A large percentage of the 400 football players that attended the inaugural National Preps Collegiate Showcase on September 26 at Granite Park in Fresno were from the CIF Central Section. That made sense since National Preps already had a Showcase in Las Vegas where Southern California players performed and will get another chance on November 14 in Santa Clarita, and players from the CIF Central Coast, North Coast and Sac-Joaquin Sections will get an opportunity at a showcase on November 21 in Vacaville.
One would have expected players from “The Valley,” as locals refer to the Central Section, would have dominated, and while four of the 12 MVP’s named at the Showcase were from the Central Section, it was the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section that had the most MVP selections with five.
The City of Stockton had three of the MVP selections with two coming from Lincoln and one from St. Mary’s. St. Mary’s also had the most players from the Sac-Joaquin Section on the list of Top 100 performers with six followed by Folsom with five and Buhach Colony-Atwater with three. All in all there were 32 players from the Sac-Joaquin Section that made the Top 100 list.
The St. Mary’s player honored as an MVP was junior linebacker Tim Thomas. He shared Defensive Co-MVP with TJ Hall of San Joaquin Memorial-Fresno. Officially measured at 6-1.5, 202-pounds and with a 76-inch wingspan the coaches and staff at the Showcase rated him as a Major D1 prospect after his performance in Fresno.
According to National Preps Western Region College Football Scout, Northern California, Nevada, Oregon & Washington, and St. Vincent de Paul-Petaluma head football coach Trent Herzog: “The athletic ability of Thomas, his range, and his explosiveness were things that stood out.”
According to 247Sports Thomas currently does not have any offers just interest from Colorado State, Fresno State, Oregon, Sacramento State, San Jose State and Wyoming. That could be changing soon.
Last season for the Rams Thomas had 50 tackles, two sacks and a blocked field goal in eight games. Head coach Tony Franks even put him in at running back in a few games and he had one TD rushing.
For Lincoln it was a pair of juniors that were honored as MVPs, running backs honoree Jonah Coleman and defensive backs winner Jomarion Briggs.
Coleman, who is rated as the No. 2 all purpose running back prospect in California in the Class of 2022 according to 247Sports, was impressive in drills in Fresno. In today’s day and age his build is what a lot of colleges are looking for. Officially measured at 5-7.5, 202-pound his power and low center of gravity make him hard to handle.
“His explosiveness, power, burst, and change of direction were all things that set him apart and made him the running backs MVP,” Herzog remarked.
Last season Coleman rushed for 1,587 yards and 30 touchdowns for a 9-2 Lincoln team. According the 247Sports he has offers from Arizona State, Oregon State, Fresno State, New Mexico State, San Jose State and Tennessee with Boise State, Northwestern and Stanford showing interest in Coleman as well.
Briggs, who was officially measured at 5-11.5 and 155-pounds with a 74-inch wingspan, flashed some real speed and had a 4.57 40 for the third-fastest laser-timed 40 at the Showcase.
It wasn’t just the speed of Briggs that had the National Preps coaches and staff rate him as a Major D1 prospect and the second-best DB at the event behind Defensive Co-MVP Hall of, he showed all the skills to warrant the honor.
“Briggs is long and athletic with great speed and ball skills,” said Herzog. “Big time upside and potential. Will be a Power 5 scholarship player.”
Senior Jalon Jackson of Buhach Colony-Atwater was the MVP for wide receivers. Officially measured at 6-1.5, 157-pounds with a 76-inch wingspan, Jackson stood out by doing everything well and was rated as an FBS/FCS level recruit.
“Jackson was very consistent in everything that he did. He is long and athletic that has great body control. I could see him playing cornerback at the D1 level even though he was our WR MVP. Long and athletic
It wasn’t just the southern portion of the Sac-Joaquin Section that had MVP winners. Sacramento freshman running back Lamar Radcliffe was officially measured at 6-0.5, 246-pounds, and while that may be a little more weight than is ideal for him, it did not detract from his performance that earned him not only the MVP for the Class of 2024, but a Major D1 prospect rating by the Showcase coaches and staff as well.
Prior to the Showcase the staff at National Preps had Radcliffe as the top freshman prospect that would be in Fresno and he did not disappoint.
“Radcliffe is a great athlete for his size, very light on his feet, agile and nimble,” Herzog said. “I had a kid eight years ago that he reminds me of. Elijah Qualls, who was a 6-2 285-pound running back in high school,” said Herzog, who sent Qualls on to All Pac-12 honors at Washington as a defensive lineman, and then the NFL where in his first season he earned a Super Bowl ring with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Many of the scouts and analysts in Fresno for the Showcase were anxious to see Jadyn Marshall of St. Mary’s-Stockton perform. The top rated wide receiver in Northern California did not get to compete with the wide receivers in the afternoon since his ride from Stockton had to leave before the receivers went through their drills.
No problem. Marshall competed with the defensive backs in the morning, looked extremely sharp, and solidified his ranking by National Preps as an Elite BCS prospect.
In fact, Marshall was one of only three players to be ranked as Elite BCS in Fresno along with Michigan-bound senior wide receiver Xavier Worthy of CIF Division 1-AA Bowl Game champion Central-Fresno, and junior quarterback Nicholaus Iamaleava of Warren-Downey.
The top freshman hurdler at the CIF State Track Meet last year turned in the second best 40 with a 4.53 laser-timed effort, the top time for an underclassmen at the event and only behind the 4.46 of Worthy.
According to 247Sports Marshall just picked up offers nine and 10 from UCLA and Nevada-Las Vegas. He already had offers from Arizona State, Auburn, Cal, Nebraska, Oregon, Oregon State, San Jose State and USC.
Several other players from the Sac-Joaquin Section made the list of 100 top performers released by National Preps. We will list them by name and school, prospect rating, graduation year, position, and measured height and weight.
Darius Crowther, Christian Brothers-Sacramento, Major D1, 2022, RB, 5-10, 188
Kenyon Nelson, Lincoln-Stockton, Major D1, 2023, QB, 6-0, 199
Jackson Percoats, Buhach Colony-Atwater, FBS/FCS, 2023, WR, 5-9.5, 165
Julian Colvin, Capital Christian-Sacramento, FBS/FCS, 2021, DB, 6-1.5, 185
Tawon Sago, Cosumnes Oaks-Elk Grove, FBS/FCS, 2022, DL, 6-3.5, 346
Christian Newberry-Jones, Folsom, FBS/FCS, 2022, OL, 6-4.5, 297
Amani Pressley, Inderkum-Sacramento, FBS/FCS, 2022, DB, 6-0.5, 170
Garrett McGriff, Jesuit-Carmichael, FBS/FCS, 2022, DB, 5-11.5, 168
Jackson Holt, Oakdale, FBS/FCS, 2022, QB, 6-4, 208
Eric Bristow, Rio Americano-Sacramento, FBS/FCS, 2022, OL, 6-6.5, 291
Jahzon Jacks, St. Mary’s-Stockton, FBS/FCS, 2022, DL, 6-3.5, 254
Nick Murray, St. Mary’s-Stockton, FBS/FCS, 2021, DB, 5-10.5, 165
Tyrei Washington, St. Mary’s-Stockton, FBS/FCS, 2021, RB, 5-8, 197
Kimoni Stanley, Sierra-Manteca, FBS/FCS, 2021, RB, 5-8.5, 180
Anthony Garcia, Capitol Christian-Sacramento, FCS/D2, 2022, QB, 6-2.5, 168
Josh Baker, Central Catholic-Modesto, FCS/D2, 2021, OL, 6-3.5, 305
Dorian Blackwell, Folsom, FCS/D2, 2021, DB, 6-0.5, 159
Apollo Jeffs, Folsom, FCS/D2, 2021, DL, 6-1.5, 250
Vincent Scalise, Folsom, FCS/D2, 2021, OL, 6-1, 277
Josh Tremaine, Folsom, FCS/D2, 2022, LB, 6-1, 196
Christian Threadgill, Sierra-Manteca, FCS/D2, 2021, DL, 6-3, 180
Jaden Robinson, Vanden-Fairfield, FCS/D2, 2022, DB, 6-1.5, 165
Adrian Lopez, Buhach Colony-Atwater, FCS/D2, 2021, QB, 6-0.5, 155
Cole Gustafson, Rocklin, D2/D3, 2021, OL, 6-4, 286
Jared Quenga, Cosumnes Oaks-Elk Grove, Early Look, 2023, WR, 5-8, 145
Naseri Danielson, St. Mary’s-Stockton, Early Look, 2023, WR, 5-11, 181
