HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: California's all-time best?
An emailer named USCSTEVE sent a comprehensive list of California's best high school players in football, baseball and basketball. Forget the fact he's an 'SC fan, this took a lot of time to put together. Enjoy dissecting it during your summer down time before the prep football season in the fall. Next week I'll share his baseball and basketball teams. The Star-News' all-area baseball, softball and track and field teams come out this week.
Above: The Houston Oilers selected Arcadia High School's Bruce Matthews with the 9th pick in the 1983 NFL Draft, where he played for the organization for 19 years. Matthews, who was named first-team All-Pro nine times (1988-1993, 1998-2000) and All-AFC 12 seasons (1988-1993, 1995-2000), is the only local on the first team.
ALL-TIME CALIFORNIA PREP FOOTBALL TEAM
First Team
RB O.J. Simpson, San Francisco Galileo
RB Marcus Allen, San Diego Lincoln
QB Tom Brady, San Mateo Serra
WR Lynn Swann, San Mateo Serra
WR Keyshawn Johnson, Los Angeles Dorsey
TE Tony Gonzalez, Huntington Beach Edison?
C Randy Cross, Encino Crespi?
L Anthony Munoz, Ontario Chaffey
L Bruce Mathews, Arcadia
L Mike McKeever, Los Angeles Mt. Carmel
L John Vella, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame
K John Lee, Norwalk?
LB Tim Rossovich, Mountain View St. Francis
LB Jack Del Rio, Hayward
LB Junior Seau, Oceanside
LB Jerry Robinson, Santa Rosa Cardinal Newman
L Ron Mix, Hawthorne
L Aaron Taylor, Concord De La Salle
L Ron Yary, Bellflower (Cerritos JC)
L Fred Dryer, Lawndale
DB Ronnie Lott, Rialto Eisenhower
DB Tim McDonald, Fresno Edison
DB Jimmie Johnson, Kingsburg
COACH: Bill Walsh, San Jose?
For Honorable Mentions, click thread
HONORABLE MENTION
RB Ricky Williams, San Diego Patrick Henry
RB Jon Arnett, Los Angeles Manual Arts
RB Sam "Bam" Cunningham, Santa Barbara
RB Mike Garrett, Los Angeles Roosevelt
RB Charles White, San Fernando
RB Anthony Davis, San Fernando
RB Freeman McNeill, Baldwin Hills?
RB Ricky Bell, Los Angeles Fremont?
RB Morley Drury, Long Beach Poly
RB Napoleon Kaufman, Lompoc?
RB Cotton Warburton, San Diego
RB Rashaan Salaam, La Jolla Country Day
RB Reggie Bush, La Mesa Helix
RB Frank Gifford, Bakersfield
RB Russell White, Encino Crespi
RB Jackie Robinson, Pasadena Muir
RB Ernie Nevers, Santa Rosa?
RB Mort Kaer, Red Bluff
RB Glenn Davis, Bonita
RB Jackie Jensen, Oakland Tech
RB Garrett Arbelbride, Huntington Park
RB Erny Pinckert, San Bernardino
RB Vic Bottari, Vallejo
RB Sam Chapman, Tamalpais
RB Paul Cleary, Santa Ana
RB Jim Sears, Inglewood
RB Clarence Davis, Los Angeles Washington
QB Craig Fertig, Huntington Park
QB Orv Mohler, Alhambra
QB Ronnie Knox, Inglewood
QB Matt Leinart, Santa Ana Mater Dei
QB John Sciarra, La Puente Bishop Amat
QB John Huarte, San Diego Mater Dei
QB Pat Haden, La Puente Bishop Amat
QB Todd Marinovich, San Juan Capistrano Valley
QB Bob Waterfield, Van Nuys
QB Jimmy Clausen, Thousand Oaks Oaks Christian
QB John Brodie?
QB Mark Sanchez, Mission Viejo
QB Gary Beban, San Francisco?
QB Dan Fouts, San Francisco St. Ignatius
QB Joe Roth? (Grossmont JC)
QB John Elway, Granada Hills
QB Jim Plunkett, San Jose James Lick
QB Gino Torretta, Pinole Valley
QB Ken Dorsey, Orinda Miramonte
QB Alex Smith, La Mesa Helix
QB Carson Palmer, Santa Margarita
QB Craig Morton, San Jose?
QB Steve Bartkowski, San Jose?
QB Joe Kapp, Salinas?
QB Paul McDonald, La Puente Bishop Amat
QB Don Williams, Santa Ana
QB Gus Shaver, Covina
QB Grenny Lansdell, Pasadena
QB Jay Schroeder, Palidades
QB Tom Ramsey, Granada Hills Kennedy
QB Vince Ferragamo, Los Angeles Banning
WR J.K. McKay, La Puente Bishop Amat
WR Sam Dickerson, Stockton Edison
WR Amani Toomer, Concord De La Salle
WR Gene Washington, Los Angeles?
WR James Lofton, Los Angeles?
WR Hal Bedsole, Reseda
WR Erik Affholter, Agoura Oak Park
WR Curtis Conway, Hawthorne
WR Johnnie Morton, Torrance
TE Charles Young, Fresno Edison
TE Tim Wrightman, San Pedro?
TE Jim Obradovich, El Segundo
E Brick Muller, San Diego?
E Francis Tappaan, Los Angeles
C Stan Williamson, Pittsburgh
L Ralph Heywood, Huntington Park
L John Ferraro, Maywood Bell
L George Achica, San Jose Andrew Hill
L Tony Slaton, Merced
L Pete Adams, San Diego University
L Booker Brown, Santa Barbara
L Damon Bame, Glendale
L Bill Fisk, San Gabriel
L Elmer Wilhoite, Winton Merced
L Charles Weaver, Richmond
L Marv Montgomery, Granada Hills
L Marlin McKeever, Los Angeles Mt. Carmel
L Harry Smith, Ontario Chaffey
L Tay Brown, Compton
L Steve Riley, Chula Vista
L Don Mosebar, Visalia Mt. Whitney
L Nate Barager, San Fernando
L Johnny Baker, Kingsburg
L Aaron Rosenberg, Los Angeles Fairfax
L Mike Patterson, Los Alamitos
L Shawn Cody, Hacienda Heights Los Altos
L Tim Ryan, San Jose Oak Grove
L Mark Tucker, Los Angeles Banning
L Willie McGinest, Long Beach Poly
L Jesse Hibbs, Glendale Lake Forest Academy
L Ernie Smith, Gardena
L Larry Stevens, Piedmont
L Jacob Rogers, Oxnard
L Keneche Udeze, Los Angeles Verbum Dei
L Jimmy Gunn, San Diego Lincoln
L Al Cowlings, San Francisco Galileo
L Sid Smith, Long Beach Wilson
L Pat Howell, Fresno
L Dave Cadigan, Newport Beach Newport Harbor
L Bill Bain, Santa Fe Springs St. Paul
L Keith Van Horne, Fullerton
L Jeff Bregel, Granada Hills Kennedy
L Sam Baker, Tustin
LB Adrian Young, La Puente Bishop Amat
LB Scott Ross, El Toro
LB Charles Phillips, Pasadena Blair
LB Duane Bickett, Glendale
LB Chris Claiborne, Riverside J.W. North
LB Matt Grootegoed, Santa Ana Mater Dei
DB Mike Battle Lawndale
DB Dennis Smith, Santa Monica
DB Dennis Thurman, Santa Monica
DB Mark Carrier, Long Beach Poly
DB Nate Shaw, San Diego Lincoln
DB Artimus Parker, Sacramento
DB Darnell Bing, Lon Beach Poly
K Frank Jordan, San Francisco Riordan
P Tom Malone, Lake Elsinore Temsecal Canyon
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About this blog
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Melendez worked as a correspondent for the San Gabriel Valley Tribune for three years and later landed a job as a freelance writer at the Los Angeles Times before accepting an offer at The Orange County Register covering high schools. Melendez covered Major League Soccer at The Register for three years before being promoted to report on the Lakers, Angels and Dodgers for the Web. Melendez also worked for the Daytona Beach News-Journal, Fresno Bee, Oakland Tribune and The Boston Globe. E-mail opinions, suggestions and tips to miguel.melendez@sgvn.com. |
Scott Duncan San Rafael Highschool 1972 Check the stats... Great back..all everything...
Did you guys ever hear of Steve Ogden? He ran wild in 1959 1960 season for Reseda Regents. I'd know, I was the right tackle who took him in the lower back when I didn't get the hole opened. Don't think he went on to college though. Many didn't.
Tony Gonzales hails from the original Huntington Beach High School--the Oilers, since 1906--okay so I'm an alumnus.
Akil was legit,if you put Akil in the mix then you have to talk about Sultan from Muir then...
Isn't Akil Harris the West SGV all-time rushing leader? Another Monrovia great was Paul Hewitt.
Thanks Stang Fan. And I totally agree with you as one the greatest stories about Dena football.
Dawg:
You are quite right about Famous Amos, unfortunately, he'll go down as one of those guys that didn't have the mental intangibles it took to succeed at the next level. Athletically though, he was AMAZING!! But better than his actual talent are the numerous legends his former teammates tell about Famous Amos. Literally, some of the grteatest high school football stories you'll ever hear.
Terrell "Famous" Amos from Muir HS was the best player, runner, QB, Safety that ever came out of SGV.
Amos #1 MHS class of 1988.
I put anyone against him.
Stang Fan, can you back me up on this one?
DAWG
What about Mario Clark from PHS?? All american at Oregon then to the Buffalo Bills and All Pro.
Desmond Reed was an excellent player however he wasn't the best ever in the SGV history, not over Bruce Matthews, James McAlister, Chris McAlister, Lester Towns, Ricky Irvins, Brad Bedell and many others. I would put Reed up there with Chip Dunn and Chidi Iwuoma.
Desmond Reed is built like Chidi. Chidi played with Chris McAlister at Pasadena High. Chidi is headed into his 7th year in the NFL and plays for the Steelers.
Why isn't Desmond Reed on this list, he's the best player in SGV history.
A couple other players from Amat that should be mentioned are Kory Minor and Daylon McCutcheon.
Your probably thinking of Rodney Sermon who played at Bishop Amat around the same time as Phillips did.
I agree with the blogger about post high school success vs actual hs success. If you want to talk about high school then you must mention at running back Mickey Cuerton of Centennial High School. Look him up, an unbelievable player who use to own almost all the state rushing records. Also James McAllister of Blair HS. He is still the best HS running back I ever saw.
how about Shaun Cody of Los Altos?
No, he went to B. Park.
I thought Lawerence Phillips went to Bishop Amat.
The best running back I ever covered was Baldwin Park High's Lawrence Phillips. You think Peterson put a hurt on tacklers, this guy stomped on them.
Way back when, I coached againts him his senior year in high school and it was Buscher. I had heard it was no longer a high school. Bartkowski was the best HS quarterback I ever saw. He had an arm like you couldn't believe.
According to this website Bartkowski attended Santa Clara High School.
http://www.atlantafalcons.com/history/rohBartkowski.jsp
The school listed as Buscher is a middle school now on the SCUSD website, don't know about then.
Bartkowski went to Buchser HS in Santa Clara.
*Tim Wrightman - San Pedro Mary Star of the Sea(?)
*Gene Washington - LB Poly '64
*James Lofton - LA Washington '74
*Craig Morton - San Jose Campbell High School
*Joe Kapp - Newhall Wm. S. Hart(?)
*Steve Bartkowski - Santa Clara(?)
I echo what somebody else said. If you're using pro and college performance, this is a pretty good list.
If you're just going off high school performances than Mike Smith from Los Altos should probably be on the list too.
Isn't Terrel Davis from San Diego?
What about ANTHONY MILLER who went to Muir but didn't play football until PCC. Had some good years in the league with San Diego and the Cowboys?
Steve Smith & Chad Johnson played for Santa Monica Community College as team mates.
Jason David played for Charter Oak HS, WSU, then with Colts last season. Now he is with the Saints on a 4 yr contract.
Ricky Ervins played for MUIR, USC, and the WA Redskins.
Chad Brown played for Muir, Colorado U, and in the NFL.
I have to look up my archive section in my brain for additional players from SGV who have played for the NFL.
DAWG
Todd Steusie (OL) from Augora High then Cal then All-Pro with Vikes is honorable mention.
Napolan Kaufman went to Lompoc.
Steve Smith went to Lynwood.
SFHS92,
I am not hating on you. Just never heard of him. Don't even know why I asked you. All SF fans talk about is the glory days of the mid 60's. What happened to the 70's, 80's, 90's, and 00's...??
This list, as far as how they performed in high school is WAY OFF. Now if you want to talk about being prominent players after high school, then the list is good. 90 percent of the team, there is someone on honorable mention who was alot better. Brady, for example, was not even close to first team all-state as a senior in high school. O.K. list.
Fargas should definately be on the list of honorable mention at the time of his graduation, I am not certain, he either had the third highest career or single season rushing total in state history.
Tony Gonzalez went to Huntington Beach High School. I reffed a few of his high school basketball games and he was one of the better high school players that Ive seen in 20 years of officiating big time high school basketball in SoCal.
Bill Fisk, the old Mt. SAC coach is on this list. Was he that good in high school?
Kaufman is from Lompoc. Syeve Smith went to JC in California but I am not sure where he went to High School. Polamalu was recruited to USC from an Oregon HS, so he wouldn't be on the list.
I think Napolean Kaufaman went to Los Alamitos.
Justin Fargas from Notre Dame Sherman Oaks might be up there for honorable mention.
This list is definitely missing some players from De La Salle...
a few other players i think deserve recognition both steve smiths and troy polamalu
hsfbfsn,
Dont hate. just because you havent heard of a player doesnt mean he isnt good. I believe that Alan Grant graduated in '86 maybe '85. He must have been ok if he played in the NFL. As far as Chris McCallister I think he was the starting running back for SF the last time they played Loyola. I do know that he played at SF for his sophomore year before transferring to phs.
How about Pro Bowl CB, Ravens, Chris McAlister from Pasadena High School? I know DAWG will back me up this one.
Lorenzo Booker, Tyler Ebell, Dominque Dorsey, Steve Wofford, DeShaun Foster, Toby Gebhart, Kyle Boller, David Koral, Dave Doston.
Just to name a few..
Sorry, SF92, no one knows who Alan Grant was... What year did he graduate SF?
Alan Grant from St Francis who went to stanford and played in the league with the colts should be on the honorable mention list.
This is a great list. The amazing thing is that on the honorable mention list at QB you have 6 Heisman Trophy winners.
Leinart
Huarte
Beban
Plunkett
Torretta
Palmer
Not bad.
I would take Elway over Brady at QB, but then we're splitting hairs.
First team line should be Larry Allen (Compton). He helped anchor the great Cowboy teams and holds the NFL bench press record. Also, I once heard that John Matuszak played at Mater Dei, but I can't verify that.
I liked Marcus Robertson from Muir and the Oilers. What about Clay Matthews, Bruce's bro, he played 17 years in the NFL as a LB.