Northern California high school top football stars, best performances last week (9/25/2023)

Nation's leading rusher Herschel Turner continues to shine, Quinn Boyd sets school record at Granada for passing yards, big rushers, passers dominate

Here’s a quick look at some of the top stars and memorable performances from the fourth week of the high school football season in Northern California.

Note: Entries are based on information provided by coaches, statisticians, media members and high school sports fans. Don’t see any details for your team’s game? Email some notes and/or stats to mitch@scorebooklive.com.

Top Northern California football stars from Sept. 21-23

Luke Baker, a senior quarterback at San Ramon Valley, completed 19 of 29 for 364 yards and five touchdowns in a 66-12 win over Liberty. He also ran for a TD. Not bad for one half of play.

Luke Baker led the North Coast Section in passing yards in 2022. He's well on his way from repeating in 2023. Photo: Dennis Lee / Photo: Dennis Lee

Quinn Boyd, a senior quarterback at Granada-Livermore, completed 22 of 26 for a school record 446 yards and seven touchdowns in a 56-20 win over San Leandro.

Cedeno Chavez, a senior for Willow Glen, completed 17 of 20 for 293 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for 60 yards and two more scores in a 42-38 win over Overfelt.

Josh Gagni, a 5-8, 180-pound senior running back and linebacker at Live Oak, rushed 20 times for 281 yards and two touchdowns in a 42-21 win over Branham.

Nate Garland, a junior for Berkeley, rushed 14 times for 241 yards and four touchdowns in a 54-37 win over Castro Valley.

Jai’on Gary, a senior running back and safety at Deer Valley-Antioch, accounted for more than 400 yards in a 34-28 win over Dougherty Valley. Gary completed 10 of 16 passes for 170 yards and three touchdowns, and added 15 carries for 235 yards and two more scores.

Omary Gayles, a senior strong safety at St. Mary’s-Stockton, had 13 tackles and an interception in a 41-31 win at Bishop Amat.

Sawker Hokanson, a senior 6-foot-4, 180-pound quarterback at University Prep-Redding, completed 13 of 17 for 277 yards and four touchdowns, and added 60 yards rushing and two more scores in a 49-23 win over Las Plumas.

Zachary Homan, a senior running back at Cardinal Newman, rushed 23 times for 217 yards and four touchdowns in a 34-0 win at St. Mary’s.

DJ Horton, a 6-3, 180-pound senior for Weed, rushed for 122 yards and two touchdowns and added seven tackles on defense, leading his team to a 54-15 win over Los Molinos.

Dominic Ingrassia, a senior quarterback at San Marin-Novato, completed 16 of 22 for 226 yards and three touchdowns and added two more TDs on the ground in a 49-7 win over Archie Williams.

Hunter Inkster, a football standout for Berean Christian, rushed for 300 yards and four touchdowns and added three receptions for 60 yards and two more scores in a 49-14 win over Hercules.

Andre Latimore, a senior quarterback at Del Mar, only completed 5 of 7 passes for 48 yards but it was his work as a runner that was key, rushing just eight times for 180 yards and three more scores in a 44-0 win over James Lick. eee

CJ Lee, a quarterback for Jesuit-Carmichael, accounted for 244 yards and four touchdowns in a 41-10 win over Pleasant Grove.

CJ Lee earned some hardware for his performance in the Holy Bowl vs. Christian Brothers at Sacramento City College earlier this month. Photo: Dennis Lee

Ezekiel Ozborn, a sophomore quarterback for Shafter, passed for 297 yards and four touchdowns in a 41-16 win over Taft.

Jacob Pruit, a senior quarterback at Rancho Cotate, accounted for 380 yards and six touchdowns in a 39-20 win over Freedom. Pruitt completed 8 of 11 passes for 185 yards and three scores, then rushed 13 times for 195 yards and three more touchdowns.

Herschel Turner, a senior running back-linebacker at Mt. Diablo continued his monster senior season by rushing 25 times for 345 yards and five touchdowns in a 36-33 win over Castlemont. He also had eight tackles. Turner leads the nation in rushing with 1,584 rushing yards and 25 touchdowns at a gaudy 19.3 yards per carry.

Isitolo Tuugamusu, a freshman running back at Riordan, rushed for five touchdowns in a 41-34 home win over St. Ignatius to win the Gil Haskell Trophy.

Tyler Wentworth, a third-year starting QB at Central Catholic, needed just nine completions to throw for 231 yards and four touchdowns in a 49-7 win over Pleasant Valley-Chico.

Braden Young, a senior quarterback at Tamalpais, continued his remarkable senior season by completing 20 of 30 for 287 yards and four touchdowns. He leads the North Coast Section with 1,677 yards passing and 19 touchdowns. 

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Published
Mitch Stephens, SBLive Sports
MITCH STEPHENS, SBLIVE SPORTS

Mitch Stephens is a senior editor at SBLive Sports for California, a state he's covered high school sports since 1984. He won multiple CNPA and CPSWA writing awards with the Contra Costa Times, San Francisco Chronicle and MaxPreps.com before joining the SBLive staff in 2022. He's covered the beat nationally since 2007, profiling such athletes as Derrick Henry, Paige Bueckers, Patrick Mahomes, Sabrina Ionescu, Jayson Tatum, Chiney Ogwumike, Jeremy Lin and Najee Harris as preps. You can reach him at mitch@scorebooklive.com.