Mason Nesbitt: There is no preseason All-Foothill League team, but …

Hart quarterback JT Shrout throws a pass during an 11-on-11 practice against Crescenta Valley at Hart this summer. Katharine Lotze/The Signal
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This is not a real thing.

This is not The Signal’s preseason All-Foothill League football team.

The Signal doesn’t publish a preseason All-Foothill League football team.

That doesn’t mean, however, that we can’t ponder the idea of such a squad.

The team – if there was one, which there is not – would mirror an actual football lineup. It would boast 11 offensive players and 11 defensive players. Not 13 and 14, respectively, like last year’s actual all-league first team, constructed by league coaches.

Our preseason team, if there was one, would honor 22. No more.

The quarterback this year, I think, would have to be the guy everyone, including Yahoo Sports, is talking about – the Cal Berkeley commit who hasn’t yet played a full varsity game.

Hart’s JT Shrout makes all the throws and checks all the boxes. Some will say he’s unproven, but this is a preseason list. We’re allowed to project.

Valencia’s Moises Haynes (43) scores a touchdown at San Clemente in the CIF-Southern Section Division 2 semifinals last year. Dan Watson/The Signal

The running back is a no-brainer. Valencia’s Moises Haynes racked up 22 touchdowns and more than 1,600 yards last season as a junior. He’s a little faster as a senior, so I foresee a big season behind a big and talented offensive line.

Three of those Vikings made my list: Cole Edwards at guard, though he made the move to center this season, and teammates Parker Kernek and Cody Paul at the tackle spots.

Hart’s Nathan Bradder, recently named to the Blue-Grey All-American Bowl in Dallas, is our center, with Saugus junior Nathan Tripp at the other guard.

Out wide, how could we bypass Golden Valley’s single-season record-holder for catches, yards and receiving touchdowns, Jalin Lewis?

And after seeing the Grizzlies feed DeGabriel Floyd a steady diet of bubble screens Thursday in their scrimmage, and after watching Floyd take those screens and powerfully rumble down the field, I’ll take him, too, assuming he becomes eligible at some point this season.

Floyd, a safety, is one of two players to make the “team” on both sides of the ball. Receiver/corner Mykael Wright of Valencia is the other.

In just 11 games last year, Wright caught 31 passes for 669 yards and eight scores. He intercepted seven passes on defense.

West Ranch receiver Jovan Camacho fills out the offense. He’s a jack-of-all-trades player who the Wildcats will use out of the backfield and out wide.

It was hard not to pick his identical twin brother, Ryan, for one of the corner spots after Ryan tied the West Ranch single-season mark for interceptions last season. But I went with Canyon’s Brandon Wilson, an NCAA Division 1 prospect, and Wright.

Canyon’s Brandon Wilson carries the ball past the defense during practice this fall. Katharine Lotze/The Signal

 

The defensive line would be Golden Valley’s CJ Ravenell, who’s a monster at 6-5, and Valencia’s Josh Washington and Ben Seymour.

At linebacker, I’d pick Valencia’s Reilly Royce, Hart’s Julian Salazar, Golden Valley’s DJ Turner and Saugus’ Jimmy Stirwalt.

Jayvaun Wilson of Valencia and Da’Von Jones of Hart would be at the safety spots for The Signal’s preseason All-Foothill League team, which, for the record, doesn’t exist.

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