Quinten Pounds might be the best football player in Orange County. He does so much so well as a receiver, occasional tailback, kick returner and defensive back. It looks like the game is almost going slow-motion for Pounds, especially on kick or punt returns.
Upon receiving the ball he will carefully move forward while examining the developing scene, then suddenly fire up the rockets and shoot past everybody.
That is a skill rarely seen in county football.
WAIT, THERE’S MORE
Cypress is not a one-man team. Nick Buras is not among the large group of elite, college-ready quarterbacks in Orange County. There is no quarterback with more resolve or toughness than Buras, a generously listed 5-foot-11 and 180-pound senior who looks good enough to star for a mid-level college program or, at least, for a county community college.
The Centurions offensive line is outstanding, too, and Taylor Williams is a powerful running back.
Cypress will be in the hunt for the championship in a very good Empire League.
VOUCHING FOR VACCHER
The second-best player in the Cypress-Troy game Thursday was Troy receiver/defensive back Dominic Vaccher. He had five catches for 138 yards and returned an interception 94 yards for a touchdown.
Vaccher might be the best player in the Freeway League.
NO MORE?
The worst part of all of the postgame arguing among Edison and Servite coaches Friday was the talk from some Edison administrators that the Chargers might not play Catholic schools in the future.
It used to be that Servite players respected Edison players as much as they did any other opponents. There was a lot of trash-talking from Edison and Servite players after big plays Friday. It doesn’t matter who started it – coaches have to quell that early.
And if teen-aged players can calm down and execute gentlemanly handshakes after a game, adults coaches should also be able to do so.
CIRCLE THE WAGONS
Now that no county public schools are in a playoff division with the bigger private schools, county public schools can eliminate ever playing them by scheduling only each other in nonleague games.
Some great all-public school nonleague games could fill the vacuum created by Tesoro’s extinction of the Tesoro-Santa Margarita rivalry and the possible cessation of Edison vs. Mater Dei/Servite.
That would require the willingness of all of the county’s better public-school programs to play each other. So, Los Alamitos would have to be on board. Good luck with that.
WHO NEEDS A ‘W?’
A bunch of teams do. But no team needs a win more than Huntington Beach. The Oilers are 0-4 after winning a CIF championship last year.
HARMLESS
Villa Park forfeited Thursday’s win over Dana Hills for using an ineligible player. (Yes, public schools do that, too.) That dropped the Spartans to 1-2, but it won’t mean much come November.
Villa Park still should win the Crestview League championship and receive a quality seed in the Southwest Division playoffs.
FRYER’S TOP 25
Here is how I rank county football teams 1-25 this week: 1. Mater Dei (3-0); 2. Servite (3-1); 3. Santa Margarita (3-1); 4. Orange Lutheran (3-1); 5. JSerra (4-0); 6. Mission Viejo (2-2); 7. Corona del Mar (4-0); 8. Tesoro (3-1); 9. Edison (3-1); 10. Los Alamitos (3-0); 11. San Clemente (4-0); 12. El Toro (3-1); 13. La Habra (1-3); 14. Newport Harbor (1-2); 15. Valencia (3-0); 16. Villa Park (1-2); 17. Trabuco Hills (2-2); 18. Fountain Valley (3-1); 19. Cypress (3-0); 20. Yorba Linda (1-2); 21. Buena Park (4-0); 22. Troy (3-1); 23. Tustin (3-1); 24. Capistrano Valley (3-1); 25. Fullerton (2-2).
THIS WEEK
Here are some of the better matchups on the schedule this week:
• Corona del Mar at Tesoro, Friday: Look at the county rankings to see how evenly matched these teams seem to be.
• Mater Dei vs. Edison at Orange Coast College, Friday: Mater Dei is going to be favored. But Edison was a handful for Servite last week, and a couple of breaks here and there could put Edison in position to beat the Monarchs this week.
• Kennedy at Capistrano Valley, Friday: Two teams that could be a lot better than many realize.
• San Clemente at Newport Harbor, Friday: San Clemente’s Sam Darnold might be the best quarterback in the county. Newport Harbor traditionally is tough on opposing quarterbacks.
Contact the writer: sfryer@ocregister.com
