
By Joe Snyder
Over the past couple of months, Serra High’s football team participated in several Spring-Summer passing and other football fundamental events and head coach Scott Altenberg is seeking to bring back contention for CIF-Southern Section and CIF-State crowns this fall.
The Cavaliers strength appears to be on defense, behind senior tackle Khary Wilder, a four-star recruit who already committed to Big 10 power Ohio State University. Fourth-year starting defensive lineman Daylon Reed is expecting a big season, along with University of North Carolina commit cornerback Marcellous Williams. Incoming junior cornerback-running back Wesley Ace is also getting a lot of Major Division I college offers, according to Altenberg. Also back is Mission League Defensive Player of the Year DeVohn Mosely, Jr., a safety on defense and a running back on offense.
Gone is quarterback Jimmy Butler, who is still undecided on his college decisions, and junior Nickolas Johnson appears to be favored as the starter. Sophomore Malik Tunai, though, could be one to watch. Both had some good passing games, including last Saturday’s Los Angeles Chargers 11-on-11 Classic at the Chargers Training Center in El Segundo.
Wide receivers Duvay Williams and Hakeem Crawford are key returning starters.
“We’re young at parts,” Altenberg said. “For us, we have a lot of guys back on defense. Offensively, Butler is gone and we are young.”
At the Chargers Invitational, Serra won two of three games with wins over Murrieta Valley and Agoura and a loss to Palos Verdes, last season’s CIF-Southern Section Division V and CIF-State Division IIA champion.
In a thrilling finale against Agoura, Duvay Williams caught a 50-yard touchdown pass from Tunai to give the Cavaliers a 30-24 win. That was his second of two TDs in the game, with his other being 50 yards from Johnson. Brian Bose and Hakeem Crawford also scored touchdowns for Serra.
The Cavaliers begin the 2025 season against Palos Verdes, led by returning junior quarterback Ryan Rakowski, on Aug. 22 at El Camino College. Game time is 7 p.m. The Sea Kings figure to be in a close race with Inglewood, Lawndale Leuzinger, Culver City and Manhattan Beach Mira Costa for the prestigious Bay League title. Despite only a third-place finish in the rigorous Bay last season, P.V. defeated Santa Ana Foothill for the Southern Section Division V crown and Twelve Bridges from the Sacramento area for its first state championship.
The Cavaliers will be in a 7-on-7 passing tournament at Palos Verdes High Saturday, beginning at 8 a.m., before another highly regarded classic at powerhouse St. John Bosco in Bellflower on June 28 before ending that summer and going into the dead period before opening practice on July 28.
Serra continues to have a tough schedule. After visiting CIF-Los Angeles City Section school Hamilton High in the Palms District on Aug. 29, the Cavaliers have their first home game against Los Alamitos on Sept. 5. From there, Serra plays three consecutive road games at Orange Lutheran on Sept. 12, Oaks Christian in Westlake Village on Sept. 19 before opening the Mission League in what will be an early league showdown at Sierra Canyon in Chatsworth on Oct. 3. The Cavaliers, then, have their homecoming game against L.A. Loyola on Oct. 10 and have two more home league games against West Hills Chaminade on Oct. 17 and Sherman Oaks Notre Dame on Oct. 24. On Halloween (Oct. 31), Serra closes league at Bishop Amat in La Puente. All games start at 7 p.m.
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Former Serra star Smith on a hitting tear
The Dodgers ended up winning two of three from San Francisco, losing the first game, 6-2, on Friday before coming back with wins of 11-5 on Saturday and 5-4 on Sunday.
Among the Giant players at Dodger Stadium was former Serra High standout player Dominic Smith. Smith went 2-for-3 including a two-run home run in the first game on Friday. He went 1-for-3, drove in a run and scored once on Saturday. Right now, according to sources, he’s hitting .343 this year for the Giants. He is 12-for-35 with seven runs batted in.
In his 12-year career, Smith is currently hitting .247 with 485 hits, including 64 home runs.
Before being traded to the Giants by the Cincinnati Reds earlier this season, Smith played for the New York Mets, Washington Nationals and Boston Red Sox. He was drafted out of Serra High in the first round by the Mets in 2013. He was the 11th overall pick. He led the Cavaliers to their only CIF-Southern Section baseball title, winning the Division III championship over Manhattan Beach Mira Costa 12 years ago at Dodger Stadium. He hit a homer over the stadium fence, one of the few high school baseballers to do so.
Correction from last week’s South Bay All-Star Softball Game: It was Carson pitcher Gaselkle Pantoja; not Pantija. Sorry for the spelling error.
In that game, the American and National teams battled to a 5-5 tie on June 4 at Torrance High.
Torrance also had girls’ beach volleyball pair Kiana Greer and Anisa Olivas land on the Daily Breeze all-South Bay second-team, named last week.
Pair of the Year went to Redondo sisters Addison and Avery Junk, who were very influential in keying the Sea Hawks to the CIF-Southern Section Division I championship with an inspiring 3-2 win over powerful rival, Manhattan Beach Mira Costa on May 3 at Long Beach City College.
They won the decisive split set match to help the Sea Hawks win their first CIF title in the brief three-year history of beach volleyball in the CIF. Mira Costa won the previous two crowns over Redondo in 2023 and 2024.
Head coach Mark Pa’aluhi was Coach of the Year for the Sea Hawks.
Also making all-area second-team were Libby Matsik and Spencer Clark of South Torrance.
Greer, meanwhile, was also CIF-Southern Section Division II shot put champion and finished fifth in the CIF-State Meet on May 31 at Buchanan High in Clovis.