All-star football preview: Q&A with North coach Brent McKee

Q: What is your impression of the team after the first week of practice?

Brent McKee: It is a fun group to coach. There are a lot of great kids and I have been very impressed with their attitudes. Sometimes when you coach all-star teams, I've heard that you get egos and I have not seen that. These kids seem to be very attentive and listening to what we're trying to do.

Q: Which areas do you think are the strongest for the North?

McKee: I like our receivers a lot. I think we're very deep there. We have Josh Swaney (Troy) and Christian Daniel (Canyon) which are both tall kids that can go get the ball. You have Ryan Saumur (Cypress) who did it all and you have Tyler Ortiz (Pacifica) and Petey Puga (La Habra) and we have (Nolan) Sheldon (El Dorado) at tight end.

And the defensive line, I really like that as well.
 
Q: Talk about the defensive line. You received a big boost when Anthony Laurenzi  (El Dorado HS) joined the team.

McKee: You have the county defensive player of the year (Laurenzi) and getting him really was an upgrade. We also have his teammate from El Dorado Trace Wilson, Blake Poole (Esperanza) and Darren Koontz and Kameron Jones from Los Alamitos.

Q: Has anybody impressed you so far?

McKee: (Defensive lineman) Va Matai the kid from Loara who has been really impressive because I didn’t much about him and he’s a very good player.

That kid is a very good player.

Q: You talked about your depth at wide receivers. What are your thoughts on your quarterbacks Blake Hyepock (Orange Lutheran) and Chris Morales (La Habra)?

McKee: I've been very impressed with how quickly they've picked things up. It is a whole different terminology for them and we’ve thrown a lot at them. Both kids are very sharp and that helps.

I've been impressed with their leadership and the intelligence of both kids. Both will do a great job for us.

• O.C. All-Star Game Insider

Contact the writer: dcalhoun@ocregister.com