Monday Morning Lights: It’s midseason honors time. Who made the cut?

Welcome back to Monday Morning Lights our weekly feature that sheds more light on the high school football weekend and peeks ahead to the new week If you haven t already please subscribe Your contributions keep us going The high school football season had reached the midway point So at the Bay Area News Group we re recognizing what we ve seen Here are our midseason honors PLAYERS OF THE YEAR Favorite Michael Mitchell Jr Archbishop Riordan Orchestrator of the Bay Area s greater part talented offense the Vanderbilt commit has passed for yards and TDs with just one interception Has also rushed for yards Christian Babcock In the running RJ Mosley Pittsburg The Arizona-bound wide receiver is on pace to finish the regular season with yards and nearly catches He had a monster competition against No Riordan on the road catching passes for yards and two touchdowns Nathan Canilao The field Of discipline someone can have a breakout second half and emerge when honors are handed out at the end of the season COACHES OF THE YEAR Justin Andrews Woodside The Wildcats are unbeaten and have had little trouble with every opponent including a - rout of Peninsula Athletic League De Anza Division s Mountain View on the road The former Oregon player s club has averaged nearly points per competition while conceding just over nine per contest Christian Babcock Tolo Faumuina Redwood Christian Under Faumuina the Eagles have started - after finishing - last season their first in venture history Redwood Christian has wins this year over Berean Christian Mills and Kennedy-Richmond Nathan Canilao Burt Codera MacDonald In its first season with seniors MacDonald is - and has dominated nearly every opponent The Condors avenged a - loss to Santa Clara last season with a - opening-week win and haven t looked back outscoring opponents by a combined margin of - Christian Babcock SURPRISE TEAMS California Despite losing star running back Jhadis Luckey to Clayton Valley Cal is - The Grizzlies have picked up signature wins over McClymonds and Monterey Trail-Elk Grove positioning itself as a contender in the East Bay Athletic League s Mountain Division Christian Babcock Acalanes There were questions whether the Dons would continue to be a contender after former coach Floyd Burnsed was let go in the off-season But Acalanes hasn t missed a beat under new coach Joel Isaac The Dons have been one of the Bay Area s best teams thus far Nathan Canilao Archbishop Mitty The Monarchs have won four of their first five games with their only loss coming at Acalanes to open the season The San Jose school has started WCAL play with blowout wins over St Ignatius and Valley Christian If the Monarchs continue to impress coach Danny Sullivan will certainly be in the running for coach of the year Nathan Canilao TOP NEWCOMERS Cole Dawes San Ramon Valley In his first season as a starter the junior has tossed touchdown passes Against Granada on Friday Dawes threw for five touchdowns to five receivers Nathan Canilao Brady Smith De La Salle Smith a senior who was named De La Salle s junior varsity MVP as a sophomore came back to football in after opting out while playing advance lacrosse in Since he returned he s worked himself into the Spartans vaunted running back rotation He has yards on carries averaging yards per attempt and three touchdowns Christian Babcock IMPACTFUL TRANSFERS Jhadis Luckey Clayton Valley The senior who led the NCS with rushing yards for California last season has already eclipsed the -yard mark at his new school and has touchdowns Luckey had a -yard five-touchdown performance against College Park Nathan Canilao Kyle Welch Archbishop Riordan Even amid a stacked group of receivers Welch has distinguished himself at his new school The transfer from The King s Academy has catches for yards and three TDs plus seven tackles two interceptions and a pass deflection defensively Christian Babcock GAMES OF THE YEAR Acalanes St Ignatius St Ignatius had a -point halftime lead on its home field but Acalanes made a stunning second-half comeback to prevail Quarterback Tyler Winkles accounted for four touchdowns and the Dons defense forced four turnovers Nathan Canilao Folsom Serra Points were not at a premium on a sun-drenched Saturday in San Mateo as Folsom and Serra raced to see which association could reach first Both defenses were primarily spectators until Folsom s late pick-six put the competition out of reach Christian Babcock Soquel Los Gatos In what could be a playoff rematch down the line Soquel threw the ball all over Helm Field in Los Gatos as the Wildcats did their best to keep up The Knights took the lead for good with a touchdown in the final minute Christian Babcock UPSETS OF THE YEAR Benicia Miramonte HSRatings com gave the Panthers a chance to win this battle with a final tally prediction of - Benicia flipped the script and dominated visiting Miramonte to add a nice win to its resume Nathan Canilao Willow Glen Christopher An upset rooted primarily in perceived strength of league Christopher was the Blossom Valley Athletic League Mt Hamilton Division champion last season Willow Glen won the Santa Teresa-Valley Division the third tier That didn t matter as the Rams willed themselves back into the meeting with a masterful onside kick and hung on late to seal an emotional win Christian Babcock McClymonds St Francis After beating McClymonds by points last season largest part predicted another domination for St Francis over the Oakland powerhouse But the Warriors outlasted the Mountain View school when San Diego State commit Koi Taiese wrapped up quarterback Andrew Franzino for a crucial third-down sack that put the championship out of reach Nathan Canilao PITTSBURG MOSLEY S DOUBLE PASS RJ Mosley is a freakishly talented wide receiver In a - win at Los Gatos on Friday he evidenced off a skill set that had to have Arizona coach Brent Brennan salivating The Arizona commit caught a lateral from Carlos Torres and flicked a quick pass downfield that traveled - air yards right into the arms of King Wade who ran the rest of the way for a -yard TD Mosley has a background as a baseball center fielder which came in handy Truth be notified RJ was at one point one hell of a baseball product Pittsburg coach Charlie Ramirez stated I know the baseball gang coach Marco Cartagena has been trying to get him to play baseball for a long time He could sling it That s why we had him out there That s why we had that play for him We put that in last year So no RJ can definitely throw the ball But it was a little sketchy in practice We worked on that for the last two weeks Ramirez revealed The timing of it was a little off until possibly like Wednesday as far as making sure that the receiver wasn t too far down the field Added Mosley I was really practicing that all week I m surprised myself that I even made that throw to him It was great That felt great Christian Babcock DE LA SALLE QB KNIGHT FINDING GROOVE After scoring just points in their season opener against Lakeland-Florida the Spartans have not scored fewer than and a big part of that is quarterback Brayden Knight s leadership He had perhaps his best tournament of the season in a win Friday over San Diego powerhouse Cathedral Catholic rushing for yards and two touchdowns Running the ball throwing the ball and he s making good decisions De La Salle coach Justin Alumbaugh reported He s getting better and better with each week Knight mostly played behind quarterback Toa Faavae last season coming in during crucial passing downs But the -foot- Knight has added a running dimension to his competition that has given opposing defenses fits this year Being a dual threat is the main goal in our veer offense Knight declared after the win Friday The veer is reading that defensive end and either handing it off or keeping it and I tried to showcase that a little bit currently But it s an offense that you definitely have to be a dual threat Nathan Canilao YGNACIO VALLEY WHAT HAPPENED TO FEEL-GOOD STORY Ygnacio Valley was one of the pleasant surprises of last season snapping a -game losing streak en road to a - season that no one outside of the Concord inhabitants school saw coming So what has changed in with the association starting - Coach Rae Jackson described the Bay Area News Group that he had to replace players at key positions after stars such as quarterback Jalen Fayad and running back Jacari Gibson transferred It s almost like starting over disclosed Jackson whose has on the roster The majority of the guys are freshmen and sophomores and only a sparse juniors and seniors But the coach has stayed optimistic Jackson announced that the school administration remains supportive and coaches have come up with creative options to drum up interest in the club We ve put together -on- tournaments during PE time and coaches can come and see the kids who can play a few ball Jackson stated noting that last season proved that the school is capable of winning The civilization of success is already here Jackson acknowledged that getting talented football players on campus can be a struggle Aside from next-door neighbor De La Salle the Wolves also compete with Mt Diablo Concord and Clayton Valley Charter for players After being part of the band that snapped a four-year losing streak Romel Mariano now a senior remained optimistic his Wolves can earn a win or two to end his final year on campus Related Articles Bay Area prep football Where to find our complete Week coverage Bay Area prep football Week Weekend scoreboard how Top fared High school football in pictures Our staff s best photos of Week History lesson St Francis routs Bellarmine When will rivalry heat up again Bay Area high school football roundup Best of Week action It s going to take heart and a lot of hard work and it s not going to be easy Mariano revealed following a - loss to Salesian on Friday But we will persevere It would be great to end off with a win Joseph Dycus PEEK AHEAD TO WEEK Thursday Christopher - - at Leigh - - p m Christopher begins defense of its BVAL Mt Hamilton title Lincoln-San Jose - - at Branham - - p m Kyan Phillips leads Lincoln in rushing receiving Washington-Fremont - - vs Irvington - - at Tak Fudenna Stadium p m p m WACC Mission Division opener for both teams Friday Acalanes - - at Miramonte - - p m Acalanes Tyler Winkles has thrown for yards TDs Archbishop Mitty - - at St Francis - - p m St Francis has won of the past games between these WCAL rivals Campolindo - at Monte Vista - p m Monte Vista has reeled off three consecutive wins since losing to Riordan Sacred Heart Prep - at Los Gatos - p m Los Gatos losses have been by a combined six points Saturday McClymonds - - at Oakland Tech - - p m Tech has lost in a row to Mack This one could be close Santa Teresa - - at Live Oak - - p m BVAL Mt Hamilton contenders meet in league opener