By Joe Snyder
Last season, Gardena High head coach Monty Gilbreath built his team from the bottom to the top of the Marine League and a spot in the prestigious CIF-Los Angeles City Section Open Division where it advanced to the semifinals before falling to runner-up (behind powerful Lake Balboa Birmingham) Garfield in East L.A.
That was a squad that included numerous underclassmen, including then juniors, running backs Xavier Grant and Mules Mayson, along with quarterback Isaiah Kim. Grant was a first-team all-L.A. City Section player while Grant and Mason were first team all-Marine Leaguers.
Grant is a fourth-year starting varsity player who totaled 1,077 all-purpose yards; including 850 rushing, 100 receiving and 122 on special teams last year. He scored 10 touchdowns and added another on an interception at defensive back.
Kim will have a display of young wide receivers in junior Ryan Holmes, a transfer from East L.A. Salesian, sophomore Brady Smith and junior Kai Brown.
According to Gilbreath, the Panthers will have a good but rather young line. Gardena will have a very good defensive secondary behind returning second-team all-Marine Leaguer, senior Shanna Nails. Also back is senior all-leaguer Dandja Longley. Helms also returns as defensive back and Gardena adds Bellflower High transfer Clonvante Jackson.
The Panthers begin their 2024 season with a non-league game at Crespi High in Encino Friday at 7 p.m. Gardena, then, hosts Crenshaw on Aug. 29 but that contest may be a big question mark as the Cougars currently do not have enough eligible players. If they cannot get the necessary paper work and other things done, Crenshaw, once an L.A. City powerhouse that produced several NCAA Division I and National Football League players, may cancel its season as well as that game. At Crenshaw last season, the Panthers rallied to top the Cougars 18-13. On Sept. 6, Gardena visits Centennial High in Compton. The Panthers, then, have three more non-league games at home against South L.A. Mervyn Dymally (Sept. 13), Compton Dominguez (Sept. 27) and Fontana Jurupa Hills (Oct. 4).
Gardena begins the Marine League at home against last year’s CIF-L.A. City Section Division I champion Banning High from Wilmington on Oct. 11 before visiting Carson in what could be a league showdown on Oct. 18 at 7:30 p.m. The Panthers’ final two Marine games are at home against Harbor City Narbonne (Oct. 25) and at San Pedro (Nov. 1). Outside of the 7:30 p.m. game at Carson, other games begin at 7 p.m.
The Marine is expected to continue to be very tough with all five squads having a shot at the league title. In fact, all are ranked in the Max Preps CIF-L.A. City Section top 10. Gardena begins the season rated ninth as San Pedro is second behind No. 1 Birmingham. Carson is third, Banning fifth, and Narbonne is sixth.
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After big summer, Serra eyes banner season
Over the early summer, Serra High enjoyed big success by winning two passing tournaments in Costa Mesa and at St. John Bosco High in Bellflower.
Perhaps the biggest surprise was defeating power St. John Bosco in its own tournament on June 29.
The passing game appears to be the big strength for the Cavaliers with the return of third-year starting quarterback Jimmy Butler, an all-CIF Southern Section Division II selection last season in keying Serra to a second place finish (behind Chatsworth Sierra Canyon) in the highly prestigious Mission League and the Division II semifinals where the Cavaliers fell to Anaheim Servite from the Trinity League 28-20, due to a rash of injuries that included standout running back Cincere Rhaney missing.
He will have some outstanding receivers in senior C.J. McBean (2023 all-Del Rey Leaguer), sophomore Duvay Williams (2023 freshman all-American) and senior Jayden Williams, a transfer from San Juan Hills High in San Juan Capistrano.
Serra will miss Rhaney, an all-Southern Section Division II player as well as being the 2023-24 school year’s Gardena Valley News Athlete of the Year who is now at San Diego State University, but does bring back senior Cameron Wilcox, who ran for 650 yards last season.
Defensively, the Cavaliers will be strong on the line behind returning starters, junior Khary Wilder and Robert James. Serra also returns a pair of starting linebackers in junior Daylawn Reed and senior Lennox Ford.
Williams and McBean are expected to start at defensive backs, along with junior Marcellas Rydyn, a junior all-Trinity League transfer from Orange Lutheran. Ryden, in fact, started at Serra as a freshman before transferring to Orange Lutheran but returned to Serra.
Head coach Scott Altenberg, though, is concerned about the team’s lack of depth.
“Depth is a real problem,” Altenberg said. “Our first group is strong but, after that, it’s a little sketchy. Some of our group is young. We’re not deep. We can’t afford any major injuries.”
Currently, Serra was ranked eighth in the Los Angeles Region by the Los Angeles Times. Santa Ana Mater Dei is currently the top ranked team in the United States by virtually all polls.
The Cavaliers start their season at home against Orange Lutheran, ranked fifth by the L.A. Times, Friday at 7 p.m. Last year, host Orange Lutheran rolled over Serra 47-19 at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa. The rest of non-league, along with the Mission, will be rigid. Serra’s next game is also at home against Warren High from Downey, before the Cavaliers trek down to Cathedral Catholic High in San Diego to play an Honor Bowl game against top non-league rival Long Beach Poly on Saturday, Sept. 7. Serra will not play another game until Sept. 19 when it visits Oaks Christian in Westlake Village, the second of six consecutive away games. The Cavaliers’ final non-league game will be at Los Alamitos High on Sept. 27.
Serra opens league at Loyola High in Los Angeles on Oct. 4. The Cavaliers have their final two away Mission games at Chaminade in West Hills (Oct. 11) and Notre Dame High in Sherman Oaks (Oct. 18) before closing league with two home games against La Puente Bishop Amat (Oct. 25) and a possible showdown against Sierra Canyon (Nov. 1). All games start at 7 p.m.
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North seeks 2nd straight Pioneer crown
Last season, North Torrance High’s mostly young and inexperienced football team surprised observers by winning the Pioneer League crown, behind the amazing freshman passing combination of Boogie and Kingston Anetema.
They both return as sophomores that includes wide receiver Kingston Anetema, who was the Pioneer’s Most Valuable Player in 2023.
Boogie Anetema threw for 2,165 yards and 24 touchdowns, most of those going to Kingston, who had seven receptions for 1,205 yards and 14 TD’s. Those two are not alone. Also back is all-league senior wide receiver Felix Aguilar who caught 35 passes for 318 yards and four touchdowns.
North’s running game should continue to be very strong behind returning all-league senior running back Will Pineda and sophomore Jayden Andrade.
The Saxons’ offensive line will be led by senior left tackle Seth Zera and returning all-Pioneer League senior left guard Ryan Castro, so the talented skilled players should get good support. Lack of depth in that position, though, might be a problem.
Defensively, North should be strong in its secondary behind Kingston Anetema, junior cornerback Ethan Edwards and senior safety Brandon Smith. Returning senior linebacker Koa Moran was the team’s second leading tackler. Pineda is also a returning starter at linebacker. The Saxons’ defensive line will be led by returning junior starter Moses Siitia.
“We have a good mix of seniors and underclassmen,” North head coach Todd Croce said. “We’ve been throwing all summer.”
Highlighting the summer for the Saxons was winning the always tough Culver City Summer League that included wins over Bay League team Culver City and Covina Charter Oak, a team that eliminated North 21-14 in overtime in the first round of the CIF-Southern Section Division VIII playoffs last year.
North will have a mostly challenging preseason which will be needed with the Pioneer expected to be tougher with ex-Bay League teams, Redondo, Rolling Hills Estates Peninsula and Santa Monica coming in. All are expected to challenge for the league title. Last year’s CIF-Southern Section Division X champion Torrance also poses a threat.
The Saxons begin the season at home against Long Beach Jordan from the always tough Moore League Friday at 7 p.m. Last season at Jordan, the Panthers routed North 59-24. The second game on Aug. 30 will not be any easier as the Saxons visit now Bay League power Inglewood, which dominated the Ocean League the past several seasons and has a good number of Major Division I college commits and prospects on the squad. North’s other non-league games include at Linfield Christian in Temecula on Sept. 6, at home against cross town rival West Torrance (now in the Ocean) on Sept. 13 and at home against CIF-Los Angeles City Section and Marine League power Carson on Sept. 20.
After taking a week off, the Saxons start the Pioneer against Santa Monica High (last year’s CIF-Southern Section Division IX runner-up) at Santa Monica City College on Oct. 4 and at Redondo on Oct. 11. North has its first league home game and homecoming against Peninsula on Oct. 18 before playing at cross town rival South Torrance on Oct. 25 and finishing league at home against Torrance on Nov. 1.
Overall, the Pioneer will be a league full of talented teams and players such as the Tartars’ linebacker and running back Jake Silverman, and more talented quarterbacks that include Redondo which will decide between returning senior all-Bay Leaguer Niko London and Newport Harbor junior transfer Cole Leinart, son of former University of Southern California and National Football League standout Matt Leinart. Santa Monica returns a very good junior quarterback in Wyatt Brown, last year’s all-CIF Southern Section Division IX selection on first team.
