No. 9 Centennial Huskies Preseason High School Football Preview
Written by Ryan Wright
Twitter: @RyanWrightRNG
Year after year, the Centennial Huskies are one of the most feared teams in the nation taking to the gridiron with a mix of top-level talent, schemes that are hard to stop, and great coaching. The 2018 run exemplified the point seeing the Corona squad post a 12-1 season ending with a No. 9 national ranking by MaxPreps. With a high-powered offense, and studs on defense, the Huskies apply the pressure from every angle relentless in their pursuit of a victory.
The Huskies are an anytime and place kind of team kicking off last season with a 35-13 neutral site win over eventual Arizona state champs, and No. 21 end of season ranked, Chandler. The rest of the non-conference schedule was impressive colliding against a then- nationally ranked Orange Lutheran team before squaring off against Pittsburg and Narbonne and entering Big VIII League play. The Huskies doubled up for the season on Orange Lutheran in the playoffs and downed Rancho Cucamonga before falling to back-to-back state and national champs Mater Dei.
That unrelenting offense tore apart opposing defenses averaging 52 points each time out. The 2018 squad split time under center between Class of 2020 dual-threats Carter Freedland and Ala Mikaele. The top rushing tailback was senior Thomas Kinslow covering 778 yards off 138 totes with 14 touchdowns. The receiving corps was deep but led by four-star 2020 receiver Gary Bryant and his 40 receptions for 905 yards with 11 touchdowns and senior Reggie Retzlaff’s 36 receptions for 892 yards with 10 scores.
The defense was equally unkind holding teams to six points per game on average. The Huskies defense was anchored by seniors in four-star defensive end Drake Jackson (USC), three-star safety Tuasivi Nomura (USC), three-star defensive back Jayden Williams (USC) and defensive back Tyler Kinslow.
Huskies 2019 Offense
One thing head coach Matt Logan has to love about his 2019 squad is the return of his starting quarterbacks in Freedland and Mikaele. Easy to chalk up another 3,300-plus yards in the passing game with 34 or more touchdowns with those two in control. The anchor on the offensive line is three-star 2021 offensive tackle Devin Spencer. Spencer and the rest of the guys in the trench will pave open holes for a running back by committee early in the season until the next round of rising talents starts to separate from one another in live action.
Where the offense is absolutely loaded is at receiver. As a legit four-star recruit, Bryant will get the lion’s share of the focus from opposing secondaries, but that will be a mistake leaving senior receiver Aaron Smith and Class of 2021 talent Branden Alvarez alone in one-on-one coverage.
WR Aaron Smith on the Huskies offense: “Our offense is looking just as good as ever. We have grown a lot since last year and I believe we have more offensive firepower than we’ve ever had. We are going to put points on the board. I’m blessed to be a part of such an amazing program.”
Huskies 2019 Defense
The pulse of the defense begins in the trenches with five-star 2021 defensive end Korey Foreman. The attention that he will receive will open up fellow defensive linemen and linebackers to make plays. The pressure put on the quarterback will also play into the hands of senior three-star corner Isaiah Young (Cal). There are rising stars throughout the Centennial secondary to look out for this season in 2021 safety Calvin Pitcher, 2023 corner Aaron Williams, 2020 corner Zaire Macon, 2022 corner Jaden Mickey, and incoming 2020 transfer defensive back Damonte Ware.
CB Isaiah Young on the strengths of the Huskies defense: “I would say a lot of things. We are vocal; there are a lot of leaders everywhere on our defense. We are all enthusiastic about the game. We can change things really quick.”
The Schedule
There is absolutely nothing easy about the Huskies non-conference schedule this season and it all starts on the road against back-to-back champs Mater Dei. Some team has to start the year off against the No. 1 team in the nation; amazing to get a Top 10 national showdown in Week 1 of the season. After facing the Monarchs, more challenging games loom overhead in Orange Lutheran, Cathedral Catholic, and Nevada’s Liberty High School.
OLU lost a lot of senior talent off their 2018 squad, but a Trinity League team is still a Trinity League team. Cathedral Catholic was one of the top teams in California a year ago posting a 12-2 season winning the CIF San Diego Section over Torrey Pines with a run to the state title game against Folsom. This squad returns a lot of top talent with another chance for a deep run into the California playoffs in 2019. Each year Liberty takes the field with quality next level talent, and like many top California squads, are unafraid to play anyone. Taking the No. 3 ranked team in Nevada lightly would be a mistake.
2019 Centennial Schedule
Aug. 23 – at No. 1 Mater Dei (Santa Ana, CA) – Santa Ana Bowl – Fox Sports West
Aug. 30 – vs. Orange Lutheran (Orange, CA) – No. 24 CA ranked – at Centennial High School
Sept. 6 – at Cathedral Catholic (San Diego, CA) – No. 13 CA ranked
Sept. 13 – vs. Liberty (Henderson, NV) – No. 3 NV ranked
Sept. 20 – at Long Beach Poly (Long Beach, CA) – Long Beach Poly High School
Bye
Oct. 4 – vs. Santiago (Corona, CA)
Oct. 10 – vs. Corona (Corona, CA)
Oct. 18 – vs. Norco (Norco, CA) – No. 15 ranked CA
Oct. 25 – at King (Riverside, CA)
Nov. 1 – at Roosevelt (Eastvale, CA)
Photo credit: recruitingnewsguru.com; Centennial Huskies take the field (2018)