A.J. Gass

School: Servite High

Sport: Football

Position: Strong safety

Class: Senior

Last season Gass suffered a season-ending knee injury in practice the week before the Friars’ first Angelus League game. It wasn’t good news for the Servite defense, which received a 44-0 pummeling by Mater Dei. But Gass recovered nicely and so have the Friars. Friday, Gass had six sacks as Servite introduced itself to the Sunset League with a 28-6 victory over Edison. On one of his sacks, Gass knocked the ball away from Edison quarterback Geoff Bell at the Edison one-yard line. Eric Gunther fell on the ball in the end zone, giving the Friars a 14-0 second quarter lead. Servite Coach Larry Toner says Gass seems to have an intuitive aptitude for blitzing. “He’s very, very good at it,” Toner said. “He’s able to make that move and not be out of position if something else develops. We had to get to their quarterback and A.J. did a really bang-up job of it.”

Other top performers:

Mike Love, a Katella cross-country runner who had the fastest time by an Orange County runner at the Dana Hills Invitational. Love finished the three-mile race in 14 minutes 53 seconds.

Sean O’Brien, who passed for 210 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 109 yards and another touchdown in Santa Margarita’s 35-14 victory over Corona del Mar.

George Sagen, who caught seven passes for 117 yards and three touchdowns in Los Alamitos’ 42-0 victory over Torrance Bishop Montgomery.

Binh Tran, who rushed for 263 yards and three touchdowns in Costa Mesa’s 42-35 loss to Troy.