camino (Avocado League)
Last year: 7-5; 2-3 league play
Coach: Michael Hobbs
Key Returning Player: Leonidas Bell, Sr, running back
Key Departing Player: Carson Howard, quarterback
Save the Date: 9/27 – at Oceanside
Outlook 2024: Questions abound for El Camino. Quarterback Carson Howard graduated, along with him leading rusher Devin Cerda, leading receiver Ryan Speltz and leading scorer Ray Teale.
Senior running back Leonidas Bell, an explosive six-foot-one, two hundred pounds, who averaged over nine yards per carry — including a 75-yard dash last season — brings experience to an offense featuring several new faces.
Defensive returners include Kingston Faatili, Jake Williams, Caleb Reese and secondary ballhawk Qayden Coleman.
Quotable Notable: “Oceanside-El Camino is a rivalry. You want to beat those guys. A lot of trash talk is going on, and there are a lot of good players on the field. You see each other everywhere. We knew the same people and went to the same parties – played pickup basketball against each other. Any time you know people on the other team, it becomes a little more intense. We weren’t very good my years but we did beat Oceanside.” – J.C. Pearson, El Camino class of 1982, 8-year NFL veteran.
Oceanside (Valley League)
Last Year: 7-5; 5-1 league play
Coach: Fale Poumele
Key Returning Player: Joesph Vinup, Sr, quarterback / wide receiver
Key Departing Player: Geordan Beamon, defensive end
Save the Date: 9/27 – El Camino
Outlook 2024: Reminiscent of 1990s NFL player ‘Slash’ Kordell Stewart, Oceanside senior Joesph Vinup does a little of everything. Last season, Vinup threw eight touchdowns, had 36 carries, and notched 20 catches.
Five-foot-six-inch junior running back Adrian Luna averaged nearly six yards per carry and is primed to take on a larger role in the offense with Georgie Nua graduated.
The defensive players responsible for 21.5 of 26.5 sacks last season are gone. Will the Pirates be able to generate enough of a pass rush to slow down opposing offenses?
Quotable Notable: “Back in the day, you had to win your conference to go to the playoffs, which was much more difficult than it is now where everyone goes. We missed out because we could never win the Avocado League. We always had a lot of pride in football at Oceanside from the earlier players before the split off to El Camino. That rivalry with El Camino was fierce. We wanted to be the big dog in the city, but we grew up with everybody, so we all knew each other. We respected them, but the games got intense.” – Charles Dimry, Oceanside, class of 1984, 12-year NFL Veteran.
Santa Fe Christian (Coastal League)
Last Year: 6-6; 5-1 league play
Coach: Jon Wallace
Key Returning Player: Connor Ashford Sawyer, Sr, tight end
Key Departing Player: Greyson Mundis, running back
Save the Date: 11/2 – at Bishop’s
Outlook 2024: A quarterback battle has developed in Solana Beach this summer. Santa Fe Christian sophomores Dax Labrum, Brett Vermillion, and junior Hunter Coley are all in the mix to earn the starting job. The incumbent, two-year starter, senior Andrew Hidy, is currently dealing with an elbow issue.
The good news for the Eagles is continuity, only two contributors last season graduated.
“We had a young team last year, so as a small school, we are senior heavy,” head coach Jon Wallace said. Their experience has shown up in camp. We were not a detail team last year. [The experience] helps us move faster, we can install quicker, teach more concepts.”
Unsung seniors Tyler Massey and Diego Morales play on the offensive and defensive lines and have been particularly strong at camp. “They are killing it,” Wallace said of his anchors.
“We have a good squad of guys and we are all bought in,” Massey said.
“My first practice I had never played tackle football before, now it’s my favorite thing I do at school,” added Morales.
Senior tight end Connor Ashford Sawyer stretches the field and provides a safety blanket for an inexperienced quarterback.
“He’s one of the hardest workers in practice and is a big leader on the team,” Morales said.
Carlsbad (Avocado League)
Last Year: 10-1; 5-0 league play
Coach: Thadd Macneal
Key Returning Player: Tyler Prasuhn, Sr, kicker, punter
Key Departing Player: Julian Sayin, quarterback
Season Opener: 8/23 – at Lakewood
Outlook 2024: Reigning Avocado League champions five years straight, Carlsbad didn’t just win last season; they dominated, outscoring opponents 424-140, ripping off 10 straight wins before a 46-45 upset loss in overtime in the opening game of the playoffs against Granite Hills.
With 86 touchdown passes against 10 interceptions for his high school career, a five-star recruit Julian Sayin, now at Ohio State, is impossible to replace.
If that’s not difficult enough, the Lancers also graduated six-foot-five-inch jump ball extraordinaire Griffin Rosenbloom; leading receiver Josh Ball; leading rusher Mason Walsh; leading tackler Thomas McCormick; leading sack-man Jude McLellan.
The 2023 team was built for a championship but came up short. In 2024, a step backward seems likely.
Kicker-punter Tyler Prasuhn returns. Last season, he converted 57 of 58 PATs and landed eight punts inside the opposing 20-yard line.
Fun Fact: Lancer alums Brandon Chillar and Brett Swain overlapped with the Green Bay Packers from 2008-2010.
San Marcos (Palomar League)
Last Year: 9-3; 5-0 league play
Coach: Tom Carroll
Key Returning Player: Kreet Makihele, Jr, quarterback
Key Departing Player: Cayden Woolwine, tight end, linebacker
Save the Date: 11/1 – Del Norte
Outlook 2024: A broken collarbone sidelined then-sophomore quarterback Kreet Makihele for a month in the middle of the season. Bradley Jenkins played admirably in relief, helping guide the Knights to a Palomar League championship.
A healthy Makihele will be a big help for a San Marcos team that returns most of last season’s key skill players.
Leading rushers Tabari Lane and Ethan Martinez form a two-headed monster in the backfield.
Jase Nix, a dynamic senior receiver, came up nine yards short of the 1,000-yard mark last season and is poised for another big year.
The offense is back nearly in full. The defense has been hit hard by roster turnover. Ten of the top 11 tacklers graduated.
San Marcos allowed only 172 points behind two shutouts. That will be difficult to repeat.
Fun Fact: Quarterbacks coach Mike Fouts is the nephew of legendary Chargers quarterback Dan Fouts.
Vista (Valley League)
Last Year: 1-9; 1-5 league play
Coach: David Fa’atu’iese
Key Returning Player: Alden William Evans, Jr, tackle, nose guard
Key Departing Player: Isaac Robinson, safety, wide receiver
Save the Date: 11/1 – Rancho Buena Vista
Outlook 2024: 1-9 last season, there were few bright spots for Vista, led by first-year head coach and Panther football alum David Fa’atu’iese. The team’s lone victory came against cross-town rival Rancho Buena Vista in the season’s closing game.
Junior Alden Wiliams Evans is enormous at six-foot-six and north of 300 pounds. Keoki Beccera is adept at generating pressure on the quarterback from the edge rusher position.
Broc Schweikhard, a middle linebacker at only five feet nine inches, is a possible all-league player in 2024. He is undersized but pugnacious.
Rancho Buena Vista (Valley League)
Last Year: 1-9; 1-5 league play
Coach: Terrance McKinnie
Key Returning Player: Pete Kinman, Jr, wide receiver, defensive back
Save the Date: 11/1 – at Vista
Outlook 2024: It was an ugly 1-9 season, with Rancho Buena Vista generating less than 10 points of offense per game. Most of last year’s key contributors return, providing continuity for a team that hasn’t won more than two league games in six years.
Senior running back and linebacker Caleb O’ray is everywhere on the field, and tackle Ruben Pulido provides a lot of bulk at 350 pounds.
Mission Hills (Avocado League)
Last Year: 9-4; 3-2 league play
Coach: Chris Hauser
Key Returning Player: Troy Huhn, Jr, quarterback
Key Departing Player: Jayden Williams, wide receiver
Season Opener: 8/23 – Granite Hills
Outlook 2024: A deep run in the 2023 playoffs ended in the Division I San Diego Section Championship game against St. Augustine.
Losing playmaker Jayden Williams hurts, but the Grizzlies are built to win in 2024.
Troy Huhn has the look of a lab-grown quarterback, and he gets a lot of help with Giovanni Harte lining up behind him in the backfield. Last season, Harte broke the 1,000-yard mark and found the endzone 13 times on the ground.
Senior tackle Liam Kline anchors the unit responsible for protecting Huhn and Harte.
Torrey Pines (Avocado League)
Last Year: 7-4; 4-1 league play
Coach: Scott Ashby
Key Returning Player: Ryder Young, Sr, running back
Key Departing Player: Kade Wilkin, defensive line
Season Opener: 8/23 – Freedom
Outlook 2024: It doesn’t hurt as much as Carlsbad losing Julian Sayin, but the graduation of defensive lineman Kade Wilkin is an inconceivable void to fill for Torrey Pines.
Wilkin made opposing quarterbacks miserable to the tune of 13 sacks and five forced fumbles. He also added 4 blocked punts.
Ryder Young is a workman in the backfield, coming off of a two-touchdown, 40 carry season.
Cathedral Catholic (Western League)
Last Year: 4-8; 2-2 league play
Coach: Scott Ashby
Key Returning Player: Cade Smith, Jr, linebacker
Key Departing Player: Ethan Ford, running back
Season Opener: 8/23 – Mater Dei Catholic
Outlook 2024: The Dons come into this season 14 touchdown passes, 15 rushing touchdowns and 10 receiving touchdowns lighter, with Ethan Ford, Charlie Abts, Jack Stevens, Matthew Hammond and Ty Jude Cortes graduated.
Junior wide receiver and Stanford baseball commit Hunter Harrington, a rangy six-foot-two, looks like a breakout player in the making.
Escondido (Valley League)
Last Year: 3-9; 1-5 league play
Coach: Stephen Dixon
Key Returning Player: Josh Gonzalez, Jr, wide receiver
Key Departing Player: Kevin Kelly, defensive back
Season Opener: 8/23 – at Orange Glen
Outlook 2024: With a freshman under center, the Cougars 2023 season was one of growing pains. Caden Thompson threw for 19 touchdowns but also had a propensity to complete passes to the other team – 14 interceptions. If he can cut the turnovers down, Escondido could be poised for a rebound season.
Wide receiver Josh Gonzales had a Randy Moss year as a sophomore, serving is the ultimate frosh safety blanket. He averaged over 100 yards receiving per game and scored 14 touchdowns.
Split out opposite Gonzales is sophomore Ezekial McIntyre, coming off a 52-catch season.
The Cougars like to throw the ball, limiting opportunities for running backs, but having lead rusher Friday Pollard back helps balance the offense.
