CIF Southern Section Football: 2026 Preseason All-Star Team by High School On SI

Ahead of the CIF Southern Section high school football season, High School On SI is presenting the preseason All-Star team for 2026.

This team is riddled with talent, and certainly loaded with a number of highly-touted college recruits, but this preseason All-Star team is also based on the projected performance of players this upcoming prep season.

Though it might be nice to be included on this preseason team, the list players should strive to be on will be revealed at the end of the season.

OFFENSE

QB - Taylor Lee, Pacifica/Oxnard, Sr.

Monster year for Lee. Passing for 4,059 yards and 53 TDs (14 INTs). He also ran for five TDs while completing 66% of his passes with a QB rating of 127.3. Tritons went 15-1 last fall.

QB - Dane Weber, Chaparral, Sr.

Passed for 3,645 yards and 41 TDs (nine INTs) with a 70% completion rate. He also ran for 14 TDs and 688 yards.

RB - Kamden Tillis, Los Alamitos, Sr.

Ran for 1,553 yards and 19 touchdowns en route to the Griffins CIF Southern Section Division 2 title. Also caught 26 passes for 346 yards.

RB - AJ McBean, Gardena Serra, Sr.

McBean ran for 685 yards and eight scores in nine games last year at Mira Costa.

WR - Quentin Hale, Corona Centennial, Sr.

At Cathedral, Hale caught 52 passes for 996 yards and 12 touchdowns. He averaged 14.1 yards per reception.

WR - Blake Wong, Norco, Sr.

An absolute stat stuffer. Wong tallied 84 catches for 1,470 yards and 20 touchdowns last year. He averaged just under 150 yards receiving per game.

WR - Charles Davis, Westlake, Sr.

This big-target receiver tallied 30 catches for 526 yards and 11 touchdowns last fall. Expect those numbers to potentially double in 2026.

WR - Eli Woodard, Chaparral, Sr.

Woodard hauled in 51 catches for 1,070 yards and 17 touchdowns from star QB Dane Weber.

TE - Luke Gazzaniga, Santa Margarita, Sr.

In eight games, Gazzaniga caught 20 balls for 332 yards and four touchdowns. Look for those numbers to double (at minimum) in 2026.

OL - Drew Fielder, Servite, Sr.

USC commit ranked among the top offensive tackles in California. Listed at 6-foot-6, 290.

OL - Jackson Hill, Chaminade, Sr.

Notre Dame commit listed at 6-foot-6, 300 pounds.

OL - Austin Attalah, Orange Lutheran, Jr.

Ranked the No. 1 junior lineman in California. Listed at 6-foot-7, 290 pounds.

OL - Lincoln Fa’alafi, JSerra, Jr.

Monster lineman listed at 6-foot-8, 360 pounds.

OL - Elisha Mueller, St. John Bosco, Jr.

One of the country's top interior lineman, listed at 6-foot-4, 280 pounds.

DEFENSE

DE - Marcus Fakatou, Sierra Canyon, Sr.

Recorded 69 tackles, 17 for loss and seven sacks in 12 games for Orange Lutheran. Reclassified and will play senior season at Sierra Canyon.

DT - Isaia Vandermade, Santa Margarita, Sr.

Vandermade finished with 47 tackles and 13.5 tackles for loss in 2025. He also had a team-high nine sacks.

DT - Myels Smith, Inglewood, Sr.

Smith had 91 tackles and 30 for loss with 10 sacks in 11 games.

DE - Godschoice Eboigbodin, JSerra, Sr.

A two-sport athlete (basketball) who has only been playing football for a year, Eboigbodin tallied 31 tackles, 5.5 for loss and 2.5 sacks. His best football is ahead of him — some think he can play on Sundays.

LB - Taven Epps, Tustin, Sr.

Tallied 72 tackles with 12 for loss and three sacks. Epps was also credited for 13 QB hurries.

LB - Josiah Poyer, St. John Bosco, Sr.

The future Trojan had 54 tackles with 10 tackles for loss. He led the Braves with seven sacks.

LB - Isaiah Phelps, Pacifica/Oxnard, Sr.

A mind-boggling 232 tackles with 23 for loss. Tallied four sacks and caused to fumbles.

DB - Donte Wright, Long Beach Poly, Sr.

25 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, seven press breakups and two sacks. Considered the top cover corner in California.

DB - Gavin Williams, Damien, Sr.

Had a monster junior year with 63 tackles (5 TFL), eight pass breakups, two interceptions. Also caught 23 balls for 401 yards and four TDs.

DB - Jalen Flowers, Palos Verdes, Jr.

50 tackles, two for loss, three pass breakups and five interceptions.

DB - Jordan Hicks, Mission Viejo, Jr.

62 tackles, 1.5 TFL, five pass breakups, three forced fumbles and five picks.

SPECIALISTS

ATH - Jaden Walk-Green, Corona Centennial, Sr.

High School On SI's Defensive Player of the Year in 2025 with 125 tackles, 10 INTs and five returned for touchdowns. Also added a punt return for TD and blocked field goal.

K - Gabriel Goroyan, Westlake, Sr.

Stanford commit was 50 of 51 on PATs last fall and was 7 of 12 in field goals with a long of 45 yards.

P - Star Thomas, Orange, Sr.

Thomas is the team's QB, but you can't deny his punting abilities. In 2025, he averaged 50 yards a punt (20 punts) with a long of 68 yards. He also pinned the opposition inside the 20-yard line eight times.

2026 PRESEASON COVERAGE

2025 CIF-SS RECAP

PALMER LEADS SANTA MARGARITA TO GLORY

When looking back at the 2025 high school football season in the CIF Southern Section, the lede is undoubtedly Santa Margarita — for a multitude of reasons.

Former NFL Pro Bowl quarterback Carson Palmer came back to his old stomping grounds and won all the big prizes in year one.

Santa Margarita shared the Trinity League title with St. John Bosco and Mater Dei before going on to win the CIF Southern Section Division 1 championship and CIF State Open Division titles. The Eagles thumped Corona Centennial at the Rose Bowl 42-7 thanks to 10 catches for 292 yards and four touchdowns (two rushing) from Player of the Year Trent Mosley (who is now at USC).

Palmer would guide Santa Margarita to a rout of De La Salle two weeks later, 47-13, at Saddleback College in December to lift the CIF State crown and finish the season 11-3.

When Palmer lifted the CIF-SS Division 1 plaque at the championship podium in the Rose Bowl, it was the first time a program not named St. John Bosco or Mater Dei lifted the Southern Section's top division trophy since Corona Centennial did it in 2015.

THE ‘MONEY MAN’

One of the biggest stories in recent prep sports history broke last fall when the emergence of Brett Steigh, also known as the ‘Money Man’, who made an appearance on FATTAL FACTOR, a weekly live sports show via Youtube with hosts Tarek Fattal and Aram Tolegian.

Steigh admitted to years of CIF violations at programs like Narbonne (his alma mater), St. Bernard, and most recently, Bishop Montgomery. The biggest confession came when he admitted to paying families up to $50,000 (plus expenses) to get their sons to play high school football at a program of his choice.

The fallout from the story resulted in Bishop Montgomery cancelling its varsity football season. The head football coach Ed Hodgkiss was fired and the President of the school Pat Lee was forced to resign. More than 20 players were deemed ineligible and hit with Bylaw 202 for falsifying documents, which means the student-athletes can’t participate in varsity athletics for up to 24 months.

The school ended up hiring Oscar McBride this past spring in efforts to start over. McBride is a former college and NFL standout who built Murrieta Mesa High into a CIF championship-level program. Murrieta Mesa was 0-9 before McBride was hired and led the program to a Division 6 title in 2024.

2025 CIF-SS CHAMPIONS

Click HERE for a quick recap of all the CIF Southern Section football champions from 2025 from Divisions 1 through 14.

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