North Torrance five-star recruit Mique Juarez was tops among a group of 21 South Bay football stars selected to the All-CIF Western Division team, earning the Defensive Player of the Year award.
The 6-foot-2, 225-pound multi-talented athlete did everything for the Saxons who shared the Pioneer League title with West before losing at Mira Costa 35-21 in the Western Division semifinals.
As a quarterback, Juarez accounted for 60 touchdowns during the season but it was his ability to cover sideline to sideline as a linebacker that had caught the eyes of college scouts.
After decommitting from USC, Juarez began the recruiting process again and has pared down potential gridiron programs to Alabama, Mississippi and UCLA.
Juarez was involved in 146 tackles (91 solo) this season leading a North defense that recorded five shutouts. He registered five sacks, four deflections and forced two fumbles and set a new school record for tackles in a career with 397.
As a quarterback, Juarez had 3,028 yards of total offense in 2015. He completed 122 of 239 passes for 1.658 yards and 23 touchdowns while throwing only six interceptions.
He rushed for 1,370 yards while scoring a school-record 36 touchdowns and also had a kickoff return for a touchdown.
Joining Juarez on the All-CIF squad were teammates Justin Allmond (receiver) and Kevin Ali’ifua (linebacker).
Bay League champion Palos Verdes led all schools with eight players selected. including Adison Umrarong (running back), Matt Nagy (offensive line), Kyle Coale (kicker), Nick Alessi (defensive back) and linebackers Kyle Messinger, Shane Irwin, Reid Helton and Trey Gonzales.
Redondo was represented by offensive lineman Danny Zimmerman, defensive back Jerone Jackson and linebacker Cedric Muzik.
Mira Costa junior quarterback David Arredondo was an All CIF selection as were Lawndale’s Zach Cooper (running back), Isaiah Lucas (offensive line), Chris Murray (offense utility), Jalen Walker (defensive back) and Bryant Perkinson (defense utility) and El Segundo’s Taz Tauaese (running back).
In the Northwest Division, Bishop Montgomery’s Patrick Smith (running back), Bernard Amofa (receiver) and Bryce Matthews (linebacker). Mary Star running back William Davis was named to the East Valley Division team.
In the highly-competitive PAC-5 Division, Serra landed five players on the All-CIF team including Khalil Tate (offense utility), linebackers Oluwole Betiku and Blake Walls, Brandon Burton (defense utility) and CJ Pollard (defensive back).
