Some film of a great CCS RB about 1981 North Salinas Anthony Toney who eventually played 5 year at Philadelphia. Probably best RB out of Monterey Bay Area
Great CCS RBs
- Thread starter NorCalSportsFan
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RB is arguably the weakest position in the CCS over the past 40 years with only a few players having much impact on the D1 college level or cracking a pro roster.
For my money Tyrese Knox Jefferson '82 was probably the highest level RB recruit out of the CCS in the past 40 years and went to Nebraska which is the equivalent of going to a top SEC school today and played a fair amount there in his last three years.
The Marshall brothers from Valley Christian both had very good college careers at Arizona State and Oregon and the younger brother played a few years with the Redskins.
Eskridge from Serra had a good college career at Minnesota and Jordan Mims from Menlo-Atherton had a good freshman year as the top running back at Fresno State but has been slowed by injuries the last couple of years.
I am sure I am missing a couple, but I am hard pressed to think of many CCS RB's that have even had great DI level impact in recent years.
When you look at the CCS record book only 5 HS RB backs have had over 5,000 career yards and only two, Knox and Amir Carlisle Kings Academy USC/Notre Dame were DI FBS athletes.
For my money Tyrese Knox Jefferson '82 was probably the highest level RB recruit out of the CCS in the past 40 years and went to Nebraska which is the equivalent of going to a top SEC school today and played a fair amount there in his last three years.
The Marshall brothers from Valley Christian both had very good college careers at Arizona State and Oregon and the younger brother played a few years with the Redskins.
Eskridge from Serra had a good college career at Minnesota and Jordan Mims from Menlo-Atherton had a good freshman year as the top running back at Fresno State but has been slowed by injuries the last couple of years.
I am sure I am missing a couple, but I am hard pressed to think of many CCS RB's that have even had great DI level impact in recent years.
When you look at the CCS record book only 5 HS RB backs have had over 5,000 career yards and only two, Knox and Amir Carlisle Kings Academy USC/Notre Dame were DI FBS athletes.
Riordan RBs Steve Sewell (Oklahoma/Denver Broncos); Derek Loville (Oregon/Seahawks/Niners/Broncos, Jabari Jackson CCSF/USC). Donald Strickland (Colorado/Colts/Niners) and Eric Wright (USC/UNLV/Browns/Bucs/Niners) played RB in HS, but switched to DBs in college/NFL)
I saw Jefferson's Tyrese Knox play against my brother at Palma in a game in 1982 0r 1983. My brother played CB and went against him a few times. Tough kid to tackle and fast. Games as I recall was close. Saw both Knox and Tony and both were big backs. They even overlapped in Tonys late years and Knox's early seasons. I believe Toney may have been a little bigger. North High played in a tougher league at that time - bigger schools and played against St Francis and Saratoga whch was good at the time. Toney who also played at Texas A&M before the NFL and may have been a little bigger and was physical and cut on a dime. Both great RBs. I think I would take Tony over Knox .Del Rogers a few years earlier from North Salinas was also a great RB (and Sacramento newscaster) and fast and physical and played at Green Bay. He was the best RB I saw untill Toney. Toney and Knox were both bigger than the Marshall brothers from VC although younger Marshall brother quite an athlete and both fast. Best RBs from CCS were Toney and Knox were the best I've seen and I saw pretty much all mentioned. Toney had D1 FBS opportunity out of HS but wanted to play local and then had a great career at A&M before 5 years in the pros at Philadelphia. Toney still does a lot for the youth in the Monterey Bay area. Maybe best athlete to date in CCS is Franklin at MA, but he wouldn't have been the RBs as good as Tony or Knox. Knox and Amir Carlisle played at smaller schools and strength of schedule may not have been as tough. Palma had some great RBs stat wise and comparable to many on the list but not the size. I think last year's RB Villegas averaged 9.6 yards a carry on 1841 yards and 31 TDs (4,870 yards in three seasons and would have had more if he wasn't hurt two games last season and they would have played longer in playoffs and injury the year before that impacted him early in the season) but not the size of Knox and Tony. I would take Tony in my opinion and he would have been great even today.
The records of Carlisle and Knox were great but both played in relatively subpar leagues in may ways padded their stats. Not to say they weren't great RBs but would be interesting if they played in the WCAL and how they would do against those teams.
The records of Carlisle and Knox were great but both played in relatively subpar leagues in may ways padded their stats. Not to say they weren't great RBs but would be interesting if they played in the WCAL and how they would do against those teams.
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Sewell played for the Oklahoma Sooners during its Flexbone offense run under Barry Switzer. They were a national power. Interesting story from last year re Sewell and his place among Sooner running back greats:
https://heartland-sports.com/2019/06/29/oklahoma-sooners-football-steve-sewell-may-have-been-ous-most-underrated-rb/
Best CCS athlete probably Lynn Swann. Pro Hall of Fame/Super Bowl MVP football. A Di recruit in hoops. A CIF state track and field champion. And Swann made this stuff look relatively easy. Franklin has a way to go to equal all of that _ although he may be the best WR in CCS since Swann.
This is going back a bit but Johnny Johnson Jr from Santa Cruz had a solid career at San Jose State and played a few years in the NFL.
Willie Harper Jr from Fremont was unstoppable in high school but ran into trouble in college (he got shot at a party) and his career went off the rails after that.
Willie Harper Jr from Fremont was unstoppable in high school but ran into trouble in college (he got shot at a party) and his career went off the rails after that.
Ok-This is going way back and everybody is probably going to say Who?!?! His name is Gary Nair- played at Pacific Grove High - graduated in 1975.Back in the days when there was only one division in the CCS Football playoffs. Took very small school to the semifinals where they lost to Awalt. Awalt went on to play Leland in the finals- don't remember who won.Talk about a physical specimen- 6'1'' 235 lb. 4.45-4.5 forty guy. Was not a student and consequently never panned out at the Univ. of Oregon- played I believe one impressive season at Monterey Peninsula College. If you ever run into Ed Buller (Oak Grove) ask him about the guy.
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While not a true RB, I want to give a special shout out to Shane Smith of Los Gatos/San Jose State because of the rarity of his position in the NFL - fullback. He was good enough to make an NFL active roster for the New York Giants in a league where the fullback is almost extinct.
Los Gatos is fullback high. Nick Bawden who was a QB at Los Gatos and started his career at San Diego St. as a QB before switching to fullback. He has been on the Detroit Lions roster the last couple of years.
I played with Willie Harper Jr. at Fremont, so I am more than a little biased, but as a senior, he did earn 1st Team All-State recognition from Cal-Hi Sports Magazine (a huge deal at the time). The other RB that year? Napoleon Kaufman from Lompoc. It never worked out in college for Willie, he ended up at De Anza/SJSU, but he was a force in high school.
Eteka Huckaby from Homestead, class of 90, who played on the same team with Sean Dawkins, received a scholarship to UW, right out of Homestead. The DAAL produced a lot of college players during that era.
Another early 90's star from the CCS was Shon Lewis from Wilcox. If anyone on here watched him run the ball, they can attest how dynamic he was with the football. I think Lewis went up to Washington State.
Eteka Huckaby from Homestead, class of 90, who played on the same team with Sean Dawkins, received a scholarship to UW, right out of Homestead. The DAAL produced a lot of college players during that era.
Another early 90's star from the CCS was Shon Lewis from Wilcox. If anyone on here watched him run the ball, they can attest how dynamic he was with the football. I think Lewis went up to Washington State.
Knox was the truth. HE should've went to another school.
NEBRASKA was a national power. But he should've went to USC. AT Nebraska he was playing RB by committee. HE had a good collegiate career. BUT it could've been more...
QUOTE="NorCalSportsFan, post: 265645, member: 94"]I saw Jefferson's Tyrese Knox play against my brother at Palma in a game in 1982 0r 1983. My brother played CB and went against him a few times. Tough kid to tackle and fast. Games as I recall was close. Saw both Knox and Tony and both were big backs. They even overlapped in Tonys late years and Knox's early seasons. I believe Toney may have been a little bigger. North High played in a tougher league at that time - bigger schools and played against St Francis and Saratoga whch was good at the time. Toney who also played at Texas A&M before the NFL and may have been a little bigger and was physical and cut on a dime. Both great RBs. I think I would take Tony over Knox .Del Rogers a few years earlier from North Salinas was also a great RB (and Sacramento newscaster) and fast and physical and played at Green Bay. He was the best RB I saw untill Toney. Toney and Knox were both bigger than the Marshall brothers from VC although younger Marshall brother quite an athlete and both fast. Best RBs from CCS were Toney and Knox were the best I've seen and I saw pretty much all mentioned. Toney had D1 FBS opportunity out of HS but wanted to play local and then had a great career at A&M before 5 years in the pros at Philadelphia. Toney still does a lot for the youth in the Monterey Bay area. Maybe best athlete to date in CCS is Franklin at MA, but he wouldn't have been the RBs as good as Tony or Knox. Knox and Amir Carlisle played at smaller schools and strength of schedule may not have been as tough. Palma had some great RBs stat wise and comparable to many on the list but not the size. I think last year's RB Villegas averaged 9.6 yards a carry on 1841 yards and 31 TDs (4,870 yards in three seasons and would have had more if he wasn't hurt two games last season and they would have played longer in playoffs and injury the year before that impacted him early in the season) but not the size of Knox and Tony. I would take Tony in my opinion and he would have been great even today.
The records of Carlisle and Knox were great but both played in relatively subpar leagues in may ways padded their stats. Not to say they weren't great RBs but would be interesting if they played in the WCAL and how they would do against those teams.[/QUOTE]
NEBRASKA was a national power. But he should've went to USC. AT Nebraska he was playing RB by committee. HE had a good collegiate career. BUT it could've been more...
QUOTE="NorCalSportsFan, post: 265645, member: 94"]I saw Jefferson's Tyrese Knox play against my brother at Palma in a game in 1982 0r 1983. My brother played CB and went against him a few times. Tough kid to tackle and fast. Games as I recall was close. Saw both Knox and Tony and both were big backs. They even overlapped in Tonys late years and Knox's early seasons. I believe Toney may have been a little bigger. North High played in a tougher league at that time - bigger schools and played against St Francis and Saratoga whch was good at the time. Toney who also played at Texas A&M before the NFL and may have been a little bigger and was physical and cut on a dime. Both great RBs. I think I would take Tony over Knox .Del Rogers a few years earlier from North Salinas was also a great RB (and Sacramento newscaster) and fast and physical and played at Green Bay. He was the best RB I saw untill Toney. Toney and Knox were both bigger than the Marshall brothers from VC although younger Marshall brother quite an athlete and both fast. Best RBs from CCS were Toney and Knox were the best I've seen and I saw pretty much all mentioned. Toney had D1 FBS opportunity out of HS but wanted to play local and then had a great career at A&M before 5 years in the pros at Philadelphia. Toney still does a lot for the youth in the Monterey Bay area. Maybe best athlete to date in CCS is Franklin at MA, but he wouldn't have been the RBs as good as Tony or Knox. Knox and Amir Carlisle played at smaller schools and strength of schedule may not have been as tough. Palma had some great RBs stat wise and comparable to many on the list but not the size. I think last year's RB Villegas averaged 9.6 yards a carry on 1841 yards and 31 TDs (4,870 yards in three seasons and would have had more if he wasn't hurt two games last season and they would have played longer in playoffs and injury the year before that impacted him early in the season) but not the size of Knox and Tony. I would take Tony in my opinion and he would have been great even today.
The records of Carlisle and Knox were great but both played in relatively subpar leagues in may ways padded their stats. Not to say they weren't great RBs but would be interesting if they played in the WCAL and how they would do against those teams.[/QUOTE]
Toney 6-2 over 200 lbs (227 in college) and a TD machine in college> Knox 5-11 and 215 in college. Reason I would have taken Toney and they played around the same time. Both great players. Not sure why Knox didn't make an NFL team. Toney was second round pick and played 4 or 5 years. I think the Marshall brothers VC were great. Older brother Cameron seemed to have a hamstring issue that slowed him down, and Byron was a little taller and athletic. While CCS has't been known for RBs I think the league is understated. Tough defensive league and in some years they have track speed athletes
Good note @NorCalSportsFan on identity of WCAL. It is interesting how schools/teams get a reputation for the type of players they have.
Regarding Byron Marshall, I remember a quote from Paul Cronin of Cardinal Newman when he said he was a future NFL player after they played. One of the true big play threats we've had at RB from the region
Regarding Byron Marshall, I remember a quote from Paul Cronin of Cardinal Newman when he said he was a future NFL player after they played. One of the true big play threats we've had at RB from the region
Greg Jones, South SF, early 1960s. UCLA and NFL. CCS had been carved out of NCS by that time. Warriors were dominant back in those days.
Tail Back U, St. Francis...
Steve Ruffin '88
Markee Lockett '90 - Parade All-American
Marquis Jessie '93
Charles Tharp '97
Ronald Nunn '00
Jared Page '17
Antwon Guidry - Leigh '98
Darren Hooper - Aragon '95
Shon Lewis - Wilcox - '93
Willie Harper Jr - Fremont '90
Jamar Shepphed - Sacred Heart '96
Steve Ruffin '88
Markee Lockett '90 - Parade All-American
Marquis Jessie '93
Charles Tharp '97
Ronald Nunn '00
Jared Page '17
Antwon Guidry - Leigh '98
Darren Hooper - Aragon '95
Shon Lewis - Wilcox - '93
Willie Harper Jr - Fremont '90
Jamar Shepphed - Sacred Heart '96
Great shout out for SH's Jamar Sheppard. The college deal never came to fruition but IMHO what an incredible talent. Besides,who else can say they picked the GOAT (that hurts I'm a Montana guy) and took it 102 yards too the house as a 10th grader ?
yes i played against him and I was going to mention him too, he was a load to take down and he tore us up when we played him at MC and Zack Rance was a nice player the year after
KNOX was in several NFL camps after Nebraska. FOR LIKE 3 or 4 years. Couldn't break in...
Too bad Carlisle transferred from VC after his freshman year. He was brought up to varsity for the CCS playoffs and the future was bright. Would have been fun to have seen him in the same backfield as the Marshalls.
Tyrone McGraw - ARHS/Stanford Univ. Rest in Peace.
Do you know what happened with that? I remember reading about him signing with Cal, and then I didn’t hear anything after that. I was curious but when I try to look it up, I get linked to an article talking about his pick 6 of Tom Brady, or something about his son.
I remember he was 2nd in All-Metro at RB behind Albert Tuipulotu. That guy became a pro rugby player.
I saw Anthony toney, Johnnie Johnson, Paul jones, Alonzo emery and Greg jones play. SI had a good RB in 1967 named Giorgetti. And I will add Carl braboy of Riordan and both Eric Redwoods, the one who played in the late 70s at Serra and Hillsdale and his son who played at Serra about 11-12 years ago. Not sure whether to consider Hassan Mahasin as a RB or WR.
No. Palma in MTAL at the time and FB/MLB 1978 and 1979. Played North Salinas and Tony was a soph starting at tailback. Later Toney played at Arkansas and then Philadelphia Eagles. Nice kid and nice guy later. He does alot for the youth football community. We were in the MTAL my years but one year played North High. Norm Costa first year as coach at Palma. Palma didn't run the Fly at that time which came later and Costa perfected.
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Maas and Sugimoto brought the fly to North Monterey county in about 1980 from Coachella valley, I think. Mark Speckman was the NMC frosh coach at the time. North County went from 0-10 to league champs. Later, Speckman took the fly to Gilroy, Merced, etc. Maas and Sugimoto got the idea for the fly from a custodian at Coachella valley. The custodian called it "La Mosca" -- the fly, in Spanish. Maas was utterly focused on football to the point that one game day he forgot his belt and in order to keep his pants up he threaded a rope through his belt loops, Jethro Bodine style.
Mark Speckman. A true legend. Still coaching. He tells a great story about his own high school football career. Born without hands, he nonetheless was called for holding on a play and the ref had to apologize.
You are right about the fly. Came from Delano.. Interesting article on its inception. https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/sports/lsu/article_e29dbcf0-c5a0-11e7-9ddc-1f814a19f9f8.html
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Surprised no one has mentioned Usua Amanam (Bellarmine/Stanford) who also earned a Rose Bowl DMVP. Terrorized the WCAL for 3 seasons at RB.
Great name. This was either pre-twitter or just the beginning, but his senior year, I remember waiting for updates on people that Usua had broken a long run. He consitently had a couple of week
