PAL All-League: Double trouble

In the Bay Division, Aragon’s Lloyd Walter was named Most Valuable Player and Defensive Back of the Year and was also a first-team defense selection.

Bay Division champs Sacred Heart Prep had a pair of players earn more than one selection. Senior wide receiver Carter Shaw was named Bay Division Offensive Player of the Year as well as Wide Receiver Player of the Year to go along with a first-team offense selection. Senior linebacker Shay O’Kelly was named Defensive POY and Linebacker POY, along with a first-team defense selection.

The biggest surprise was the senior Walter being named MVP, which goes along with his 2021 Ocean Division Player of the Year honors. Like Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Andre Dawson being named MVP for the last-place Chicago Cubs in 1987, Walter received the MVP honor despite Aragon going winless in Bay Division play and 3-7 overall.

“Unprecedented,” said Aragon head coach Steve Sell, who went on to compare Walter to 2002 Aragon graduate Manase Tonga, considered one of the best Dons in school history.

“He’s in the Manase Tonga category, no exaggeration,” Sell continued. “In terms of offensive play, defensive play, leadership, ability, character. ... He’s everything a coach would want in a player.”

The 6-1, 190-pound Walter basically did it all for the Dons. He was a lockdown cornerback, with teams rarely passing to his side of the field. He led the team in tackles with 85, including 18 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks.

When injuries decimated the Dons’ offensive backfield, Walter moved from his wide receiver spot to running back and finished with 901 yards rushing. Overall, he averaged 136 yard of total offense per game.

On top of that, he’s one of the smartest football players Sell has ever coached. Sell said he scored more than 1,500 on the SAT and has a 3.76 GPA.

“I put his stats out there (at the all-league selection meeting) and (told the coaches) what he meant to us,” Sell said. “It wasn’t a super long discussion. I was grateful he got the votes. I have to praise the Bay Division coaches for saying, ‘Yeah, you were 0-5, but he was the best player on the field.’”

In the Ocean Division, Terra Nova senior Frank Ward was recognized as one of the best defenders in the Ocean. Not only was named Defensive Player of the Year, he shared the Linebacker of Year honors with Jackson Sierra of Hillsdale. Ward notched 111 tackles this season, with four sacks. He also was credited with six passes defended and caused a pair of fumbles.

San Mateo lineman Nalesoni Fakava, a junior, was named Ocean Division Co-Defensive Lineman of the Year, along with Diego Jimenez of Hillsdale, as well as earning first-team slots on both the offensive and defensive lines. Fakava started the season as the Bearcats’ starting running back. But with the emergence of Daniel Feletoa, who was named Ocean Division Offensive Player of the Year, Fakava moved back to the offensive line. He continued as a starting defensive lineman, where he finished with 43 tackles, including nine for a loss.

“We were still trying to figure things out early in the season and we didn’t know a lot about Daniel,” said San Mateo head coach Jeff Scheller.

Fakava was an all-league lineman in the Lake Division in 2021, so he swapped his No. 44 for No. 72 and resumed playing on the offensive line.

Scheller said the 6-foot, 260-pound Fakava has the perfect mentality to play lineman in the Bearcats’ triple-option, run-dominant offense, which went on to rush for nearly 3,000 yards this season.

“I think he’s like (49ers tight end) George Kittle. You know, a guy who gets a pancake block and laughs about it? That’s [Nalesoni],” Scheller said.

Carlmont’s Connor Cook also made a difference on both sides of the ball, but he did so with a little twist. Cook was named all-league punter and kicker for the Scots this season.

As an offensive weapon, Cook was 27-for-29 on PATs and was 7-for-10 on field goals, with a long of 38 yards. Defensively, 27 of his 47 kickoffs went for touchbacks, while he averaged 43.7 yards on 18 punts, with a long of 63 and six being downed inside the 20-yard line.

Woodside sophomore Evan Usher wrapped up his first varsity season by being named Lake Division MVP as well as Running Back of the Year. Meanwhile, South City football announced its return not only with a 6-4 overall record and 5-2 in the Lake Division, but also with the play of sophomore Darren Miller, who was selected the Lake Division Defensive Player of the Year and Defensive Lineman of the Year.

Despite missing the first two games of the season, Usher made up for lost time, finishing the season with nearly 1,800 yards, good for fourth overall in the Central Coast Section.

Miller was part of a South City turnaround that saw the Warriors snap a 26-game losing streak and finish with a winning overall record (5-2 PAL Lake, 6-4 overall) for the first time since 2012.

Serra cleans up WCAL all-league honors

No surprise that the undefeated West Catholic Athletic League champions had nearly 20 players named to various honors, along with first-, second- and honorable mention teams.

Maealikaki Smith and Seamus Gilmartin earned offensive honors, being named Quarterback and Tight End of the Year awards, respectively.

Defensively, Marley Alapati was named Outside Linebacker of the Year, while Joseph Bey was Defensive Back of the Year.

Jaden Green earned Utility Player of the Year and Jabari Mann was Junior Player of the Year.