Matt Barkley

USC freshman quarterback Matt Barkley, a Newport Beach resident, will start the Trojans’ season-opening football game Sept. 5 against San Jose State, USC Coach Pete Carroll announced Thursday. Barkley, who enrolled at USC in the spring after graduating early from Mater Dei High, won the job over Aaron Corp. Barkley, 18, will be the first true freshman to start a USC opener, after showing well in spring and fall workouts. “It’s clear to us as a staff that Matt Barkley is ready to be the starting quarterback at USC,” Carroll said in a statement.

Matt Barkley, a Newport Beach resident and quarterback of the Mater Dei High football team, was named MVP of the Trinity League and was one of four locals who received all-league honors. Barkley, who completed 63% of his passes for 3,576 yards, 35 touchdowns and nine interceptions, was also presented the inaugural Joe Montana Quarterback of the Year award at the Outback Bowl Tuesday in Tampa, Fla. Barkley was also named Gatorade National Player of the Year. Barkley’s cousin, Robbie Boyer, a senior also from Newport Beach, was named first-team all-league as a receiver.

Mariners Christian School raised $250,000 through its spring fundraiser in Newport Beach for programs and school supplies. The money raised at the Costa Mesa K-8 private school's annual Spring Benefit and Auction on March 30 at the Balboa Bay Club will be used for teacher iPads, golf practice nets and a rubberized outdoor play surface as well as academic and extracurricular programs. "It was an amazing evening," Head of School Bob Sladek said in a prepared statement. "The Balboa Bay Club is a great place to hold the event.

Newport Beach resident Matt Barkley, the highly touted quarterback out of Mater Dei High, was named the White team’s MVP after a 27-16 win over the Black team in the Under Armour All-American Game in front of 25,382 at the Florida Citrus Bowl Sunday. Barkley threw for 237 yards, including 151 in the first half, and two touchdowns, completing 11 of 22 pass attempts. “It was a lot of fun to end my high school years that way,” said Barkley, the 6-foot-3, 223-pounder who will enroll at USC later this month.

LOS ANGELES — Matt Barkley, a Newport Beach native, didn’t start out so hot in his debut at quarterback for the USC football team Saturday. But the Trojans’ first true freshman to start at quarterback finished strong, throwing for 233 yards and a touchdown on 15-of-19 passing in USC’s 56-3 victory against San Jose State. Barkley’s first four series resulted in two fumbles and two punts, but then he led the No. 4-ranked Trojans on four straight scoring drives in the second quarter.

Matt Barkley, a Newport Beach resident and a Mater Dei High senior, is one of 32 finalists up for the Joe Montana High School Quarterback of the Year Award. The award will be presented to the nation’s best high school quarterback and will be chosen by Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana and Steve Clarkson, quarterback expert and President of DeBartolo Sports University. The quarterbacks will be graded and evaluated through DeBartolo Sports University’s scouting division, which is comprised of former college and NFL coaches.

Newport Beach resident Robbie Boyer, a Mater Dei High senior wide receiver, said he has chosen to be a preferred walk-on at USC in the fall. He said he was offered the same status at UCLA, Oregon and Cal, but felt comfortable with the Trojans’ coaches. It also didn’t hurt to know that his younger cousin, quarterback Matt Barkley, a junior at Mater Dei, had already committed to USC. The two played on an undefeated team, the Newport-Mesa Jr. Midget Seahawks (12-13-year-olds)

Newport Beach resident Matt Barkley, perhaps the most decorated high school football player in Orange County history during four seasons at quarterback for Mater Dei, will compete in the Under Armour All-American game today at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Fla. Former Balboa Island resident and one-time Newport Harbor assistant coach Mike White, a former head coach for the Los Angeles Raiders, Cal and Illinois, will coach one of the teams, comprised...

Irrelevant Week XXXV, the annual Newport Beach event that celebrates the final pick in the NFL draft, generated more than $30,000 for Goodwill of Orange County's fitness center, event organizers said. Tim Toone, a receiver-kick returner from Weber State University was this year's honoree after being taken No. 255 by the Detroit Lions. Irrelevant Week, created by Newport Beach resident Paul Salata, who played football in the NFL and at USC, has raised more than $1 million for Orange County charities.

Mariners Christian School raised $250,000 through its spring fundraiser in Newport Beach for programs and school supplies. The money raised at the Costa Mesa K-8 private school's annual Spring Benefit and Auction on March 30 at the Balboa Bay Club will be used for teacher iPads, golf practice nets and a rubberized outdoor play surface as well as academic and extracurricular programs. "It was an amazing evening," Head of School Bob Sladek said in a prepared statement. "The Balboa Bay Club is a great place to hold the event.

Kosher Claus wants to wish all of his readers a very Merry Christmas and Happy Chanukah. My father wanted us to feel comfortable in a primarily Christian country and we were the luckiest kids in the neighborhood. We received presents for eight nights of Chanukah and then found stockings and more gifts on Christmas morning. I figured out later that my Dad really liked dressing up as Santa Claus and loved to give gifts. Remember the spirit of the holidays - love, family, faith as well as food and presents.

USC junior quarterback Matt Barkley, a Newport Beach resident who set USC season records for touchdown passes and completion percentage, was named the team's Most Valuable Player at the annual awards banquet Monday. Barkley, a three-year starter, also set four USC game records this past season: completions (35 vs. UCLA), pass yardage (468 vs. Arizona), touchdown passes (six vs. Colorado and UCLA) and total offense (470 vs. Arizona). Barkley was also named to the All-Pac 12 second team.

USC junior quarterback Matt Barkley, a Newport Beach resident, has been named Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week and he also earned second-team all-conference honors in football, it was announced Monday. Barkley completed 35 of 42 passes (83.3%), a school record, for 423 yards and six touchdowns in the Trojans' 50-0 blowout of crosstown rival UCLA on Saturday at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. His six touchdown passes tied his own school single-game record set earlier this year at Colorado.

Newport Beach resident Matt Barkley, who will be a junior on the USC football team in 2011, has been named to the watch list for the Manning Award, given annually to the top collegiate quarterback. Barkley, entering his third season as the starter, is one of 31 on the watch list, hoping to be among the 10 finalists named on Nov. 28. The winner will be named Jan. 18. Barkley, who played at Mater Dei High after a stint with Newport-Mesa Junior All-American Football, enters the Sept.

After only one season playing quarterback in a run-oriented offense, JSerra Catholic senior-to-be Jake Hall is swiftly establishing himself as one of the best quarterbacks in the state, perhaps the nation. And wait 'till you get a load of the Newport Beach resident in a new version of the "pistol" offense the Lions will run this fall. That was the offense seen last season at No. 11 University of Nevada, run by Colin Kaepernick, selected in the NFL Draft's second round by theSan Francisco 49ers.

Irrelevant Week XXXV, the annual Newport Beach event that celebrates the final pick in the NFL draft, generated more than $30,000 for Goodwill of Orange County's fitness center, event organizers said. Tim Toone, a receiver-kick returner from Weber State University was this year's honoree after being taken No. 255 by the Detroit Lions. Irrelevant Week, created by Newport Beach resident Paul Salata, who played football in the NFL and at USC, has raised more than $1 million for Orange County charities.

During the second week of being a quarterback when Matt Barkley was in the sixth grade, he did something that showed why he’s now the starting signal caller for the No. 3-ranked college football team in the nation. Back then Barkley was just learning while playing in the Newport-Mesa Junior All-American Pee-Wee Division. But he still flashed glimpses that he had the potential to become the first true freshman to start at USC. Sure there were signs there with the Seahawks that gave a spark of an indication that he could dazzle in his debut, a Trojans’ 56-3 rout of San Jose State Saturday.

LOS ANGELES — Matt Barkley, a Newport Beach native, didn’t start out so hot in his debut at quarterback for the USC football team Saturday. But the Trojans’ first true freshman to start at quarterback finished strong, throwing for 233 yards and a touchdown on 15-of-19 passing in USC’s 56-3 victory against San Jose State. Barkley’s first four series resulted in two fumbles and two punts, but then he led the No. 4-ranked Trojans on four straight scoring drives in the second quarter.

USC freshman quarterback Matt Barkley, a Newport Beach resident, will start the Trojans’ season-opening football game Sept. 5 against San Jose State, USC Coach Pete Carroll announced Thursday. Barkley, who enrolled at USC in the spring after graduating early from Mater Dei High, won the job over Aaron Corp. Barkley, 18, will be the first true freshman to start a USC opener, after showing well in spring and fall workouts. “It’s clear to us as a staff that Matt Barkley is ready to be the starting quarterback at USC,” Carroll said in a statement.