MaxPreps Names California All-State Football Teams

Division 1 First Team
TE – Morrell Presley, Carson, 6-3, 207, Sr
Great speed, great athlete, the UCLA-bound standout had 35 catches for 605 yards and five touchdowns. He had twice as many receptions as anyone on a Carson team that struggled offensively. Presley originally committed to USC, but changed his mind to become a Bruin.

OL – Michael Phillip, Arroyo Valley (San Bernardino), 6-4, 300, Sr
The most highly-recruited lineman in the Inland Empire, the first-team All-Riverside Press Enterprise performer was selected to play in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl. Other than USC, he’s got his choice of any Pacific-10 school.

DL – Iuta Tepa, Poly (Long Beach), 6-2, 215, Sr
Despite just playing one side of the ball, the active and productive defensive end recorded 102 tackles and 14 sacks. Considered an absolutely menace to opposing players, Tepa has committed to Hawaii.

Division I Second Team
OL – Alesana Laban, Grant (Sacramento), 6-2, 275, Sr
The key to Grant’s win over Long Beach Poly in the CIF Open Division championship game may have been the Pacer offensive line’s ability to matchup with the powerful ‘Rabbit defense. Laban was a big factor on the line all season long for the Pacers and earned All-Metro League lineman of the year honors. He also landed a spot on the Sacramento Bee’s All-Metro team.

Ath – Kipeli Koniseti, Grant (Sacramento), 6-3, 215, Sr
The unequivocal leader of the Pacers, Koniseti led Grant on the game-winning drive in the final four minutes against Long Beach Poly in the state finals and threw the game-winning touchdown toss to Darvin McCauley from 15 yards out. Koniseti was an All-Metro choice by the Sacramento Bee and he finished the season with 1,602 yards passing and 19 touchdowns (93-170). On the ground, he added 808 yards and 10 touchdowns on 99 carries.

DL – Talia Crichton, Lakewood, 6-4, 245, Sr
Sharing lineman of the year honors in the Moore League with Poly’s Iuta Tepa, Crichton had 92 tackles and 18 sacks for Lakewood, along with two fumble recoveries.

LB – Jeremiah Toma, Grant (Sacramento), 6-0, 215, Sr
Toma earned Metro Conference defensive MVP honors while leading the Pacer defense with 165 tackles and 10 sacks on the season. An All-Metro choice by the Sacramento Bee, Toma also had for fumble recoveries and two intercepted passed.

LB – Steven Fanua, Milpitas, 6-1, 215, Sr
Bound for Cal, Fanua culminated a spectacular three-year career at Milpitas that saw him earn All-Mercury News honors three years in a row along with All-Bay Area honors this season. He had 124 tackles and three sacks this year and finished his career with 482 tackles.

Division II First Team
TE – Levine Toilolo, Helix (La Mesa), 6-8, 247, Sr
A huge target at 6-foot-8, Toilolo earned All-San Diego County honors after catching 27 passes for 395 yards and seven touchdowns for the Highlanders. He helped Helix posted a 10-2-1 record with a runnerup finish in the Division 2 championship game to Oceanside. He’s committed to play at Stanford.

Division II Second Team
LB – Patrick Su’a, Highland (Bakersfield), 6-2, 210, Sr
The Bakersfield Californian honored Su’a as its most valuable defensive player. Su’a flew all over the field, compiling 75 tackles and 44 assists for 119 total tackles. He also had two interceptions and two fumble recoveries and was named the defensive MVP in the Southeast Yosemite League. Will play at Fresno State next season.

LB – Justin Vae’ena, Oceanside, 6-1, 220, Sr
Vae-ena was the leading tackler in the Pirate defense as he had a whopping 162 tackles during the season including 6 sacks and an interception. He was named to the all-area team by the San Diego Union Tribune. Also plays baseball for the Pirates.

Division III First Team
OL – Ben Savaii, Taft, 6-1, 245, Sr
Savaii was named to the Bakersfield Californian’s all-area team for the second straight season. Played center and noseguard for the Wildcats.

DL – Sione Tuihalamaka, Serra (Gardena), 6-3, 275, Sr
The Serra lineman was a force on both sides of the line, whether it was opening holes for RB Carl Winston or pulling down opposing quarterbacks. A repeat all-state pick by MaxPreps, Tuihalamaka had 83 tackles and 13 sacks on the year. Has not made a college choice yet but is considering offers from Arizona, among others.

Division III Second Team
DL – John Sua, St. Joseph’s (Santa Maria), 6-1, 278, Sr
Sua was named the most valuable player in the Los Padres League and was an all-area pick by the Santa Maria Times. He had 60 tackles on the season to go with 8.5 sacks.

Division IV Second Team
WR – Myles Muagututia, Parker (San Diego), 6-2, 210, Sr
Muagututia was a favorite target of quarterback Deon Randall as he caught 32 passes for 473 yards and 12 touchdowns. Earned all-league honors and helped Parker to a San Diego Section Division 5 championship.

Navy gives Niumatalolo extension

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Navy football coach Ken Niumatalolo was given a contract extension Wednesday, a reward for defeating Army and taking the Midshipmen to a bowl game in his first full season as coach at the academy.

Terms of the contract, or the length of the extension, were not released.

Niumatalolo guided the Midshipmen to an 8-5 record, best-ever for a first-year coach at Navy during the modern era. The Midshipmen closed the season with their sixth straight bowl appearance, a loss to Wake Forest in the EagleBank Bowl.

Niumatalolo replaced Paul Johnson, who went to Georgia Tech, late last season.

"Rare is the case when a major coaching transition at this level of competition results in the extraordinary success we realized this past season under Kenny's leadership," Navy athletic director Chet Gladchuk said. "His vision for the future of the program and our midshipmen goes well beyond this past season's stellar accomplishments. There is not a better on or off the field leader and role model for our midshipmen than Ken Niumatalolo."

Niumatalolo said, "The Naval Academy has made a significant commitment to me and my family, for which we are eternally grateful. ... [This] is a special place and I have no desire to coach anywhere else in the country."

Niumatalolo's eight wins were the most by a first-year Navy coach since 1926, when Bill Ingram led the Midshipmen to a 9-0-1 record. Niumatalolo also became only the second coach in school history to win the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy in his first year.

Navy defeated both Air Force and Army this season.

Roy Miller Fiesta Bowl MVP

Texas defensive tackle Roy Miller was named defensive MVP of the Fiesta Bowl in the Longhorns 24-21 victory over Ohio State. Miller finished with 3 tackles including a sack.

Reaching to the sky, Florida's Murphy pays tribute to mother

Some days, when the elementary school tour groups had wound their way through, when the budget meetings had wrapped, Louis Murphy would stand in the man-made rainforest on the southwest corner of the University of Florida campus and watch the butterflies. Others favored the Blue Morphos, but Murphy preferred the Emerald Swallowtails, the peacocks of the insect world.

Mostly, Murphy liked the tranquility. The trickling water and the flutter of emerald wings brought him peace on days when the grief roared, when he remembered again that the best woman he'd ever known wouldn't be there to answer the phone if he called and needed a little motherly advice. The Florida senior receiver's fall-semester internship -- the final piece necessary for the sports event management degree he received in December -- at the Lepidoptera research facility at Florida's Museum of Natural History occasionally allowed him moments when he could stand surrounded by tiny, flying miracles and remind himself that there is a God, there is a heaven, and Filomena Murphy is there, flying with wings of her own.

They lost her on Valentine's Day. The preacher's wife and mother of two whom everyone called Mina had spent two years fighting off the breast cancer that attacked in 2004, but the disease crept back in her bones in 2007. It finally took her life after reaching her pancreas.

For Mina's son, her death was the cruelest lesson in a college career filled with harsh truths. Louis had overcome a wild streak and become the type of son any mother would beam over and the type of player any coach would name a captain, but, for a while, this phase of his journey into adulthood seemed too much to bear.

Now, he can talk about it.

He can talk about the day in September 2007 when he went home to St. Petersburg, Fla., bearing balloons and flowers, and he learned that chemotherapy had made Mina too sick to attend his upcoming game against Auburn. So he asked her how he might send her a message during the game. "Just point to the sky," she told him. "I'll know you're talking to me."

He can talk about the moment he decided to turn his life and football around. After his sophomore season ended in early 2007, he looked at her, so strong after fighting off cancer the first time, and he realized all his knucklehead moves -- which included a marijuana possession charge in spring 2006 -- only made her worry. He resolved that instead of making her worry, he'd make her proud.

He can talk about the dream he had not long ago, when he spoke to her. She told him if she had a chance to return to earth, she wouldn't. She's having too much fun in heaven.

She certainly made her mark in her 47 years on earth.

*****

There might not be a Louis Murphy Jr., star wide receiver, if not for the genius of Earth, Wind and Fire. On Dec. 31, 1981, four U.S. Marines stationed in Hawaii went to a Waikiki bar to ring in the new year. They happened upon four young ladies. A young Marine named Louis Murphy immediately found himself drawn to the native Samoan, who, like him, was a student at nearby Chaminade University. "She was classy looking," Louis Murphy Sr. remembers. "She was stylish. She was a lot of fun. She was also the best dancer. So I picked her."

Earth, Wind and Fire's Reasons pulsed through the nightclub. Dancers paired off. The Marine asked the Samoan beauty to dance. "The rest, as they say, is history," Louis Sr. says.

Later, after the couple settled in St. Petersburg, they began attending Mount Zion Progressive Missionary Baptist Church. In 1999, the pastor quit and members left during a financial crisis. Louis Sr. told Mina he intended to leave as well. Mina, who generally sided with her husband on every major family decision, minced no words. "You go ahead," he remembers her saying. "I'm staying." Shortly after, Louis Sr. became the pastor of the church, which today has a congregation of more than 4,000.

Mina spent much of her life working with the worst children in society. For several years, she was a juvenile probation officer. For a while, she taught at a juvenile detention center, swiping her son's CDs from his car so she could play music while her students ate the candy she smuggled in for them. When she came home stressed about the plight of one of her students, Louis Jr. would tell her that one day she wouldn't have to work there anymore. He would make the NFL, and she wouldn't have to teach punks who didn't respect her. She would only smile. "They need love, too," Louis Jr. remembers his mother saying. "If I don't help them, nobody else will help them."

"She was always helping and loving," Louis Jr. says. "That's all she did. In my eyes, she was flawless."

All-Mercury News football first team

San Jose Mercury News selections include Milpitas' Steven Fanua and Daniel Musika, and Derek Muaava (Independence) a transfer from Las Vegas.

First Team
STEVEN FANUA, MILPITAS linebacker, senior, 6-3, 215

A three-time All-Mercury News selection, Fanua was the most valuable player in the De Anza Division. The hard-hitting senior has a motor that never stops, and his enthusiasm and leadership were an inspiration to his teammates. Known for his ability to make plays sideline to sideline, he recorded 124 tackles with three sacks and made an oral commitment to Cal.

Second Team
Daniel Musika (Milpitas, CA) OL, 5'10, 270, Jr
Derek Muaava (Independence-San Jose, CA) Utility Defense 6'1, 205, Jr

Honorable Mention
Bruce Leaupepe (Oak Grove)
Finau Likio (Wilcox)
Jacob Mausali (Oak Grove)
Anthony Pohahau (Wilcox)
Erwin Taliaoa (Overfelt)
Nick Pula (Evergreen Valley)
Justin Sagote (Wilcox)

2008 MaxPreps Football All-American Team

Long Beach Poly's Iuta Tepa and Punahou's Manti Te'o were named First Team All Americans by MaxPreps. Selected to the second team were Carson's Morrell Presley and Provo Timpview's Xavier Su'a Filo.

DL - Iuta Tepa, Poly (Long Beach, Calif.), 6-2, 215, Sr.
Tepa was a key cog in one of the nation’s stingiest defenses; he had 14 sacks and 102 tackles for a Jackrabbits team that lost just once.

LB - Manti Te’o, Punahou (Honolulu, Hawaii), 6-3, 233, Sr.
One of the most highly recruited players from Hawaii, Te’o was a force on defense, collecting numerous individual awards while leading the Buff N Blue to another state title. Teo registered 129 tackles, 11 sacks and three forced fumbles. He also had three interceptions and returned an interception and a blocked punt for a score this year.

TE - Morrell Presley, Carson (Calif.), 6-3, 207, Sr.
The extremely athletic Presley is a MaxPreps California Division 1 first team selection. He is on his way to UCLA in the fall. Presley caught 35 passes for 605 yards and five touchdowns for the Colts.

OL - Xavier Su'a-Filo, Timpview (Provo, Utah), 6-5, 290, Sr.
Su’a-Filo was named Utah’s 4A Offensive Player of the Year, an unusual feat for an offensive lineman. His presence on the line helped lead Timpview to a state title.

Tuipulotu named First Team All Area Dallas Morning News

Siosaia Tuipulotu, Euless Trinity, Sr.

Position: Defensive line

Height, weight: 6-2, 285

About Tuipulotu: The District 5-5A Defensive Player of the Year, nicknamed L.T., registered 85 tackles in 2008, including 15 for losses and four sacks. He is orally committed to Utah but plans to go on a religious mission before starting his college career.

Did you know? Tuipulotu played rugby growing up in Tonga until he moved to the U.S. two years ago.

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Cottonwood's Martinez says USC's the place

There was never a moment when John Martinez found the University of Southern California unappealing.

"I just felt like it was the place to be," said Martinez, who announced his commitment to the Trojans Sunday night just before the start of the Under Armour All-American Football Game on ESPN. "I've been talking to (former Cottonwood teammate) Stanley Havili about it a lot lately, and I feel like it's the best decision for me."

It wasn't just one aspect of the Trojans' program that swayed the heavily recruited offensive lineman to turn down offers from LSU, UCLA and about 30 others.

"It was kind of everything," Martinez said in a telephone interview with the Deseret News. The two-time all-state lineman has visited the USC campus numerous times, including an official visit when the Trojans defeated Ohio State on Sept. 13. Martinez also visited LSU and UCLA but canceled his last two scheduled visits because he'd narrowed his list to those three.

He said he made the final decision Saturday and informed his parents that evening.

"They thought it was the right choice," Martinez said. "They were good with where ever I went as long as I felt comfortable with the decision."

Martinez said he'd grown tired of the pressure and was relieved to have the decision made and announced before his final game as a high school player.

"It feels really good," he said. "I feel a lot of relief; I think I'll play a lot better now."

He said he was both nervous and excited for the All-American Football game, in which he was slated to start as the White Team's center. Timpview offensive lineman, and the only other Utahn to play in the game, was supposed to start at right tackle. He said he'd enjoyed the week-long event, but he was also looking forward to returning to Utah.

"It's been crazy and great at the same time," he said. "I'd do it all again, thought. It's pretty amazing, all of the talent. Knowing you have the No. 1 players in all of those positions playing opposite you is pretty crazy."

He said he expects it will be something like that when he heads to college next year.