San Diego prep football is back. After a promising offseason and couple of scrimmages, full of competition and good looks, the defending CIF champion Mavericks are ready to rock and roll.

With one of the nation's highly touted receivers, and a host of offensive players returning from a squad that went 11-2 last the, the Mavericks enter the 2009 campaign looking to defend their title and win the second CIF championship in team history. All signs point to yes.

Its time for the RawHide Nation San Diego section preseason top 10 poll:

10. Mission Hills - (8-4-1 in 2008)






9. Vista - (7-5 in 2008)




8. Helix (10-2-1 in 2008)





7. St. Augustine (7-4 in 2008)






6. Eastlake (9-3 in 2008)





5. Valhalla (11-2 in 2008)





4. Cathedral Catholic (14-0 in 2008) - The Dons are coming off a California Bowl Championship season, but lose one of San Diego's best ever runningbacks, Tyler Gaffney. Gaffney was the heart and soul of their team. The 2009 squad returns with hot college prospect Alex Crosthwaite, a top offensive lineman in San Diego county, ranked #34 in the nation for Guard prospects.


THE TOP 3

3. Escondido (10-3 in 2008)- Escondido returns after losing to La Costa Canyon in the Division I championship game last year. Top San Diego runningback prospect, Ricky Seale, who broke the San Diego single season rushing record last year with 2679 yards, will lead an athletic backfield. If Seale wasn't enough, Escondido also returns productive runningback Time Zier. Coach Paul Gomes has taken Escondido football to a new level. Escondido plays La Costa Canyon on October 30th. This could be a decisive game for one playoff seeding.


2. Oceanside (12-0-1 in 2008) - Coach John Carroll and the Pirates reload once again, and have not lost in over 23 games. The 2008 squad won the CIF division II title. Senior Quentis Clark steps in for Jordan Wynn, one of San Diego's top quarterback prospects a year ago. Senior Offensive Tackle Thomas Molesi will lead a talented offensive line. Oceanside will host long-time Southern California powerhouse Long Beach Poly on September 25th.Oceanside will field an athletic team capable of another run at the Division II championship game.






1. La Costa Canyon (11-2 2oo8) - The Mavericks take the field with one of the nation's top wide receiver prospects, Kenny Stills, who has scholarship offers from the past 6 NCAA national championship teams. The running game will be led by by Seniors Westin Manor, Seth Hanson, and Junior runningback Erik Nelson amke up a super-talented groups of runningbacks, capable of big plays and downhill running. 6'4" Senior Arron Woffer and 6'1" Senior Corey lamb will lead the "big uglies" on the offensive line. Although the Mavkericks lost SDSU-bound Jacob Driver, key players return on the defense including the nephew of Charger legend, Junior Ian Seau, 6'2" 230-pound Ian Seau. Senior linebacker Dylan Laurino, who punished opponents in 2008, will lead the linebacker corps. Senior Robert Zalud may be San Diego's best kicking prospect. The Mavericks are primed and ready for a repeat at the "Q." The Mavericks are ranked #7 in division I in the state of California by Max Preps, La Costa Canyon's highest pre-season state ranking ever. Darrin Brown has built a juggernaut of a program.

Jacob Driver was the most lauded defensive high school football player in the San Diego Section last season. The leader of La Costa Canyon's “Gang Green” defense was a two-time all-section performer and the 2008 Union-Tribune Defensive Player of the Year.

Now the oft vocal linebacker, who totaled 111 tackles last season, finds himself competing in the Aztecs' deepest position – and under a gag order. Coach Brady Hoke isn't letting freshmen speak to the media during camp, but Hoke said he has been impressed with what the former Maverick has done during his short time as an Aztec.

“He had a really good summer,” Hoke said following yesterday's practice. “He was here with our guys and he jumped in with both feet and our players really respect him. He came in with a good work ethic and toughness and all the things that go along with it. He's learning a position and that's taking some time. But I think he's doing a good job. He's a tough guy and the defense really fits him well.”

The Aztecs are stacked at linebacker and new defensive coordinator Rocky Long has said linebacker is the defense's strongest position. Seven linebackers return with game experience – highlighted by Luke Laolagi, who has started every game the past two years. Hoke said Driver, who had 29 tackles for a loss last year, is doing his best to find a spot in the linebacker logjam.

“I think he would love to be out there starting,” Hoke said. “We wouldn't have recruited him if he didn't have that passion to play. But I think he's also learning from some guys and they have done a great job of bringing him into the fold as a linebacker.”

Hoke said it's too early to tell whether Driver will redshirt his freshman season.

Scrimmage looming Hoke called this a “big week” in the Aztecs' progress as they prepare for Saturday's intra-squad scrimmage at 5:30 p.m. at Qualcomm Stadium. The players were given a minor reprieve as Hoke ended practice an hour earlier than usual.

“I think on Saturday we'd like to go out there and have a scrimmage where guys are playing fast and really settled in to the fundamental habits and technique,” said Hoke, who coaches the defensive line. “I'd like to see assignment reaction to whatever side of the ball they are on and they are playing fast, aggressive and with great effort.”

Stars of the day Hoke said he was impressed yesterday with the play of freshman running back Ronnie Hillman of La Habra High. The 5-foot-10, 175-pound Hillman rushed for 1,251 yards and 14 touchdowns last season.

“He broke some nice runs (yesterday),” Hoke said. “He's got some speed. He runs pretty hard for a guy who's not that big. He's a little slight. He's got decent height, but he's running harder than I thought he may run.”

Hoke said he also was pleased with workouts from quarterbacks Ryan Lindley and Drew Westling.

-Article by Kevin Gemmell of SD Union Tribue

Just like any other 11 or 12 year male starstruck by professional athletes, I'm sure La Costa Canyon and Boise State alumnus Vinny Perretta watched in amazement when NFL MVP quarterback Brett Favre led the Green Bay Packers to a decisive Superbowl Victory over the New England Patriots in the 1997 Superbowl.

Little did young Perretta know one day he'd spend summer running routs for one of the greatest players in NFL history.

Perretta, who graduated from La Costa Canyon in 2004 and went on to a colorful career at Boise State, was picked up as a rookie free agent by the Minnesota Vikings, after April's NFL draft.

Perretta is competing in camp to be one of the lucky players to make the 53-man Vikings roster. With many talented players competing for a limited amount of spots, Perretta is fighting an uphill battle, but has a shot to make it.

Brett Favre, an NFL legend who, for the second time, came out of retirement on Tuesday to play with the Minnesota Vikings, had a chance to throw routes to young Perretta in Friday's practice. While I couldn't find any clips online of the practice, I was able to find a good clip of Vinny doing a (Got-to) GO-route.

Fargo, N.D. (AP)--North Dakota State is unveiling a new look at quarterback this season. It's called a backup plan.

The Bison gambled last year on junior Nick Mertens, who spent the previous three years wearing a baseball cap on the sidelines while watching the school's all-time leading passer.

The only other options were a junior college transfer who made more news off the field than on it and a true freshman.

When Mertens struggled at times, there was nowhere to turn.

"We are going to have more depth," NDSU head coach Craig Bohl said Thursday during media day. "It's great to see more than one player out there with (quarterbacks coach) Brent Vigen."

Bohl said there will be at least three players competing for the starting job: Mertens, of East Grand Forks, Minn., and two California products, junior college transfer Dante Perez of San Jose and redshirt freshman Jose Mohler of Cardiff.

A year ago, Mertens completed 152 of 260 passes for 2,004 yards and 16 touchdowns but had 15 interceptions. The Bison finished 6-5 overall and 4-4 in their first year of Missouri Valley Football Conference play.

Bohl said the competition should make Mertens better this season.

"Would you say Nick would have an edge simply because he's a fifth-year guy and been in the system all those years? Yeah, I think common sense would tell you that," he said. "That position is really going to be evaluated."

Bohl said he expects to name a starter at least a week before the Sept. 3 season opener at Iowa State.

He said Mertens was "handcuffed" last year because the coaches expected him to master the same plays as predecessor Steve Walker, who threw for a record 7,033 career yards. Mertens had added pressure to stay healthy, the coach said.

"He's going to be hit more than he has before," Bohl said.

The 6-foot-1, 222-pound Mertens said there were times he forced passes rather than expose himself to tacklers.

"If I have to use my legs a little bit I might do that, where last year it was a lot of 'don't get hurt,"' he said.

The 5-foot-8½, 192-pound Perez and the 5-foot-11, 177-pound Mohler are known for their mobility, throwing on the run.

"My style is making plays," said Perez, who passed for more than 4,300 yards and 48 touchdowns in two seasons at Foothill Junior College in California. "It really doesn't matter how tall, how short, how big or how small you are. I just have to use my feet more."

Bison coaches debated last year about taking the redshirt off Mohler, who passed for more than 2,800 yards and rushed for more than 1,200 in two years at La Costa Canyon High School. Bohl said Mohler has a good understanding of the offense, although a suspension kept him out of spring practice. He will remain suspended for the first 2 games of the season.

"I would love to have the chance to play in those first two games," Mohler said. "I messed up so I've got to pay my dues. I'm going to just work hard, study hard and try to win that second spot."

The strength of the offense is expected to be on the offensive line, which returns six experienced players, including three starters and preseason all-America pick Keith Buckman. The weakness is expected to at receiver, with no returning starters.

Mertens said he would rather have strength up front and has already noticed more protection.

"If you look back at some of the picks I had last year, I was on my back for most of them," he said, referring to his interceptions.

Article from Bison Football website

With 15 verbals, Penn State's Class of 2010 is a top ten class nationally, with two 5-stars and ten 4-stars, if you take the better of the two ratings by Rivals.com or Scout.com for each recruit.

Scout has Penn State’s class ranked seventh nationally, while Rivals has it at No. 8. Both services rate Penn State’s class as the best in the Big Ten.

And it could get better.

Four-star outside linebacker Khairi Fortt is friends with 4-star Penn State running back verbal Silas Redd, as both are from Stamford, Conn. The hope is that Redd can deliver Fortt, and it appears Penn State is a finalist for Fortt.

A potential mitigating factor is that Penn State is on the short list for 5-star RB Marcus Lattimore of South Carolina, considered by Scout as the top running back prospect in the nation and No. 2 recruit overall. Rivals has Lattimore as its No. 2 RB, also with 5 stars.

Lattimore, who is visiting Happy Valley this week, has Penn State, North Carolina and Oregon on his final five list. He will add two more schools to that list from these contenders: South Carolina, Clemson, Auburn, Alabama, Florida State, Michigan and Maryland.

If Lattimore picks Penn State, will Redd back off? Redd has said he wants to play RB in college, and Penn State initially indicated it might have plans to move him to the defensive backfield. (The Lions might soon have a pressing need at cornerback.) Indeed, Redd almost didn't pick Penn State because of the possibility he might be moved to corner,

Then again, maybe I'm paranoid, because Redd also has said that he has wanted to play at Penn State since he was 7, and that receiving a scholarship from the Nittany Lions was a dream come true.

Another potential big-time recruit is 5-star defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd of Philadelphia, who is 6-3, 310 and is the top-ranked DT by Rivals. Lots of big-name schools are after Floyd, and over the years Philly football stars have shown that they pick schools from all over the nation and are not automatic locks for JoePa.

But it's looking good, as it were.

Meanwhile, Penn State is leaving a scholarship open for Kenny Stills, a 4-star wideout from Carlsbad, Calif., who is expected to make an official visit to Happy Valley. Stills, of course, also has lots of West Coast schools on his list -- not to mention heavyweights Florida, Oklahoma and LSU.

So, the potential is there for a top-five Class of 2010 for Penn State.

One glaring omission, though, is at cornerback. The Lions landed four of them in the Class of 2009 but, as we noted earlier this week, 4-star corner prospect Darrell Givens did not qualify academically and will play elsewhere.

What remains from that class: 4-star Derrick Thomas, 3-star Stephon Morris and 2-star Mike Wallace. (By the way, all three of them, along with Givens, are from Maryland and were recruited by Larry Johnson Sr.)

Those three, along with true sophomore D’ Anton Lynn, appear to be all there is at corner for Penn State, beginning in 2010 and definitely for 2011.

That is unsettling, particularly because the Lions have not targeted anyone special at corner in the Class of 2010.

Either they make a late push for a 4-star now, and/or they target cornerback in the Class of 2011 -- maybe a 5-star who can play as a true frosh.

-Article from Nittany Lines