Prep Rally: Makena Cook of Orange Lutheran is the best flag football quarterback around

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. My name is Eric Sondheimer. There’s two quarterbacks making an early season impact. Sophomore Jaden Jefferson of Cathedral has his team at 4-0. Makena Cook of Orange Lutheran has her unbeaten flag football team ranked No. 1 in the nation. Let’s explore.

The QBs

Cathedral quarterback Jaden Jefferson is all smiles after a win against Chaminade.

(Michael Blackshire/Los Angeles Times)

Jaden Jefferson’s ability to improvise and get the ball to his fast receivers has helped Cathedral pick up wins over Loyola and Chaminade this season en route to a 4-0 record going into Friday’s game against Narbonne.

Let’s take a look at the impact the Jefferson families are having at Cathedral.

Flag football has its first real star quarterback in Makena Cook of Orange Lutheran. She’s an elite soccer player who has led the Lancers to a 12-0 record and No. 1 ranking by MaxPreps.

Here’s a look at Cook’s athletic prowess.

Southern Section football

JSerra football coach Victor Santa Cruz.

(Craig Weston)

JSerra is 4-0 and knocked off the top team in San Diego last week, Lincoln. Quarterback Ryan Hopkins has been showing off his arm and feet. Here’s the report.

Mater Dei traveled to Hawaii and came away victorious with stellar defense in a 38-7 win over Kahuku. Here’s the report.

Mira Costa rallied to upset previously unbeaten Damien 34-30. Mira Costa is 3-0.

San Clemente’s defense came through in a 28-0 win over Corona del Mar. Here’s the report.

Noah Giddens of Western completed 30 of 40 passes for 336 yards and six touchdowns in win over Banning.

Veterans Stadium in Long Beach is under consideration to host the Southern Section Division 1 championship game.

Former NFL receiver DeShaun Jackson is coaching receivers at Long Beach Wilson.

Here’s a look at top individual performances from last week.

Here’s this week’s top 25 rankings by The Times.

Here’s last week’s score list.

Here’s this week’s schedule.

City Section football

Receiver Da’Mari Hall of Narbonne will get to face Cathedral on Friday.

(Nick Koza)

San Pedro has taken over as the No. 1 team in this week’s top 10 rankings by The Times after an impressive 28-7 win over Garfield. Here’s the rankings.

Palisades lost in double overtime to Brentwood. Here’s the report.

Quarterback Diego Montes of Kennedy had an incredible game in a win over Granada Hills. He passed for 202 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 209 yards and four touchdowns. Kennedy is the Valley Mission League title favorite.

L.A. Southwest College is the leading candidate to be the site for the City Section Open Division championship football game.

Coach making difference

Hamilton football coach Elijah Asante addressing his team in the locker room.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

For more than 60 seconds, Hamilton High football players, dressed in suits and ties, bowed their heads in the middle of the Fairfax football field and stayed silent, some in prayer. They were honoring someone none of them knew — Christian Garcia, a 16-year-old junior varsity football player from South East who died last week after suffering an injury on Aug. 23 in a JV game against MACES.

“The purpose of us doing that is we are family,� coach Elijah Asante told his players in the locker room afterward. “We like to compete, we want to win but when a kid falls from another school, we should feel that, too, and that’s what you were paying tribute to. We always have to show class.�

When coaches are making a difference, it’s not always seen on a scoreboard despite the obsession with winning.

Asante has been doing that at Hamilton, where teaching his players how to put on a tie to teaching tackling.

Here’s a look at the changes happening.

Flag football

Aaya McLyn of Long Beach Poly had seven interceptions in a 32-0 win over Lakewood. Gardena Serra rallied for a 20-19 win over St. Anthony. JSerra improved to 9-0 with a 16-0 win over Warren before being upset by Huntington Beach 19-18.

Newport Harbor won the Beckman tournament, defeating Esperanza 45-6 in the championship game.

Birmingham, the defending City Section champion, made its debut with a 0-0 tie against Verdugo Hills before beating Hart 13-6 behind two touchdowns from Bella Gonzalez.

Eagle Rock continues to impress with a 5-0 start.

Girls volleyball

Thousand Oaks sisters London, left, and Saylor Halvorsen hold the championship trophy and all-tournament awards after winning the Chatsworth Invitational.

( Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

When it came time to pick which of his players deserved all-tournament recognition at the Chatsworth Invitational, the choice was clear for Thousand Oaks girls volleyball coach James Park.

Junior outside hitter London Halvorsen was named most valuable player after her 12 kills in the finals against Notre Dame Academy, while her freshman sister Saylor Halvorsen also made the all-tournament squad, serving back-to-back aces to give the Lancers match point in the third set of a 25-11, 14-25, 15-10 triumph.

Heres a profile on the Halvorsen sisters.

Venice has taken charge of the Western League in the City Section after a 25-15, 25-19, 25-21 sweep of Palisades last week. Venice improved to 10-1 and 2-0.

Cross-country

Arcadia girls and Agoura boys won championships at the Moorpark Invitational. Maggie De la Rionda of Thousand Oaks had the fastest girls time at 18:25.3. The boys winner was Oliver Clippinger-Zimmerman of Thousand Oaks in 15:13.

Venice’s Paul Tranquilla stamped himself as a City Section title contender by winning the Rosemead Invitational in 14:38.7.

The unofficial start of the season begins on Saturday night with one of the biggest events, the Woodbridge Cross Country Classic at the Great Park Sports Complex in Irvine. It should bring out the top runners in Southern California

Water polo

Newport Harbor’s Kai Kaneko.

(James Carbone/James Carbone)

The South Coast tournament in Orange County brought together the top teams in water polo. The semifinals saw Newport Harbor defeat Harvard-Westlake 17-5 and JSerra held off Oaks Christian 10-9.

In the championship game, JSerra, with a 40-match winning streak, was beaten by surging Newport Harbor 14-6.

Kai Kaneko scored five goals and Geoff Slutzky had three. That makes Newport Harbor the No. 1 team in Southern California for now. Here’s the report.

Corona del Mar won the Santa Barbara Invitational, defeating Mater Dei 9-7 in the championship.

Girls golf

Santa Margarita won the South Bay Invitational and remains the team to beat in girls golf.

Marlborough has moved up to Division 1 and is showing signs of being competitive with a 7-2 record. The team’s No. 1 player, Kaila Elsayegh, is headed to Stanford. She had a hole-in-one this month at Wilshire CC on the fourth hole. Marlborough is 1-0 in the Angelus League and plays Harvard-Westlake on Thursday.

Notes . . .

Former football coaches Steve Grady of Loyola and Bruce Rollinson of Mater Dei are individuals selected as part of the second group of Hall of Fame inductees for the California High School Football Hall of Fame based at the Rose Bowl. Twenty former players were selected. Here’s the link to new selections. . . .

Brannon Martinsen

(Nick Koza)

Brannon Martinsen, a 6-foot-8 junior forward who was the top basketball player at Mater Dei last season, has transferred to JSerra. . . .

Quarterback Madden Iamaleava and receiver Jace Brown from Warren checked out of the school after playing in the opening week of the season and have transferred to Long Beach Poly. They will be eligible immediately only if they have a residential move. Both are UCLA commits. . . .

Junior pitcher Caleb Trugman of Ayala has committed to UC Santa Barbara. . . .

James McFadden is the new baseball coach at Shadow Hills in Indio. . . .

Wes Shaw is the new baseball coach at Tustin. . . .

Junior outfielder Shea Gonzalez from Villa Park softball has committed to Washington. Senior Isabella Salas from California has committed to Southern Utah. . . .

Junior pitcher Jackson Campbell from Mater Dei has committed to Notre Dame. . . .

Outfielder Connor Tutino from Moorpark has committed to Pacific Lutheran. . . .

Elliott Otmani is the new boys soccer coach at Calabasas. . . .

Former Harvard-Westlake standouts Jack Flaherty (left) and Pete Crow-Armstrong re-unite at Dodger Stadium.

(Jared Halpert)

Former Harvard-Westlake stars Jack Flaherty and Pete Crow-Armstrong were at Dodger Stadium last week as the Dodgers played the Chicago Cubs. Harvard-Westlake coach Jared Halpert took a photo of the two together. Crow-Armstrong had a big series with his glove in center fielder. . . .

Jeff Anderson has resigned as wrestling coach St. John Bosco. He turned the program into one of the best in the state. . . .

Girls’ basketball player Ashley Redd of Sierra Canyon has committed to Binghamton University. . . .

Defensive lineman Robert James from Gardena Serra has committed to Fresno State.

From the archives: Nick Folk

Tennessee Titans kicker Nick Folk celebrates after kicking a game-winning field goal during overtime against the Chargers in 2023.

(John Amis/AP)

Nick Folk, the 39-year-old ageless wonder who graduated from Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, has been kicking in the NFL since the Cowboys drafted him in the sixth round in 2007. He made a 40-yard field goal last week for the Tennessee Titans and a field goal on Sunday, making it 384 in his NFL career.

He’s one of three brothers who grew up as soccer players in the San Fernando Valley but became top kickers in high school.

Here’s a story from 2002 about Folk and his brothers.

Here’s a video interview with Folk.

Recommendations

From the Seattle Times, a story on a football coach in his 40th season closing in on becoming the winningest coach in Washington history.

From the Los Angeles Times, a story on what could be causing an epidemic of pitching injuries.

From the Washington Post, a story on the first varsity football game for a program in Maryland.

From the 562.org, a story on a Long Beach Wilson receiver making the most of a second chance.

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