Prep Rally: There will be a ton of talent at wide receiver this high school football season

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. My name is Eric Sondheimer. Let’s take a sneak peek at receivers and tight ends to watch this fall.

Receiving position is loaded

If a college team was able to sign the receivers from Mater Dei and St. John Bosco, there would certainly be some future pros in that group. Those two schools have great depth this season with quality receiver after quality receiver.

Ohio State commit Chris Henry Jr. is supposed to be back from injury for Mater Dei. He’ll be joined by another Ohio State commit Kayden Dixon-Wyatt. Gavin Honore is a Georgia commit. Add tight end Mark Bowman, a USC commit, and you have a special group.

St. John Bosco has Texas A&M commit Madden Williams, Oklahoma commit Daniel Odom, San Jose State commit Carson Clark and super sophomore DJ Tubbs, among others.

Junior Quentin Gates and senior Jalen Ross are top targets for quarterback Jaden Jefferson at Cathedral. Mission Viejo has Miami commit Vance Spafford joined by Santa Margarita transfer Jack Junker. Santa Margarita has the Mosley brothers, Trent, a USC commit, and sophomore Grant. Orange Lutheran returns Chris Flores Jr., who caught 60 passes last season, and promising junior Nico Bland. Also available is Loyola transfer Markus Kier, a Princeton commit.

USC commit Luc Weaver of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame has improved his strength and speed and is set for a big senior season. Sierra Canyon has USC commit Ja’Myron Baker.

Troy Foster of Huntington Beach is coming off a junior season in which he caught 65 passes, 15 for touchdowns. James Leicester of Dana Hills had 13 TD catches. Damani Porras of Downey will be a key weapon for quarterback Oscar Rios after catching 15 TDs as a sophomore. Alijah Royster of Oxnard Pacifica made a huge impact as a sophomore with 13 touchdowns. Jordan Slye of Salesian is a talented two-way player entering his sophomore season. Long Beach Poly returns Kamarie Smith.

Jaylen Stokes from St. Pius-St. Matthias had 16 TD catches. Jack Cunningham returns as Ventura’s go-to receiver. Blake Wong has 40 receptions as a sophomore for Norco.

In the City Section, Paul Turner, a transfer from Palmdale, joins Birmingham and could provide a lift for the Patriots after 15 TD receptions last season. Palisades has picked up one of the fastest athletes in the state in Bishop Alemany transfer Demare Dezeurn.

It’s also a terrific year for tight ends with Mater Dei’s Bowman and Servite’s Luke Sorensen, a Nebraska commit, leading the way.

There’s also 6-5, 230-pound Keawe Browne of Corona Centennial and 6-3, 235-pound Jaden Hernandez of Long Beach Poly. Andre Nickerson of Inglewood and Beckham Hofland of Los Alamitos are committed to Southern Methodist and Boise State, respectively.

Bishop Montgomery’s Caleb Tafua is a Texas A&M commit. Freshman Austin Miller of Bellflower is 6-4 and an impact first-year player.

Mira Costa special teams

When it comes to special teams, Mira Costa is feeling it has a trio to turn to. Kicker Nico Talbott, punter/holder Jackson Shevin and long snapper Jackson Reach offer experience and talent for coach Don Morrow, who’s going into his 37th season as a varsity head coach, 33 years at Mira Costa.

Here’s the report.

Raul Lara visits LB Poly

Mater Dei football coach Raul Lara had his team participate in the Long Beach Poly passing tournament Saturday. He was asked if he remembered how to get to Poly. “No,” he joked.

It was a homecoming for Lara, who graduated from Poly and was football coach for 13 years, winning five Division 1 titles.

Here’s the report.

Notes . . .

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame had two former players taken in the MLB draft, making it 29 players since 1993 chosen during the Tom Dill coaching era. The Knights have had more players selected before that, including Cy Young Award winner Jack McDowell and Tim Foli, who was the No. 1 pick in 1968. . . .

Corona ended up with four players taken in the draft after Ethin Bingaman was taken in the 20th round by the Diamondbacks. . . .

Mira Costa senior pitcher Garrett Jacobs has committed to UCLA. . . .

USA Baseball announced the 88 players invited to its 18U national team training camp. Here’s the list.

Ontario Christian girls basketball standouts Kaleena Smith and Tatiana Griffin will compete in August in the Overtime Select women’s basketball league. Both will be captains. . . .

Former Villa Park principal Dr. Kenneth Miller is the new executive director of athletics at Mater Dei. Here’s a release from the school. . . .

The Southern Section announced its final transfer totals for the 2024-25 school year, and there were a record 7,099 transfers. That provides a strong indication that when the final state transfer total is released, it will exceed 17,000 for the second straight year. The CIF continues to debate whether there needs to be changes to its transfer rules, such as a one-time free transfer. But a proposal is months, if not years, away from from being introduced. . . . .

Orange Lutheran’s baseball team has added two big-time LSU commits as transfer students in 6-foot-5 pitcher Cooper Sides from Red Buff and infielder CJ Weinstein from Huntington Beach. . . .

CIF Executive Director Ron Nocetti is set to become president this school year of the National Federation of State High School Assns. . . . .

The AAU Beach Volleyball Player of the Year is Mira Costa sophomore Christian Chow. His sister, London, won the same award in 2012. . . .

Kenneth Bell is the new boys basketball coach at Arleta. . . .

Mike Minjares is returning for a second stint as baseball coach at St. Bonaventure. . . .

Windward girls basketball coach Rachel Schrote has resigned to pursue other coaching opportunities, according to athletic director Tyrone Powell. She will be replaced by assistant Dante Dixon on an interim basis for the upcoming system. It’s a difficult coaching position dealing with parents and expectations. . . .

SoFi Stadium will be the site for several high school football games the week of Aug. 21-22. South Hills has confirmed it will face El Rancho on Aug. 22. Mayfair and Yorba Linda are also expected to play in one of the scheduled games. . . .

From the archives: Cody Schrier

Former JSerra and UCLA Cody Schrier is performing well in the minor leagues for the Miami Marlins.

The 13th round draft pick in 2024 is batting .270 this season having played for two teams and has 22 stolen bases.

Here’s a story from 2019 about the Schrier brothers facing off in high school.

Recommendations

From the Washington Post, a story on a travel basketball team that’s a social media sensation.

From UWHuskieswire, a story on former Gardena Serra and UCLA tight end Caleb Wilson.

From MLB.com, a story on former Corona High standout Brady Ebel taking batting practice at Dodger Stadium as a member of the Milwaukee Brewers organization.

Tweets you might have missed

Until next time…

Have a question, comment or something you’d like to see in a future Prep Rally newsletter? Email me at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com, and follow me on Twitter at @latsondheimer.

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