Football: Players on the rise

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It was a busy Saturday for summer passing tournaments. I was able to get out to Huntington Beach Edison in the morning and L.A. Valley College in the afternoon. Among the impressive players:

-- Jonavaughn Williams, JSerra. It was Williams vs. Westlake’s talented junior cornerback Dashon Hunt in a battle that went back and forth in a morning game. Williams doesn’t drop passes and he deserves to be considered in the elite group of receivers.

-- Hayden Gavett, Corona Centennial. The 5-9 Gavett is not nearly as tall as 6-5 Michael Eubank, but he’ll do just fine running the Huskies’ offense at quarterback. He might be the fastest player on the team, so look for him to do some running. Centennial doesn’t have the speed it had last season at receiver, but the Huskies’ line should be outstanding.

-- Salamo Fiso, Long Beach Poly. He has been the best middle linebacker all summer.

-- Drew Wolitarsky, Canyon Country Canyon. He has been starting since he was a freshman. Now he’s a junior receiver closing in on 6-3, and Birmingham Coach Jim Rose called him ‘the best’ he’s seen all summer. Wolitarsky is aggressive with excellent instincts.

-- Kelly Hilinski, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame. The 6-6 junior quarterback has to be one of the most improved passers at the varsity level. His velocity is way up, and now it’s just a matter of gaining experience in reading defenses and showing he can produce with pads on.

-- Thomas Duarte, Santa Ana Mater Dei. The junior receiver is about 6-3, 220 pounds, and there are cornerbacks who are grateful this summer they don’t have to try to tackle him. He has been a summer discovery, showing off great hands.

-- Eric Sondheimer