This is the 2nd of 3 special editions of the Talon SFC Football News. There is more to accomplish for this team and these players with the playoffs coming up and we will publish more information after the CIF Championship Game.
In this edition we focus on offensive stats. Before jumping in, it must be acknowledged that football is the ultimate team sport and one team member’s success stems from the fact that the other 10 guys on the field did their job and the coaches put together winning game plans. That is, passers do not collect passing yards without the offensive line blocking and receivers catching. And rushers do run the ball without an offensive line opening the holes. Even a point after touchdown requires the team – snapper, holder, the line blocking, and the kick. Thank you to the players and coaches that enable the following individuals to post some pretty amazing statistics.
Below are some interesting offensive statistics that spotlight SFC players and how they stack up in San Diego, in CIF Division III, in the Coastal League and in some cases in the State. These stats are based on information in MaxPreps as of October 26, 2021 and only reflect what SFC and other schools have reported on and prior to that date.
Offense: MaxPreps has six different statistical categories offense: Passing Yards, Rushing Yards, Receiving Yards, Scoring, Touchdowns and Total Yards. Here are some interesting stats for SFC players:
Passing Yards: Thomas Greupner has had a fantastic year at quarterback. Perhaps one of the best for an SFC quarterback in the recent past. Thomas ranked 18th in passing yards in San Diego County and was 2nd in San Diego County with a passer rating of 147.6. For quarterbacks with at least 40 attempts, Thomas was 2nd in San Diego County in completion percentage at a remarkable 71.3%. Thomas ranked 5th in DIII in passing yards and had the best passer rating for any QB in DIII with more than 15 attempts. Way to go Thomas!
Rushing Yards: Luca Torti and Cooper Whitton were ranked 8th and 9th in DIII in rushing yards and 3rd and 4th in the Coastal League. Quite the 1-2 punch. Colton Lehberg, Jackson Bush and Dante Rotchford ranked 7th, 8th and 9th in the Coastal League. In addition, Whitton, Torti, Lehberg, and Bush ranked 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 6th in rushing TDs in the Coastal League. Cooper Whitton played in only 5 games before suffering an injury. We can only imagine what he would have accomplished if he had not been injured. Before his injury he was averaging over 77 rushing yards per game. If he had maintained that average for the 4 games he missed due to injury, he would easily have won the rushing title for the Coastal League.
Receiving Yards: This is where it gets really good. Zack Marshall ranked 27th in the State in receiving yards for all receivers and 1st in the State for tight ends. He ranks #2 in San Diego County in receiving yards, one yard behind the leader. Remarkable season. Zack averaged more than 100 receiving yards per game and averaged 24 yards per catch. This had to be one of the best (if not the best) season in SFC history for a receiver.
Scoring: Colton Lehberg is ranked 13th in San Diego County in total points with 90 points (6 touchdowns, 3 field goals and 45 extra points). Colton is ranked 3rd in points in DIII and 2nd in the Coastal League. Cooper Whitton is ranked 5th and Zack Marshall 8th in scoring in the Coastal League and Luca Torti and Jackson Bush are ranked 11th and 12th in the Coastal League.
Touchdowns: With respect to touchdowns scored, Cooper Whitton and Zack Marshall were ranked tied for 9th and tied for 9th in DIII, respectively. Luca Torti was tied for 17th. In the Coastal League, Cooper Whitton was tied for 5th in touchdowns scored, Zack was 7th, Luca Torti was tied for 8th and Colton Lehberg and Jackson Bush were tied for 10th in the Coastal League for touchdowns scored.
Total Yards: Thomas Greupner ranked 8th in DIII and 3rd in the Coastal League in total yards with 1,521 yards, 1,287 passing yards, 189 rushing yards and 45 receiving yards. Zack Marshall ranked 11th in DIII and 6th in the Coastal League in total yards – 912 receiving yards.
SFC placed a lot of guys in the top 10 in the various offensive categories. Congrats to these players, their teammates that enabled this success, and the coaching staff for putting together winning game plans.
In our next chapter we will highlight our defensive and special team standouts.