Inland Sports BOOST Top-25 prep football poll

JP Raineri

Sports Editor

Somehow, the first official week of high school football in California is almost here, which means, yes, summer is on the way out, making way for Fall sports, but it also means Zero Week games are coming in hot. Thursday, August 17, will mark the start of prep football in the Southwest Riverside County region, which can be equally as exciting as it can be stressful for a coaching staff for any number of reasons. But that’s another story. As for this week, we wanted to check in with Pep Fernandez and the crew from Inland Sports, who have been hard at work checking in with local teams, and getting down to the nitty gritty of what will make them tick this season.

Last week social media platforms were buzzing with the most recent BOOST Top-25 and coaches preseason polls which saw five of the top ten teams hailing from right here in our own backyard. Not to mention, of the top 25, ten are schools from the surrounding area.

The Chaparral Pumas came in at No. 2, out of the Big West Upper Division (formed in 2022), while former Southwestern League counterparts, Murrieta Valley, also in the BW Upper Division, follow right behind at No. 3, as well as Vista Murrieta at No. 9. Orange Vista

San Jacinto are other see PREP, page C-2

While he faces an uphill battle to make the Browns’ roster this summer, he has high hopes despite the fact that the team goes threedeep at cornerback before the position gets upsettingly thin.

As for Demetric Felton Jr., who carried the ball seven times for 46 yards and added two catches for 9 yards in Week One of the preseason, he says he felt like he was back at UCLA when he scored against the Jets on a 16-yard touchdown run with 6:11 left in the third quarter. A big part of it was the block quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson, his former QB at UCLA, made to help him scamper into the endzone.

“It was awesome,” Felton told the media after the win. “Yeah. It felt like it did when we were back at UCLA. It was cool.”

Felton Jr., a 2018 Great Oak graduate, who was a sixth-round pick by the Browns in 2021, carried the ball 233 with the Bruins, for 1,101 yards, and was a threat in the passing game, too, with 99 career catches for 958 yards. It was part of what appealed to the Browns when they picked him. It appealed to them so much that Felton was valued as a wide receiver last season, practicing with the receiver core, and stood with them on the sideline during games. In 2021 Felton had 2 receiving touchdowns with close to 200 yards on 21 targets. Last season Felton’s number were very limited on offense, as well as special teams, playing in only 8 games.

This year, he returns to the backfield as he worked primarily at running back last Thursday, playing almost all of the second half after he came in during the first half as John Kelly Jr.’s backup. Everyone who played was either a rookie getting their first work or a veteran fighting for a job. Felton falls squarely in the latter category since he was also the primary kick and punt returner with Jakeem Grant working back from a ruptured Achilles suffered in training camp. With such versatility, it’s just another way he can work his way onto the 53-man roster.

“It’s huge for me to be able to show that I can be helpful on special teams,” Felton Jr. said. “That’s something that I’ve been trying to work a lot in the off season just to give them more trust in me.”

During the first two years of his career, it was all about the more he could do. This year it’s about getting back to his roots.

“It’s been fun being able to go back in the running back room and contribute to the team,” he said. “It’s super fun for me.”

And finally, there’s former Heritage Patriot standout player Sione Takitaki, who looks to hit the depth chart as the starting