Friends, family and some 50,000 other spectators got a chance to cheer on some of San Diego County’s finest prep football players in recent years when the University of Southern California met the University of Iowa in last Friday’s 42nd edition of the San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl.
The USC roster was loaded with five former area prep alums: cornerback Isaac Taylor-Stuart (Helix), tailback Kenan Christon (Madison), quarterback Trevor Scully (La Jolla), safety Richard Hagestad (Bishop’s) and receiver Chris Caulk (Cathedral Catholic).
Taylor-Stuart, one of the nation’s most highly recruited preps, logged six interceptions (returning one for a touchdown) while scoring 10 offensive touchdowns as the Scotties won the 2017 Open Division championship en route to posting a 13-2 season.
Lincoln head coach David Dunn, who took in pregame ceremonies from the Trojan sideline, applauded the local contingent’s holiday homecoming.
“It’s got to be exciting and a lot of fun for the families who don’t have the chance to go to their games,” said Dunn, who represented Fresno State at the Aloha Bowl in 1993 during his own playing days. “To be a local San Diego guy it’s exciting to come back and play in front of family and friends and teammates.”
Taylor-Stuart, a redshirt freshman, eventually worked himself into the game in the first half for the 22nd-ranked Trojans (8-5).
The teams were tied, 7-7, after the first quarter before 16th-ranked Iowa (10-3) began to pull away with leads of 28-17 (at halftime) and 35-24 (entering the final quarter) before settling for a 49-24 victory.
Dunn, who played seven seasons in the NFL, can speak personally about making the grade at the highest level.
“The quality of players from San Diego is getting more recognition,” Dunn said. “We have a lot of talent in San Diego. We have guys playing all over the country. Even if they’re playing in places that don’t get a lot of exposure, it’s our duty to come out and support them.”
Prep parade
Taylor-Stuart (6-2, 205) logged 77 tackles, 6 interceptions, 12 deflections and two fumble recoveries (one for a touchdown) on defense, 422 yards on 37 carries (11.4 average) with eight touchdowns plus 15 receptions for 212 yards (14.4 average) with two touchdowns on offense and four kickoff returns for 65 yards (16.3 average) his senior year in 2017.
The former Highlander standout entered the Holiday Bowl with 36 career tackles for the Trojans, including one for a loss, plus an interception and four deflections while appearing in 15 games. He appeared in 11 regular season games in 2019. He appeared in four games before red-shirting the 2018 season.
Christon, regarded as the fastest USC runner, finished the 2019 regular season with a flourish by appearing in the final six games, staring three. He rushed for 373 yards (5.5 average) and scored two touchdowns. He also caught nine passes for 113 yards and three touchdowns.
The former Warhawk standout earned Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors after logging 144 all-purpose yards in a game at Arizona State.
While at Madison, Christon rushed for 980 yards with 11 touchdowns as a senior after rushing for 829 yards with nine touchdowns as a junior. A multi-sport athlete, he recorded bests of 10.30 in the 100-meter dash, 20.55 in the 200-meter dash and 24-0 in the long jump while competing in track and field. The 10.30 mark ties the San Diego Section record originally set by Southwest’s Riley Washington in 1992.
Scully, who passed for 2,595 yards and 30 touchdowns while rushing for 435 yards with eight touchdowns as a high school senior, did not see any action as a backup quarterback as a walk-on redshirt freshman in 2019.
Hagestad (6-1, 200) saw action in one game in 2019 as a back-up safety as a walk-on junior but did not make a tackle.
Caulk, who also played baseball at Cathedral Catholic, did not see action as a back-up wide receiver as a walk-on junior in 2019.
PAC-MEN
USC freshman Kedon Slovis finished the 2019 season with a freshman record 3,502 yards, 30 touchdowns against only nine interceptions and an NCAA freshman record 71.8 completion percentage while leading USC to an 8-4 record en route to being named the PAC-12 Freshman of the Year.
Slovis completed 22 of 30 passing attempts for 266 yards with two touchdowns for a 168.1 quarterback rating before leaving the Holiday Bowl game. The Trojans amassed 356 passing yards in the game but could only muster 22 rushing yards on 18 carries offensively against the Hawkeyes.
Slovis completed scoring passes to Drake London (four catches, 34 yards) and Vavae Malepeai (four catches, 11 yards) while Stephan Carr (five carries, 24 yards) scored one rushing touchdown. USC’s running game was hampered by 39 yards in losses, however.
Iowa logged 213 passing yards and 115 rushing yards in trampling the Trojans. Tyler Goodson (18 carries, 48 yards), Tyrone Tracy (one carry, 23 yards) and Ihmir Smith-Marsette (two carries, 15 yards) each scored one rushing touchdown while quarterback Nate Stanley (18-27, 213 yards) threw touchdown passes to Brandon Smith (four catches, 32 yards) and Smith-Marsette (two catches, 46 yards).
USC record-setting freshman quarterback Kedon Slovis logged two touchdown throws before leaving the game. Photos by Phillip Brents
NFL Star Watch
Former Mater Dei Catholic High School place-kicker Jason Myers will represent the Seattle Seahawks in the upcoming NFL playoffs. Myers, a Chula Vista native, finished 2019 regular season play by converting 40 of 44 extra-point attempts (90.9 percent), 23 of 28 field goal attempts (82.1 percent) while averaging 62.8 yards on kickoffs. The fifth-seeded Seahawks (11-5) will play at the fourth-seeded Philadelphia Eagles (9-7) in Sunday’s wild card round (1:40 p.m. PT on NBC-TV).
Mount Miguel alumnus Corey Littleton and the Los Angeles Rams will not be party to this year’s NFL playoff tournament following the Rams’ 34-31 NFC West loss at San Francisco on Dec. 21. The defending NFC champion Rams fell to 8-7 on the season to enable the Minnesota Vikings (10-4) to clinch the conference’s final wild card berth.
As a result, the Rams will not be making a return trip to the Super Bowl and a new NFC champion will be crowned as the end of next month’s playoffs.
Los Angeles finished the season 9-7 overall.
Littleton, regarded as one of the league’s best tackling linebackers, led the Rams defense in the setback to the 49ers with six tackles and one assist. On the season, the Matador alum has registered 78 unassisted tackles and 56 assists for 134 combined tackles, 3.5 sacks and two forced fumbles.
With the win over the Rams, San Francisco put itself in position to secure the No. 1 seed for the upcoming playoffs and accomplished that with a 34-31 cliff-hanging season-ending victory at Seattle on Sunday. The 49ers finished two games ahead of the the Seahawks to win the NFC West title.
The Green Bay Packers (13-3) clinched the NFC North title while the New Orleans Saints (13-3) are this season’s NFC South champions.
The NFC East Division remained up for grabs after the Philadelphia Eagles’ clutch 17-9 win over the visiting Dallas Cowboys on Dec. 22. The Eagles (9-7) finally claimed the division title with a 37-17 win at the New York Giants (4-12) on Sunday.
The AFC playoff picture is set with the exception of the final wild card berth. Division champions include the Baltimore Ravens (AFC North), New England Patriots (AFC East), Kansas City Chiefs (AFC West) and Houston Texans (AFC South).
The Ravens (14-2) have locked up the No. 1 seed in the conference while the Chiefs (12-4) are second, the Patriots (12-4) are third and the Texans (10-6) are fourth.
The Buffalo Bills (10-6) and Tennessee Titans (9-7) have locked up the two wildcard spots.
In wildcard playoff games this weekend, the Texas will host the Bills and the Patriots will host the Titans in a pair of AFC matchups while the Saints will host the Vikings and the Eagles will host the Seahawks in a pair of NFC elimination games.
The NFL will close out its 100th season with Super Bowl LIV on Feb. 2 in Miami.
SDCCU HOLIDAY BOWL
Photo Gallery by Phillip Brents
