Northwood receiver Travis Arena (right) is congratulated by quarterback Jaden Piazza after hauling in a touchdown catch. (Photos Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone)
Northwood, Capistrano Valley and Aliso Niguel football teams continued their preparations for the 2019 season with a 7-on-7 summer passing league tournament at Northwood Thursday which also included some lower level teams.
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Northwood Coach Paige Nobles was pleased how Timberwolves’ quarterback Jaden Piazza did against Capistrano Valley, completing 8 of 9 passses.
“Jaden did an amazing job reading the defense in his pre snap read and did an amazing job with his read progression,” Nobles said. “Jaden hit the receiver that he needed to every snap.”
The scrimmages Thursday wrapped up the summer session for Northwood.
“This being my first summer camp as the head coach at Northwood was an amazing experience,” Nobles said. “I learned a lot from my players and my coaching staff as well as they learned from me. I would say my overall assessment was a great summer camp.”
Nobles said that Piazza, Jackson Baker, Adam Fujiwara and Xavier Cousar, “stood out as senior leaders on and off the field. My returning sophomore class now juniors are probably the best class of talent in the Irvine league.
“Newcomers Nate Maloney and Jack Beach will provide not only depth but amazing talent on both sides of the ball. Freshmen Adam Harper and Andrew Penrod will also see a lot of playing time for my varsity squad adding more depth, strength and talent also on both sides of the ball.”
Nobles said the Timberwolves made great progress.
“I would say my overall summer camp assessment was amazing,” he said.
First year Capo Valley Coach Sean Curtis also saw progress.
“I thought we did OK,” Curtis said. “For us, today was just about getting better and getting guys reps.”
Junior Dartanyon Moussiaux was the Cougars quarterback Thursday.
“He did all right, he’s still kind of learning the offense,” Curtis said. “He came over in the summer from JSerra, so he’s new to our system. He’s got a couple good guys behind him (sophomore Jackson Wear and junior Jacob Scott) who are pushing him. He definitely did a good job but we’re excited about the competition at that spot.”
Wide receiver Jack Haley stood out for the Cougars.
“He’s just a special breed,” Curtis said. “He’s probably going to be a Division 1 baseball player. He has a full ride to Oregon for baseball. He’s one of our leaders, he elevates our receiving corps to the next level.”
Aliso Niguel Coach Kurt Westling seemed pleased with what his team accomplished.
Senior Kyle Kyckelhahn handled most of the quarterback duties.
“We’ll be OK, Kyle is going to be our quarterback this year, he was all-league free safety last year,” Westling said. “He’s very athletic and we will run the ball a ton with him. Caleb Peterson is our outside receiver and he’s our go-to guy, it will be his third year starting.
Noah Sudyka, a standout on the baseball team, returning wide receiver/defensive back Sam Carducci and returning running back/linebacker Isaac Jones are also expected to contribute.
“We’re prety excited,” Westling said.
Aliso Niguel was 10-2 overall and finished 3-1 and in second place in the Sea View League last year.
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-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
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