Press-Telegram Football Dream Team: Los Alamitos QB Malachi Nelson is the Player of the Year
Nelson, a junior, threw for 2,690 yards, 39 TDs and led the Griffins to the Sunset League title and the Division 1 quarterfinals
Los Alamitos junior quarterback Malachi Nelson has been selected as the 2021 Long Beach Press-Telegram Dream Team Player of the Year.
“It’s a lot. It’s crazy to be put in that category and be named Player of the Year,” said Nelson. “It’s something that you work for and you want to be recognized at a high level.”
Nelson said he knows firsthand how many great high school football players are in the Long Beach area.
“It’s a blessing to be put in the position to receive this award, amongst all these great football players in the great state of California,” Nelson said.
The 6-foot-4, 185-pound quarterback led Los Alamitos to a 9-2 record, including the Sunset League championship.
In 11 games, Nelson threw for 2,690 yards, 39 touchdowns, and eight interceptions while completing 62 percent of his attempts. The consensus five-star 2023 recruit also ran for 192 yards and two touchdowns while averaging 5.6 yards per carry.
Nelson was also an integral reason why Los Alamitos was rated as the seventh-best team in the CIF Southern Section by the Calpreps computer rankings leading into the postseason, which slotted them into the CIF-SS Division 1 playoff bracket.
Los Alamitos lost in the quarterfinals to St. John Bosco, 63-38, on Nov. 12.
“We ended up playing a good, strong season,” Nelson said. “I know we will be back next year.”
Just two years prior, the Griffins lost in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 3 playoffs.
Los Alamitos finished the 2021 season ranked 12th in the CIF-SS by Calpreps.
“It was fun. It was a good, solid, complete season,” Nelson said. “I was excited to finally get that real season in with COVID and all the complications that had come my freshman and sophomore year. It was super exciting to be out there with the team finally. We’ve worked so hard for that for a long time.
“We played so many games, from the club season to regular spring season, to our junior season all in one (calendar) year. It all happened pretty quick, so there was a lot of football this year but it was fun.”
USC and Coach Lincoln Riley
Nelson, a five-star quarterback recruit, said it took him about 24 hours to make his mind up about committing to play at USC on Nov. 30, becoming the top player in USC’s 2023 recruiting class.
“It’s been a crazy couple of weeks with the decommitment (from Oklahoma) and the commitment (to USC). (It) all happened really, really fast,” Nelson said. “At the end, it felt right.”
Nelson decommitted the day the news broke that USC hired Lincoln Riley to be the school’s next football coach. He explained that his previous commitment to Oklahoma football was a commitment to Riley.
“At the end of the day, I committed to Lincoln Riley and how I thought he could develop me further,” Nelson shared. “The dream is to play at the next level and I felt that he was the best guy to help me get there.
“It all worked out really well. That’s the best way I can put it, how he came to my hometown and brought everything I was going to get out there developmentally, the offense he runs that drew me to Oklahoma, just drew me to a different place. It worked out in my favor. I get to stay home, me and my buddy Makai (Lemon) as well. We get to stay home and play in our hometown for the USC Trojans, grew up watching them and going to their games. It’s just a blessing to be able to stay home.”
Class of 2023
Not only is Nelson looking forward to being a Trojan, but as the program’s quarterback of the future, he’s also working to help recruit other talented players to USC, including his five-star wide receiver teammates, Lemon (who also committed to USC after Riley was hired) and DeAndre Moore Jr., who is still committed to Oklahoma.
“Me and Coach Riley talk almost every day, every week and we talk about who we need and we just start rolling,” Nelson said. “We’ve got the names. I start working, he starts working. We’ve got guys and we’re going to keep rolling. There’s a lot of guys that I want to get, some at our school like DeAndre Moore Jr.”
Nelson says encouraging other student-athletes from Southern California and across the nation to play with him at USC is a fun part of the journey.
“I love to be a part of it and Coach Riley does a great job of including me and it’s just fun for me,” Nelson shared. “It’s obviously a school where I want to be and to be able to put it from a kid’s perspective … I feel like it’s my job, somebody who’s committed and been through the whole recruiting (process) to be able to give them a perspective from a player, a kid in high school just like them. That’s what I’ve been trying to do.”
He’s also cherishing the fact that he’ll be attending college a 40-minute car ride away.
“It’s perfect. Family, all your friends can come to watch (me) play because I grew up right here. To go to college here, get the development and everything I was going to get elsewhere right here. It’s perfect,” Nelson said.
Graduating Early
Since his freshman year, it has always been the plan for Nelson to graduate high school in 3 1/2 years and enroll in college early in January 2023 to begin studying and to get a head start on his college football career.
He’s on track to do just that.
“That’s been the plan since freshman year not even knowing where I was going to go,” Nelson said. “My counselors, teachers, and coaches put me on the plan to get there and to achieve that. I’m rolling strong. I’m going to be in a position to be able to graduate early.
“The plan is for me to get on campus early. Start to get a relationship with the coaches in person and start to feel the offense out and learn the plays so that when practice starts up, I’ll be ready to go.”
Nelson credits his parents and coaches for having foresight.
“They knew and saw what I could really be. They felt that was the best decision,” Nelson said.
Senior Year
Nelson is already looking forward to his senior season at Los Alamitos.
He said he plans to spend the offseason in the weight room. His goal is to be a better player.
Meanwhile, Los Alamitos is looking to become a nationally ranked football team, especially since it is returning three of the top players in the nation in Nelson, Lemon, and Moore.
We’ll be back next year and I think we’ll be right back there,” Nelson said. “It will be tough to stop us next year.”
Los Alamitos will look to continue to be a CIF-SS Division 1 team and Nelson said his team’s goal is to be able to compete against any team in the nation.
Bump
Appears thar Big Balls Heisman predictions (below) are as accurate as his political takes.
Good post ElT, keep em coming amigo. Heisman Trophy in this kids future.