CIF Southern Section 2019 All-Division 7 football awards

Cypress running back Isaac Hurtado was named Southern Section Division 7 Offensive Player of the Year.

Lance Smith, SBLive Sports | Feb 5, 2020

The CIF Southern Section has announced their All-Division high school football teams for all 14 divisions. In Division 7, champion Temecula Valley was atop the pack with eight honorees, including the Coach of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year.

Here's the full All-Division 7 team:

Coach of the Year: Bert Esposito – Temecula Valley

Offensive Player of the Year: Isaac Hurtado – Cypress – RB – SR.

Defensive Player of the Year: Anson Pulsipher – Temecula Valley – OLB/K – SR.

ALL-DIVISION 7 TEAM:

Burbank – Ben Burnham

Burbank – Vincent Vang

Canyon (Canyon Country) – Evan Cox

Carter – Gustavo Lopez

Carter – Jelani Whitmore

Cypress – John Fonseca

Cypress – Tyler Jones

Cypress – Luke Porteneuve

Cypress – Elijah Vaielua

Cypress – Corey Anesi

Don Lugo – Gary Garcia

Elsinore – Gemini Batimana

Elsinore – Jackson Dodd

Fullerton – Jakob Garcia

Fullerton – Arthur Shaw

Huntington Beach – Christian Moore

Northview – Deshon Thompson

Northview – James Jimenez

Quartz Hill – Julian Clemons

Serrano – Earl Hodson

Serrano – Michael Thacker

Serrano – John Smolenski

Serrano – Garrett DiGiorgio

Serrano – Parker Chaffee

Temecula Valley – Brody Hughes

Temecula Valley – Coleton DeFalco

Temecula Valley – Jay Max Jacobsen

Temecula Valley – Josh Hilton

Temecula Valley – Logan Whetstone

Temecula Valley – Brandon Wilson

Valencia (Placentia) – Carson Elmasry

Ventura – Zack Rodriguez

Ventura – Nick Lanski

West Ranch – Bryce Buchanan

West Ranch – Brandon Wyre

West Ranch – Walker Eget

West Ranch – Zach Van Bennekum

West Ranch – John Collier

Woodrow Wilson – Ryan Pettway

Woodrow Wilson – Michael Bruner

Cypress’ Isaac Hurtado sprints with the ball for a touchdown during an Empire League game against Pacifica at Bolsa Grande High School in Garden Grove on Thursday, October 31, 2019. (Photo by Kyusung Gong/Contributing Photographer)

By Steve Fryer | sfryer@scng.com | Orange County Register

UPDATED: November 27, 2019 at 3:03 p.m.

The Cypress freshman football coach sized up Isaac Hurtado and decided Hurtado would make a fine offensive lineman.

Hurtado’s mother Maria suggested the coach give her son a look at running back, the position Isaac had played since he was 7 years old.

Good advice, mom.

Hurtado, now a 6-foot-4, 220-pound senior, is Orange County’s leading rusher this season with 2,516 yards. He has run for 35 touchdowns.

He is a powerful runner between the tackles and has the speed and moves to get by defenders on the outside or once Hurtado gets into the secondary.

Cypress’ Isaac Hurtado eludes a Capo Valley player during the Centurions’ win over the Cougars in a game that revealed much about what makes high school football special. (Photo by Michael Kitada, Contributing Photographer)

Hurtado used to try to blast through every tackler.

“I’m not going to run over everybody,” said Hurtado, a soft-spoken and mannerly guy who smiles frequently. “A lot of guys out there are bigger than me. I’m learning to use my feet more.”

Hurtado is a major reason the Centurions (13-0) will play Temecula Valley (11-2) in the CIF-Southern Section Division 7 championship game at Western High on Friday at 7 p.m.

It is Cypress’ second appearance in a football final. The Centurions defeated Pacifica in the Southern Division championship game in 2007.

In last week’s semifinals win over Serrano of Phelan, Hurtado scored the go-ahead touchdown and tacked the Serrano quarterback on fourth down in the final seconds to secure the 26-21 win.

Hurtado’s season highlights are plentiful. He rushed for 361 yards and five touchdowns in the Centurions’ 33-31 comeback road win over Ventura in the quarterfinals. In a 42-14 Empire League win over Pacifica, he rushed for 285 yards and four touchdowns and threw a 35-yard touchdown pass. He also had eight tackles against Pacifica.

Cypress coach Rick Feldman lines up Hurtado at outside linebacker where Hurtado’s speed and strength make him an asset for the defense. Hurtado has 93 tackles, 33 of those in Cypress’ three playoff games, and eight sacks. He also plays on special teams.

“Isaac’s pretty much on the field every snap,” Feldman said. “He sits about 10 plays a game total.”

Hurtado was promoted to varsity for the playoffs at the end of his freshman year. He was a two-way starter on varsity his sophomore year.

“We were throwing the ball a lot that year,” Feldman said, “and then against Pacifica, he ran it like 30 times for 220 yards or something. And I thought, ‘I’m an idiot. Why haven’t we been running this guy all season long?’ ”

Hurtado tore an ACL during the playoffs of his sophomore year and was not 100 percent recovered last year because of abnormal bone growth in the surgically-repaired knee. A second knee procedure was required.

He has been beyond better, physically and mentally, his senior year. Hurtado’s less-than-stellar junior season delayed college recruiting interest, but his senior season has grabbed attention. He has offers from several colleges, including BYU and Colorado State.

“I’m extremely happy,” Hurtado said. “It was terrible last year, not being able to play to the fullest of my ability.

“Now I get to show what I’m able to do."

By Steve Fryer | sfryer@scng.com | Orange County Register

UPDATED: February 3, 2020 at 11:05 p.m.

Cypress senior running Isaac Hurtado, Orange County’s leading rusher in 2019, will sign with Army on Wednesday.

Hurtado (6-3, 210) was the 2019 CIF-Southern Section Division 7 offensive player of the year and was an All-Orange County first team selection. He rushed for 2,631 yards and 37 touchdowns. He also had 25 receptions, six of them for touchdowns. The Centurions finished 13-1.

West Point athletics recruits do not sign letters of intent. As Army coach Jeff Monken explained, “While our recruits are not signing letters of intent, they are signing a certificate of commitment to attend the U.S. Military Academy.”

Wednesday is the first day of the regular signing period for football.

While the signing period for most sports started Nov. 13 and is ongoing through Aug. 1, signing ceremonies and events at high schools Wednesday will include non-football athletes from a variety of sports.

By Eric Sondheimer

Columnist

Nov. 25, 2019 4:22 PM PT

Among all the players set to participate in this weekend’s high school football championship games, perhaps no one deserves more attention than 6-foot-3, 210-pound senior running back Isaac Hurtado of unbeaten Cypress (13-0).

Not only has he scored 42 touchdowns and rushed for 2,516 yards but he’s someone who decided to stay at his neighborhood school five minutes from his home for four years and not worry whether his team was a power or not.

“I feel if I started somewhere, that’s where I’m going to finish,” he said Monday in Long Beach during the CIF Southern Section championship luncheon. “Whether or not my team was going to be good or not didn’t matter. I just wanted to be able to show what I could do. Being at Cypress, I got colleges being able to look at me.”

Hurtado was worried he had grown so tall some might not think he could play running back. But coach Rick Feldman told him about a running back named Eric Dickerson. Hurtado switched to wearing No. 29, Dickerson’s number.

“He runs so physical,” said Feldman, whose team hosts Temecula Valley in Friday’s Division 7 championship game. “He never gets caught from behind.”

Whatever happens this week, Hurtado will be long remembered around Cypress for his talent and humbleness.

“I’m super proud of my team and all we’ve been able to accomplish,” he said. “Obviously I need the help of every single one of them. I can’t do it on my own. I’m glad I have a great group of guys around me that are able to lift me up whenever I need it, and I hope [to] do the same.”