Carson de Avila is the 2021 People’s Choice MVP for Sunset Rewind
Sailors’ junior safety Carson de Avila named Sunset Rewind MVP
By Chris Bibona, reporter
December 14, 2021
The Sunset League community has chosen Newport Harbor High School junior safety Carson de Avila as Sunset Rewind’s inaugural Most Valuable Player in 2021.
Edison running back Troy Fletcher was runner-up for Sunset Rewind MVP, and Fountain Valley linebacker Caine Elroy placed third in voting.
The open-vote process, conducted through an online form, featured two standout football players who were nominated from each of the six Sunset League teams. The Sailors’ de Avila led all nominees with 30.6% of the popular vote, and had 40 more votes than Fletcher, who finished second.
The Class of 2023 safety led Harbor with five forced fumbles, seven pass deflections, two interceptions and 10.9 tackles per game last season. De Avila accounted for over 30% of the Sailors total tackles in 2021.
De Avila’s 163 tackles throughout both the regular and postseason ranked second in the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Southern Section and sixth in the state, according to MaxPreps.
In a season that featured a CIF-SS division six championship and a trip to a division 3-AA regional final, de Avila supplied the Sailors with constant support in the defensive secondary, leading to Harbor’s best playoff performance in 16 years.
Through the Sailors’ five playoff games, de Avila tallied 35 solo tackles and a pass deflection.
Along with Sunset Rewind MVP honors, the junior safety was also recognized by Harbor as the Sailors’ defensive MVP, in addition to earning a spot on the First Team All-Sunset League.
De Avila was the anchor of a defense that was anything but speculated to get fitted for CIF rings by season’s end. The Sailors started the year 1-5, before the team made key position changes in the midst of league play — quarterback included. Even so, Harbor allowed the most regular season points in the entire Sunset League, with 435 points against.
After a 2-3 finish in league, the Sailors salvaged a spot in the CIF division six playoffs. Harbor was analytically underdogs in every single one of their playoff matchups, yet the team won four straight games, including two road games that accumulated to 424 miles of bus rides round trip, to eventually bring home the school’s first CIF title since 2005.
The Sailors’ dream season ended on Dec. 3, when Aquinas High School routed Newport 42-28 in the division 3-AA regional final. The Falcons went on to lose the state championship game to Vanden High School.
Even in the Sailors’ final game, de Avila tied a season-high mark of 16 tackles against Aquinas, a team known to be tough on the ground.
As a team captain, there is no doubt that de Avila will work closely with fourth-year head coach Peter Lofthouse to get the Sailors back into the CIF playoffs next season.