Prep Rally: Here are the defensive linemen you need to watch this fall

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. My name is Eric Sondheimer. Continuing the summer focus on reviewing football players to watch, let’s examine defensive linemen.

The QB chasers

Defensive end Hayden Lowe of Oaks Christian.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

Winning the battle in the trenches usually leads to victory, so keep track of the defensive linemen trying to become disruptors this fall.

Richard Wesley of Sierra Canyon had nine sacks as a freshman and has worked on improving his strength and speed. Hayden Lowe of Oaks Christian, a USC commit, is a standout defensive end and part of an outstanding defensive line.

Khary Wilder of Gardena Serra had 14 sacks as a sophomore. He continues to blossom into the Cavaliers’ next top defensive prospect.

Anthony Jones of Crean Lutheran started to show off his pass-rushing skills last season as a sophomore and has grown to 6 feet 5, 245 pounds. Dutch Horisk of St. John Bosco is a junior who keeps getting stronger and more difficult to block. Teammate Epi Sitanilei is a UCLA commit with lots of athletic ability.

Chinedu Onyeagoro of King/Drew is an Southern Methodist commit with 40 sacks the last two seasons. Mays Pese of Bishop Diego is 275 pounds and committed to Arizona.

Jaden Williams of Mission Viejo had 18 sacks last season in helping the Diablos win the Division 2 championship. Junior Elvin Afa has left Cathedral for Carson, where he should be one of the best in the City Section.

James Moffat of Crespi is a 6-4, 240-pound junior ready for a breakout season.

Jireh Moe of Orange Lutheran is 290 pounds and returning all-Trinity League performer.

Jonathan McKinley of Corona is a junior with a 4.6 grade-point average and improving fast. Other players to watch include Blake Bryce of Newbury Park and Mikhal Johnson of Sierra Canyon.

Football

Huntington Beach hosted the final big seven-on-seven passing tournament of the summer. Charter Oak won the championship, beating the host Oilers in the final. Charter Oak also won the consolation title at Edison.

Burroughs won a gathering of mostly City Section schools at Verdugo Hills, defeating Taft in the tournament final.

Official practice begins on July 29 for all City Section teams and for Southern Section teams that have week zero games. The first week of the season is Aug. 22-23-24.

Former Crespi, St. Francis, Oaks Christian football coach Bill Redell at age 83.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

Bill Redell, the former head coach at Crespi, St. Francis and Oaks Christian, has been selected to be honored by the Southern Section for distinguished service in October and to be inducted into the San Marino Hall of Fame in September. The 83-year-old has been selected for at least 11 Halls of Fame, including the College Football Hall of Fame.

Ventura won the Simi Valley tournament for girls seven-on-seven teams, going unbeaten and beating Agoura in the final.

Eagle Rock won the Rams’ flag football competition.

Record transfers

High school sports transfers reached a record level in California for the 2023-24 school year, with 17,068 students switching schools, according to final statistics obtained from the California Interscholastic Federation, the state’s governing body.

Transfer numbers for high school sports in California for 2023-24.

(CIF)

The number far exceeds the previous record of 16,839 established in the 2017-18 school year. Leading the way among the 10 sections was the Southern Section, which had 6,928 transfers, a rise of 545 over last year (8.56%).

The 10 commissioners keep repeating the line they’ve used for years — that only 2% of all participants transfer — but that hardly explains the impact and issues involved with a record of more than 17,000 transfers when it’s supposed to be education-based high school sports and not AAU sports.

Here’s the report and reaction.

And here’s the latest on high school football transfers for the coming season.

Baseball

In 2018 at Beckman High, the McLain brothers, from left, Sean, Nick and Matt. All three will be playing in pro ball after Nick was drafted in third round on Monday.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

Baseball’s amateur draft came to a close, and what a week it was for the McLain family. Three brothers from Beckman High will be in professional baseball after the youngest, Nick, was selected in the third round. Here’s the report.

On Day 3 of the draft, a fourth former JSerra player was selected. Three players from Harvard-Westlake and Notre Dame also were picked. Here’s the report.

Former Thousand Oaks shortstop Jacob Wilson was called up by the Oakland Athletics and recorded his first hit in the majors on his second pitch Friday. He’s the son of former Thousand Oaks coach and major leaguer Jack Wilson.

Notes ...

Josiah Hartshorn from Orange Lutheran shared the home run title at the 2024 All-Star High School Home Run Derby. ...

Junior pitcher Gabe Fraser from Orange Lutheran has committed to Arkansas. ...

Quarterback and track standout Seth Shigg of Lawndale has committed to Army. He played quarterback and ran track for Chaminade last season. ...

Rusty Van Cleave is the new boys’ basketball coach at Beckman. ...

Daniel Oveal is the new football coach at Dominguez. ...

Defensive back Dylan Robinson of Bonita has committed to Washington. ...

Ron Nocetti, executive director of the CIF, has been voted to be the president elect of the National Federation of State High School Associations, the governing organization for high school sports in the United States. He will take over as president in 2025-26. ...

Norco-based Legends FC won a girls’ soccer national championship for U16 at the ECNL Regional League finals in Richmond, Va. Among the players was Amara Mercado from Monrovia. Her father, Kevin, won a national championship in the same city when he was in high school in 1992. ...

Bryson Wallet is the new baseball coach at Buena. He’s a Buena graduate. ...

Matt Bechtel has resigned as football coach at Damien. The school announced he stepped down for health reasons. It comes after a Damien player started a fight last month at the Mission Viejo passing tournament. Assistant James Stewart will be the interim coach. ...

Girls’ volleyball standout Maya Stillwell of Harvard-Westlake has committed to Northwestern. Her father is former Sherman Oaks Notre Dame and UCLA volleyball player Tom Stillwell. ...

Junior Andrey Flanagan from Mira Costa led the USA U19 national girls’ volleyball team to gold medal at NORCECA Continental championship in Honduras. She had 14 kills in final against Canada. Junior Manaia Ogbechie of Oaks Christian was selected tournament MVP. ...

Softball coach Michael Quiroz of Glendora has resigned. . . .

Sierra Canyon’s Jerzy Robinson led the USA women’s basketball U17 team to a gold medal and was named MVP and recorded a tournament record 146 points at the FIBA U17 World Cup.

From the archives: Russell White

Crespi running back Russell White holding the Glenn Davis trophy.

(Los Angeles Times)

It has been 38 years since Russell White led Crespi to its first and only Division 1 (then called Big-Five) football championship in 1986 by routing St. John Bosco in the final. He was a sophomore and the best running back in the state.

Now White has a son, Zachary, playing basketball at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame and is the football coach at Flintridge Prep, which plays eight-man.

Here’s a story from 1986 about the impact White made.

Here’s a story from the 1986 championship game.

Recommendations

From the Washington Post, a story on the potential next high school girls’ basketball star living in West Texas.

From the Los Angeles Times, a story on the rise of pitcher Paul Skenes from his El Toro High days.

From Olympics.com, a story on the water polo Dodd brothers.

From the Los Angeles Times, a look at El Segundo’s championship Little League team a year after winning.

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