Linemen honored as MVPs

“That’s rare, isn’t it?” said PAL commissioner Terry Stogner of three linemen being selected MVP. “Maybe it will encourage more kids to be linemen. People are actually watching what [linemen] are doing. They’re not just looking at the guy running through the hole you made.”

The 6-2, 280-pound Ngalu, a University of Washington commit, was third in tackles for the CCS Open Division I champion Bears with 47, but he had a team-leading 13 tackles for loss, including six sacks. He also recovered a fumble and returned it 65 yards for a touchdown in a 28-21 win over Mitty. Offensively, Ngalu rushed three times for an average of 8 yards and was also a stalwart on the offensive line.

The 6-2, 230-pound Lavulo was a beast on both sides of the ball. On offense, he helped pave the way for the Panthers to rush for more than 2,670 yards as a team. Lavulo even got in on some of that action, carrying the ball four times for 16 yards and three touchdowns. Defensively, he was second on the team in tackles with 56, with 10 tackles for a loss and three sacks. He also had a pair of fumble recoveries and interceptions, one that was returned 42 yards for a touchdown in Burlingame’s 49-12 win over Overfelt in the CCS Division IV semifinals.

At 6-4, 320 pounds, Matavao-Poialii is a mountain of a human being, but still has the agility and stamina to play on both lines. A defensive nose tackle, Matavao-Poialii was virtually unstoppable. He led the Grizzlies with 67 tackles this season, 30 of which went for a loss, including a dozen sacks. On the offensive side of the ball, he had a similar impact as Lavulo did for Burlingame. He helped lead Jefferson to an average of 423 yards of offense per game, while also rushing for two touchdowns on goal-line handoffs.

The Bay Division Offensive Player of the Year award went to Terra Nova senior quarterback Jared Julian, who threw for 2,179 yards and rushed for 1,193, accounted for 40 touchdowns — 20 passing and 20 rushing.

M-A senior linebacker Daniel Heimuli, who is weighing college offers from 26 colleges, including the likes of Alabama and Washington, was the Bay Division Defensive Player of the Year. He led the Bears with 80 tackles, five sacks and 13 overall tackles for loss.

Sacred Heart Prep’s senior RB/LB John Willard was dubbed Bay Division Utility Player of the Year, while teammate Ronan Donnelly was Special Teams Player of the Year. Willard rushed for 579 yards and scored eight touchdowns on offense, while finishing with 79 tackles from his linebacker position. Donnelly connected on 34 of 37 point-after tries and was 12 of 17 on field-goal attempts, with a long of 47. Of his 68 kickoffs, 48 went for touchbacks and he averaged 47.6 yards on 11 punts.

M-A and SHP head coaches, Adhir Ravipati and Mark Grieb, were named Co-Coaches of the Year.

In the Ocean Division, King’s Academy’s Bralyn Lux was named Offensive Player of the Year after rushing for 1,811 yards with 24 touchdowns this season. He also added 34 catches for 670 yards and nine more scores.

Burlingame senior defensive end Dylan Neeley was awarded Defensive Player of the Year after a 64-tackle/8-sack season. A third member of Burlingame’s CCS championship team, LB/RB/PR Curtis Lauti, was named Utility Player of the Year.

And just to round out Burlingame’s Ocean Division championship, John Philipopoulos was named Coach of the Year.

Noah Short, a sophomore from King’s Academy, was named Ocean Division Special Teams Player of the Year.

In the Lake Division awards, it was almost a Carlmont sweep, save for Mailangi’s Co-MVP selection. Senior RB Julian Morin, who rushed for 1,636 yards and 14 touchdowns to help lead the Scots to its first CCS finals appearance in 28 years, is the Lake Division Offensive Player of the Year. Senior LB Jayden Kuhn was named Defensive Player of the Year, Nico Franchi was Special Teams Players of the Year, junior Jonaven Kuhn was Utility Player of the Year and head coach Jake Messina is the Lake Division Coach of the Year.

In the WCAL, St. Francis’ Evan Williams was named Player of the Year, while Serra’s record-setting Luke Bottari was named Quarterback of the Year. In his senior year, Bottari threw for nearly 1,900 yards, with 18 touchdowns against nine interceptions. In three varsity seasons, Bottari threw for 5,789 yards, with a completion percentage of 68 percent.

Serra SLOT/DB Malakai Rango earned Co-Utility Player of the Year honors, along with Sacred Heart Cathedral’s Anthony Heard.

To see the complete all-league lists for the PAL and WCAL, you can go to their respective websites. The PAL website can be found at www.smcoe.org, while the WCAL site is www.WCALsports.org.