High School Football Player of the Week: John Humphreys chose his own path at Corona del Mar

How talented is John Humphreys at playing football for Corona del Mar High? Coach Dan O’Shea said Humphreys would be starting for any team in the Trinity League right now, and he’s only a sophomore.

O’Shea is glad to have Humphreys starting for him at CdM, where he plays wide receiver and strong safety, and returns punts.

But Humphreys almost went to a Trinity League private school after eighth grade. He had his eyes set on Mater Dei. His older brother, Ben, played for the Monarchs. He watched Ben play from the sideline. He served as the team’s water boy and ball boy.

When the boy grew up, Humphreys chose to play for a different high school. Humphreys said he picked CdM because he not only wanted to play football, but he also wanted to play basketball.

At Mater Dei, Humphreys knew he could not do both sports. His brother tried, doing so for his first two years before Ben focused on football going into his junior year in 2013. The move worked out for Ben, who is now a junior middle linebacker at Duke.

There might come a time where the younger Humphreys might have to make a similar decision. O’Shea said college football programs from the Pac-12 Conference and Atlantic Coast Conference have raved to him about John Humphreys’ future.

Humphreys is big, 6 feet 5, 205 pounds, and can run for his size.

“When it’s all said and done, he may be [the most] talented and the best pure football player that Corona del Mar High has ever seen,” O’Shea said.

That’s quite the statement, considering Humphreys used to catch passes from Chase Garbers, who is now a freshman quarterback at Cal. There is also another big-time receiver at CdM named TaeVeon Le. The 6 feet 4, 240-pounder is one of the heavily recruited seniors in Orange County.

Humphreys and Le will be on full display in the 56th edition of the Battle of the Bay rivalry game between CdM (2-1) and host Newport Harbor (0-2) at Davidson Field on Friday at 7 p.m. The contest is one Humphreys is looking forward to being a part of for the first time in football.

“It should be a lot of fun,” said Humphreys, who is coming off a strong performance in CdM’s 39-15 win at El Toro last week, finishing with six receptions for 108 yards and one touchdown, and four tackles. “I like playing in big environments. I don’t shy [away] from it.”

Humphreys showed what kind of an impact he could have at CdM as a freshman last year.

The Sea Kings called him up at the start of Pacific Coast League play, and then he got his chance to contribute in the CIF Southern Section Division 4 playoffs when receiver Billy Shaw went down with a fibula injury in the opening round. Right away, O’Shea noticed Humphreys was a different breed. He became a leader.

“When a freshman [like Humphreys] is on the sideline and ripping [players] for a lack of focus during last year’s playoff run, it is stunning,” said O’Shea, adding that Humphreys became a team captain this year as a sophomore, a rarity at any school. “If you’re not ready to practice and practice hard, he will let you know. He’s acted like a senior since he was a freshman.”

Humphreys performed like a senior last year, too.

With a trip to the championship game on the line, CdM trailing Lompoc with about a minute to go, Garbers went to Humphreys. He ran the longest route of the receivers, a post on the backside, and Garbers threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Humphreys. The Sea Kings won 35-34, and Humphreys got to play in a section finale, just as his brother did twice.

Humphreys is also lining up at the same positions as his brother did at Mater Dei during his sophomore year. There was a time when he thought he would follow Ben’s footsteps. If he had, right now he would be a member of what USA Today ranks as the nation’s top football program.

“Obviously, at a young age when you’re [following] someone like my brother, who I look up to greatly, and you see him go to this school, you’re like, ‘I want to go this school, too.’ But as I got older, I also wanted to do what was best for myself,” Humphreys said. “I was supposed to be enrolling at Mater Dei. I took the test and everything. My parents knew that I was having a tough time deciding. I was like kind of waiting it out, waiting it out, and they finally just told me, ‘We’ll give you two more days to decide because we need to tell Mater Dei if you’re not going to come.’”

Usually only the girls in the Humphreys household go to CdM. John broke that tradition, following his sisters, Kelsey and Ashley, and became a Sea King.

Kelsey graduated from the school in 2013, while Ashley is in her senior year. Kelsey went on to play women’s volleyball at Stanford, and won the NCAA national title last year as a senior. Ashley is committed to play for the USC women’s volleyball team.

One thing the boys in the family did not pursue in high school was volleyball. Their mother, the former Wendy Rush, was a standout volleyball player at Newport Harbor, then at Lake Arrowhead Rim of the World, before she went on to play at Stanford, where she was a four-time All-American setter.

The boys take after their father, Brad, who played football at Stanford. He was pretty good as well, earning All-Pac-10 honors as a safety.

The youngest member in the family might be the most gifted.

Ryan Schachter, the boys’ basketball coach at CdM, calls Humphreys the hardest worker he’s had during his 11 seasons at the school. As a freshman, Humphreys, a shooting guard, defended the best offensive player on the court. Humphreys helped the Sea Kings win a league title and reach the quarterfinals of the Division 1A playoffs last season.

Schachter and O’Shea said they work with each other when it comes to the schedules of multisport athletes like Humphreys. They added that CdM encourages students to play multiple sports.

“We knew he was going to be a special player when he was in seventh grade. He’s dynamic. You just don’t get kids like this,” O’Shea said of Humphreys, who as a seventh- and eighth-grader led the Newport-Mesa Seahawks to winning the Orange County Junior All-American Super Bowl. “We were thrilled to death that a local kid came to the realization that Corona del Mar is a great place, too. Since the first day we got here, back in 2011, our No. 1 priority was just to try to keep the neighborhood kid from leaving, or having a reason to leave. That was on us, the football coaching staff, to make it competitive enough and high profile enough. I’m not sure we’ve done that completely, but I think we’re beginning to scratch the surface.”

John Humphreys

Born: Nov. 8, 2001

Hometown: Newport Beach

Height: 6 feet 5

Weight: 205 pounds

Sport: Football

Year: Sophomore

Coach: Dan O’Shea

Favorite food: Steak

Favorite movie: “The Longest Yard”

Favorite athletic moment: “Last year, in our semifinal CIF game against Lompoc, it was my first big varsity game and I caught the game-winning touchdown.”

Week in review: Humphreys finished with six receptions for 108 yards and one touchdown, and four tackles in the Sea Kings’ 39-15 nonleague win at El Toro last week.

david.carrillo@latimes.com

Twitter: @ByDCP