Top 25 Early Contenders high school football team preview: No. 21 Centennial

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View images by photographer Louis Lopez from his preseason photo shoot with the Huskies.


It's like clockwork at Centennial. Massive roster. One jewel quarterback. One workhorse tailback. Gads of wide receivers. Boat loads of points and yards.

Championship football.

Matt Logan, the program's coach and architect, started his career at rival Mater Dei and has built a juggernaut of a program that was floundering when he took over in 1997.

He's turned it into a football palace.

The Huskies and their vaunted spread offense have gone 127-18 over the past decade and reached the state title game six times, winning twice.

The program has managed to find and train quarterbacks equally adept at passing and running, and running backs who can carry the ball upwards of 40 times.

It's translated to offenses that are keenly consistent, balanced and productive.

Consider these numbers over the last five seasons.

See Centennial Early Contenders photo shoot

The Huskies' average rushing yards per game starting in 2015 and working backward: 259.6, 208.1, 322.9, 257.6 and 303.5. Their average passing yards per game over same span: 253.7, 236.3, 280.3, 278.0 and 176.5.

That gives them totals of: 513.3, 444.4, 603.2, 535.6 and 479.9. That's right, the worst offense over that span averaged 444.4 yards per game.

And Centennial plays most of Southern California's top teams.

"Simply, it's been dedication of the players and dedication of the coaches that has led us to this point," Logan said.

The Huskies have sent 23 top 1,000 recruits to college over the last decade, including Bengals' star linebacker Vontaze Burfict.

The Players
The 2016 version of the Huskies, Logan's 20th team, looks like another mainstay even after losing most of its skill players from a tremendous 2015 team that went 14-1 and outscored opponents 812-298.

That's right, Centennial averaged 54.1 points per game, but lost in the CIF State Open Game 28-21 to De La Salle (Concord).

Replacing small but dynamic 5-foot-10 starting quarterback Anthony Catalano is tall and dynamic 6-6 Tanner McKee, who got quite a bit of work last season in mop up time.

He was impressive then and even more so now.

McKee completed 50 of 73 for 709 yards with nine touchdowns and no interceptions for a nifty QB rating of 139.2, which was actually better than Catalano (134.6).

"He's athletic, got a great arm and is incredibly accurate," Logan said of McKee. "He's also a 4.0 student. He's very strong. He could be really special."

He'll be handing the ball off to Miles Reed, a 5-9, 190-pound incoming senior who rushed 91 times for 540 yards and nine touchdowns.

Reed figures to get the majority of the carries, much like J.J. Taylor (251 carries, 2,149 yards, 41 TDs) last year, Tre Watson (417, 3,734, 50) in 2013, Romello Goodman (296, 2,758, 44) in 2011, Barrington Collins (241, 2,427, 42) in 2010 and Ryan Bass (345, 2,608, 47) did before him.

"He's a hammer," Logan said of Reed. "He's one of the strongest and hardest-working guys we have. The more he touches it, the better he'll be."

Logan hopes to get the ball plenty to Tyjon Lindsey, one of the nation's top wide receivers.

The 5-10, 185-pound transfer from Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas) is ranked the No. 28 recruit in the country overall by 247Sports.

He's an explosive game-breaker who over two seasons at Gorman had 79 catches for 2,001 yards and 29 touchdowns. He joins an already talented group that includes Xavier Marshalll and Troy Spencer Jr., who combined for 39 catches last season.

"Tyjon is definitely learning our system," Logan said. "He'll return kickoffs for us. Perhaps punts. He's very impressive."

He's one of at least five transfers Centennial received in the spring — "More than we've ever had," Logan said — but as off May 25, their eligibility is still pending.

Though the Huskies lost four FBS defensive backs to graduation, they return two mainstays in cornerbacks Reggie Whitfield and Jaylan Shaw.

They also return a pair of significant players from last season on defense in linebackers Seleti Fevaleaki (6-2, 260) and Camron Pitcher Jr. (6-0, 200).

The Keys
If all five transfers are deemed eligible and can adapt quickly, the Huskies should hit the ground running.

Junior Manuel Allen, a 6-2, 175-pound incoming junior receiver from Rancho Verde, already has offers from Washington, Nebraska and Colorado.

"We're going to be challenged at the linebacker spot," Logan said. "We lost some senior guys there, so some new guys are going to have to really step in to replace them."

The Huskies have to get good in a hurry. They open against visiting and perennial Arizona power Chandler, before taking on the most talented team in the country, IMG Academy.

They'll play the Florida power at the Honor Bowl in Mission Viejo on Sept. 3.

"We'll get the guys ready," Logan said. "We always do."