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High School Notesby: Jamie DeMoney© More from this issue De La Salle snars No. 1 with 113th straight win The winning continues at De La Salle High School in Concord, Calif. The Spartans, coached by Bob Ladouceur, finished the season with their ninth consecutive North Coast Section Class 4A title and 14th overall, posting a perfect 13-0 record. De La Salle has now won a national-record 113 straight games dating back to the 1992 season which explains why they were crowned national champions by the National Prep Poll for the third time. The Spartans also finished No. 1 in the FOX Sports Fab 50 and USA Today national rankings. Senior linebacker/running back Kevin Simon spearheaded the Spartans' attack this season en route to earning USA Today All-American honors for his team-high 113 tackles, four forced fumbles and two interceptions to go with 1,345 all-purpose yards rushing and 14 touchdowns. Junior quarterback Matt Gutierrez figures to be a top national recruit next year after completing 82 of 152 passes for 1,694 yards and 23 touchdowns and only four interceptions. He also rushed for nine scores. The Spartans are 249-14-2 in 22 years under Ladouceur. AFM's 2000 Top Performers Offensive Performer of the Year If you believe numbers don't lie, then you would have a hard time arguing against Ebell as our pick for national offensive player of the year. All the 5-9, 170-pound running back from Ventura High School did was smash the single-season national record for rushing yards (4,484) and the California record for most touchdowns (64). The old record-holders were current Tennessee running back Travis Henry (Frostproof, Fla.) and DeShaun Foster (Tustin, Calif.), currently at UCLA. Pretty good company for Mr. Ebell, who has verbally committed to join Foster at UCLA next season. Defensive Performer of the Year Cody has put together back-to-back dominant seasons from the defensive end position. After recording a phenomenal 51 tackles for loss and 33 sacks as a junior, opponents apparently decided to double-team him this year. The result: The 6-foot-5, 255-pound Cody's numbers went down to a more reasonable 22 sacks and 105 total tackles. He also had over 1,100 combined rushing and receiving yards and 10 touchdowns as a fullback on offense. Cody cemented his position as the top recruit at the defensive end position over the summer when he ran a legit 4.85 in the 40, a 4.6 in the 20-yard shuttle, and did 30 reps on the bench. Notre Dame, Miami (Fla.) and UCLA were among his college choices at press time. Multi-purpose Performer of the Year The 6-3, 195-pound Ware makes it a California sweep of player-of-the-year honors after passing for 1,150 yards, rushing for another 1,250 and accounting for a combined 27 touchdowns. On defense, where he'll likely play in college, Ware had four interceptions. Loyola finished runner-up to Long Beach Poly in CIF Southern Section Division I, losing 16-13 in OT in the championship game. Ware will take his 4.43 40-yard speed across town to play at UCLA next season. West beats East in inaugural national all-star game About 60 of the nation's top seniors got together for the inaugural National High School All-Star Game in Dallas on Dec. 30. In a game played in near-record cold before a national cable television audience and a crowd of about 1,200 fans, the West came away with an 18-15 win. The East team opened up a 15-12 halftime lead after quarterback Brett Basanez, a Northwestern recruit from St. Viator (Arlington Heights, Ill.), hit tight end Trai Essex (Paul Harding, Fort Wayne, Ind.) on a 20-yard scoring pass. Game MVP Dominic Robinson (Diamond Bar, Calif.) intercepted a Basanez pass following a botched snapped on the conversion attempt and returned it 90 yards for two points. Clarendon (Ark.) running back Cedric Houston then gave the West its final margin of victory with a 1-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter. The West defense held the East to just 85 yards of total offense in the second half to help preserve the win. West quarterback Brent Rawls of Evangel Christian (Shreveport, La.) earned offensive player-of-the-game honors. Rawls, who will play next year at Oklahoma, completed 7-of-13 passes for 138 yards and one touchdown. East linebacker Leon Williams, of Canarsie (Brooklyn, N.Y) recorded a game-high 12 touchdowns and was named defensive player of the game. The rough weather combined with only a couple of days of practice led to ragged play throughout the game, including four West turnovers and seven fumbles (losing three). Jamie DeMoney, a former editor at American Football Monthly, writes for HighwiredSports.com. AFM Final Top 15 Power Rankings 1. De La Salle (Concord, Calif.) 2. Jenks (Okla.) 3. Cathedral Prep (Erie, Pa.) 4. West Monroe (La.) 5. Poly (Long Beach, Calif.) 6. Katy (Texas) 7. Upper Arlington (Columbus, Ohio) 8. Joliet Catholic (Ill.) 9. Midland Lee (Texas) 10. Moss Point (Miss.) 11. Venice (Fla.) 12. Hackensack (N.J.) 13. Southeast (Lincoln, Neb.) 14. Eden Prairie (Minn.) 15. Rockhurst (Kansas City, Mo.)
Rest of Top 30: 16. Central Bucks West (Doylestown, Pa.), Mike Carey; 17. Parkview (Lilburn, Ga.), Cecil Flowe; 18. Solon (Ohio), Byron Morgan; 19. Harrison (Farmington Hills, Mich.), John Herrington; 20. Olathe North (Kan.), Gene Weir; 21. Mount Carmel (Chicago), Frank Lenti; 22. Westlake (Austin, Texas), Ron Schroeder; 23. Buchanan (Clovis, Calif.), Mike Vogt; 24. Strath Haven (Wallingford, Pa.), Kevin Clancy; 25. Heritage (Newport News, Va.), John Quillen; 26. Independence (Charlotte, N.C.), Tom Knotts; 27. Red Bank (Chattanooga, Tenn.), Tom Weathers; 28. Palm Bay (Melbourne, Fla.), Dan Burke; 29. Jesuit (Portland, Ore.), Ken Potter; 30. Loyola (Los Angeles), Steve Grady. |
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