PROFESSIONAL
ANTONIO GATES (Football, Chargers): Fans of the San Diego Chargers got to watch vintage Antonio Gates this month. The 6-foot-4, 260-pound tight end, in his 7th year with the Chargers, had 25 receptions for 353 yards and 2 touchdowns. He had 7 receptions against Philadelphia and Kansas City and 118 yards against the Chiefs in a 43-14 win.
SHAUN PHILLIPS (Football, Chargers): Needing big play from their linebackers, the Chargers’ 6-3, 262-pounder stepped up big for the month with 21 tackles, 14 of them solo, and four sacks—double his total for the entire season before the four November games in helping the injury-plagued defense do their part in four key victories.
JARED DUDLEY (Basketball, Phoenix Suns): Scored a season-high 18 points versus Philadelphia after a pair of 17-point outings. The 6-foot-7 Dudley, who led Horizon to a state basketball title and was the 22nd draft pick of the NBA draft in 2007 out of Boston College, averaged 8.9 points and 3.6 rebounds for the Suns who were 12-3 in November.
AMATEUR
ALI TROOST (Volleyball, USD): Just a junior, Troost capped a stellar season by being selected the WCC Player of the Year after helping USD to a second place finish. For the month, Troost led the team with 89 kills (4.68 kills per set), hit at a .318 clip, racked up a team-leading 11 service aces and was tied for second in digs with 89.
SEAN CANFIELD (Football, Oregon State University/Carlsbad High): Guiding the Beavers into the Rose Bowl picture, the 6-4 senior completed 72-of -97 for 758 yards and eight TDs in a 3-0 month. Canfield posted season highs of 342 yards in a 31-14 win over Cal and four TDs in a 48-21 victory over Washington.
SARAH McTIGUE (Soccer, UCSD): Helping the Tritons advance to the third round of the NCAA Division II tournament, the sophomore scored three of her team-high nine goals in the post-season. McTigue, who helped the Tritons to a 15-5-2 record, led UCSD to a second-round win over Chico State with two goals.
JORDAN WYNN (Football, Utah/Oceanside High): Just a freshman, Wynn started all five games in the month, going 3-2 with the only losses to TCU and BYU. The Oceanside High product was 78-of-143 for 991 yards and 5 TDs (only 3 interceptions) and in all three wins was not sacked. He was18-of-28 for 297 yards and 2 TDs against New Mexico.
BRANDON JOHNSON (Basketball, USD): Coming back for a season-ending injury last year, Johnson led the Toreros to a 4-2 start including wins over Stanford, No. 25 Oklahoma and Houston. The 6-foot guard averaged 15.6 points per game, 2.5 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 1.2 steals. Johnson had a season-high 22 points against Oklahoma.
SYLVIA SCHMIDT (Volleyball, UCSD): Earning CCAA Player of the Year honors, the Tritons senior set a school record for kills in a season with 478 en route to a school-best 29-3 record and No. 2 Division II ranking nationally. Advancing to the NCAA West Regional semifinals, she earned a spot on the All-Star team.
HIGH SCHOOL
DEVON BROWN (Golf, Cathedral Catholic): It isn’t often that the CIF San Diego Section has a Southern California Regional golf champion but the Dons’ senior, who will be headed to Northwestern University next fall, fired a 4-under par 68 at the SCGA course in Murrieta to accomplish that task. Her one-stroke victory was sandwiched around thirds in the section and state championships.
LACEY SMYTH (Tennis, San Marcos): If there was one to describe Smyth’s feelings upon winning the section singles crown it would be ‘finally.’ A finalist as a freshman and junior, the senior downed Cathedral Catholic’s Danielle Flores 7-5, 6-4 in the section championships to complete a dominating season in which she played 53 sets without a single loss.
COLIN SMITH (Water Polo, Carlsbad): This was supposed to be the year Carlsbad’s section title winning streak would be challenged. But with Smith, a senior and one of the few returning starters, leading the way, the Lancers rolled through the Division I playoffs to make it seven straight crowns. Smith scored a season-best equaling eight goals in the 12-10 championship win over Poway.
MALLORY ALBINI (Field Hockey, San Pasqual): The Eagles offense begins and often ends with the senior who is bound for the University of Michigan on a field hockey scholarship. Albini sparked San Pasqual to a 20-2 season record which included three shutout wins in the Division I playoffs, including a 1-0 victory over Fallbrook in the title game.
TONY JEFFERSON (Football, Eastlake): One had to look no farther than Jefferson to see why the Titans were undefeated in the month of November, earning the No. 2 seed in the San Diego Section playoffs. Jefferson, a two-way, four-year starter has rushed for 1,711 yards and 21 TDs, averaging 155 yards a game and 8.91 yards a carry this season.
BRENNAN CLAY (Football, Scripps Ranch): In the absence of a rifle-armed QB like Tate Forcier (now at Michigan), the University of Oklahoma-bound Clay, who gained more than 1,000 yards receiving as well as rushing in 2008, turned most of attention to running the ball and turned it up a few notches in helping the Falcons to playoff wins over Orange Glen and Lincoln.
Posted on December 7, 2009 by Christian Deleon
Sorry, commenting is not available for this item
