As school begins, the San Pedro prep sports circuit starts rolling. This year, San Pedro High is hoping for another undefeated regular season, while Mary Star is poised to improve off of last year with a new head coach in Eugene Childs. The inaugural season of girls flag football at SPHS, led by coach Victor Tuberosi, adds even more excitement. Here’s our preview of the upcoming prep football season.
SAN PEDRO HIGH SCHOOL
Last year, the Pirates’ first season under new Head Coach Corey Walsh provided just the third perfect 10-0 regular season in program history, which was capped off by a hard-fought, 14-7 victory over Harbor Area neighbor Banning of Wilmington for the outright Marine League championship, a night that saw Walsh get doused by his players with the proverbial Gatorade shower in the final seconds of the night.
Two weeks later, their hopes of another run to a CIF-Los Angeles City Section Open Division championship, much less a second straight berth in the title game itself, was doused in heartbreak when, as the top seed of the Division, the Pirates were on the wrong end of a 38-31 quarterfinal overtime loss to No. 8 Eagle Rock, deemed by many as one of the greatest upsets in CIF-LACS football playoff history.
A younger, more vibrant Pirates team will be out to prove that what happened in 2022 will not be a foreshadowing of things to come.
The Pirates get the opportunity to redeem themselves against Eagle Rock in a nonleague encounter against the host Eagles on Friday, September 15, the most circled game outside of the Marine League on their calendar in a nonleague slate that also has road games at South Gate and Dymally of Los Angeles. They have three intersectional encounters at Lawndale and Desert Chapel, along with their lone home game of the trio against Torrance on September 1.
PREMIER PIRATES (l to r): Dylan Rubino, Pete Eneliko, Ephraim Miller, Robert Marnani, Adrian Aldama, and Luka Mardesich. (photo: John Mattera Photography)
How will San Pedro (10-1 in 2022) handle a schedule where they only have three games at the friendly confines of Mike Walsh Pirate Stadium? Having both quarterbacks return certainly helps.
Junior Marcus Jeronymo and senior Santiago Rivera both showed flashes of becoming the official starter throughout last season. Still, it was a tag-team approach that worked very well for San Pedro that both saw them engineer drives by themselves, or even enter in alternate plays in the same drive. Jeronymo threw for the most touchdowns between the two, while Rivera ran for more.
The offensive line designated to protect Jeronymo and Rivera returns two starters, senior Ephraim Miller and junior Dominic Estrada. Keep a close eye on 6’6”, 320-pound junior offensive guard/tackle Frankie Rivera, someone who can create holes for the running backs — and time for the quarterbacks to go to work.
Returning All-Marine League junior running back Pete Eneliko also returns, and if he stays healthy, is primed for a potential 1,000-yard, 15-touchdown kind of season. Eneliko runs hard on every play and is tough to bring down on first contact.
At the wide receiver position, Jeronymo and Rivera have many options.
Senior WR/DB Robert Marnani, junior Dylan Rubino, and senior WR/LB Luka Mardesich are key returners, but watch out for incoming sophomores Isaiyah Banks and Elias Mitchell, as both are deep ball threats. Mitchell also threw down an in-game slam dunk for the Marine League champion junior varsity boys basketball team this past early winter.
Defensively last season, San Pedro was stout, holding three of the four league teams to seven points or fewer, including a 14-0 league shutout win over Carson. Some notable returners on defense include Mardesich, junior WR/DB Anthony Estrada, and senior linebacker Edgar Lomeli.
Another key element to any football team is the kicking game. Enter Marnani to fill those roles, as he once again will be the team’s most reliable point producer for PATs and field goals. In a tight 3-0 road victory at Torrance, Marnani was the only scoring source, booting a 35-yard field goal with over nine minutes to play.
San Pedro officially opens their 2023 campaign at South Gate High School on Friday, August 25.
MARY STAR HIGH SCHOOL
Mary Star of the Sea High football enters a new season with a new coach for the third consecutive season.
Enter Eugene Childs as he debuts as the Stars’ head man. He comes into the 2023 season with a team eager to return to CIF-Southern Section postseason play for the first time in four years.
Last year, the Stars showed plenty of potential, finishing 5-5 overall, 3-3 within the Camino Real League, but narrowly missed the CIF-SS Division 14 playoffs despite their fourth-place finish.
MARY STAR STANDOUTS (l to r): Santiago Martinez, Aubrey Hunter, Sebastian Espindola, Jarren David, Marcus Baccari, and Max Marinkovich. (photo: John Mattera Photography)
Once again, the Stars find themselves back in the same league for another season as they will play the likes of Salesian of Los Angeles, St. Monica Prep of Santa Monica, Don Bosco Tech of Rosemead, Bishop Montgomery of Torrance, Harvard-Westlake of Studio City, Cantwell Sacred Heart of Mary in Montebello, and Verbum Dei of Los Angeles for one of the three guaranteed playoff spots.
Mary Star will be paced by multi-position athlete senior returning all-league QB/WR/DB Santiago Martinez, who will once again assume the starting role under center after playing most of last season offensively as a big-play receiver.
Other key players to watch out for include junior defensive end Marcus Baccari, junior WR/DB Jarren David, senior WR/DB Aubrey Hunter, junior C/DT Max Marinkovich, and senior RB/DB Sebastian Espindola.
Also returning for the Stars is junior RB/DB Luke Fajardo, who doubles up as a guard on the boys basketball team, and junior RB/MLB Jordan Barber.
With seven league games in place, Mary Star’s first three games of the year are all nonleague, starting with their season opener on Thursday, August 17, at La Salle of Pasadena. The Stars also take on Crean Lutheran of Irvine on the road on August 25 and their home opener against visiting El Segundo on September 1.
Mary Star’s four league games at home are against Salesian, Bishop Montgomery, Harvard-Westlake, and St. Monica. They will also travel for their other league games against Bosco Tech, Cantwell Sacred Heart, and Verbum Dei.
For the first time in its three years with home-field advantage on their Taper Avenue campus, all five home games will be played under Friday night lights at 7 p.m., a very exciting time for Stars football and sports fans alike.
SPHS GIRLS FLAG FOOTBALL
It’s a new day for San Pedro High School with the arrival of a new sanctioned sport by the California Interscholastic Federation — flag football.
The Pirates are among 54 CIF-Los Angeles City Section schools to field a girls flag football team for the inaugural 2023 season. For a school that has won close to 70 CIF-LACS titles in its history, entering into this new venture is an exciting challenge. Flag football is also a sport that seems tailor-made for San Pedro’s first girls flag football coach, Victor Tuberosi.
SPHS GIRLS FLAG FOOTBALL: (back row, l to r) Shalia Coleman, Magdalena Mariscal, Giuliana Sutrin, Logan Bader, Lexi Lopez; (front row, l to r) Madison Adrid, Noelani Raigans, Coach Victor Tuberosi, Jenna Ortega, and Nicole Castaneda. (photo: John Mattera Photography)
Coming over from a successful 10-year run as the girls basketball coach at nearby Mary Star, where, under his leadership, they produced three league titles and a 2021 CIF-Southern Section Division 4-AA championship, Tuberosi looks to bring his flag football coaching expertise to a school that has won six CIF-LACS titles in 11-man football.
For the inaugural season, San Pedro competes in the Marine League, except the league is mixed with some Western League schools in Fairfax of Los Angeles, Hamilton of Los Angeles, University of Los Angeles, Los Angeles CES, and Westchester, alongside usual league foe Narbonne of Harbor City, playing all these opposing schools twice. Rounding out the schedules are three intersectional South Bay battles with Palos Verdes, West Torrance, and their inaugural opener on September 6 at Redondo Union.
On September 15, San Pedro girls flag football will also battle against host Eagle Rock at 5:15 p.m., right before the football showdown at 7 p.m.
Tuberosi will be going for a two-quarterback approach with sophomores Jenna Ortega, a softball pitcher, and Madison Adrid, a member of the 2023 CIF-LACS Division 2 girls basketball team, which also brings in two more to flag football in two All-City guards, senior WR/RB Shalia Coleman and fellow senior WR/RB Noelani Raigans.
Also looking to do some damage in producing some touchdowns at wide receiver is another senior, Nicole Castaneda, who is also a Marine League champion girls soccer midfielder. The newest on the scene is freshman Lexi Lopez, a travel softball pitcher.
San Pedro’s first two flag football games at Mike Walsh Pirate Stadium are on September 11, the Marine League doubleheader opener against Narbonne at 3 p.m. and University at 5 p.m. spt
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