A few honors that go beyond All-Metro’s best

Singling out a Metro Player of the Year, four other top regional standouts, 64 position players and 200+ honorable mentions would seem to be enough.

Nah. What All-Metro football package would be complete without a few personal citations and observations?

The process never has been perfect. We no doubt missed a few. Feel free to email me the omissions and/or slights, but don’t forget the holiday season that just passed. Be nice. The most pleasant and thoughtful will be highlighted in these spaces next week:

 Best two names among the lists were both from Moreau Catholic in Hayward. Any lad named “Fresh” gets automatic attention, though one glance of Jaylen “Fresh” Ison running with the ball immediately spikes the senses. The junior running back needed just 131 carries to go for 2,087 yards and 32 touchdowns. That’s almost 16 yards per carry.

Ison was out-named on his own squad by senior defensive back and receiver Lovelace Rufus, who doesn’t just boast a cool tag. He was the 12-1 Mariners’ top receiver and had seven interceptions to earn first-team all-purpose honors, another cool designation.

 Watch for a lot of points in 2019. There were 10 juniors and one sophomore on the first- and second-team offenses, including three of the four quarterbacks. Last year’s All-Metro first- and second-team offenses featured four non-seniors.  Though these are individual honors, team success, as always, weighed heavily. Not a single selection on the two All-Metro teams played on a squad with a losing record, though Oakland — boasting UCLA-bound tackle Siale Liku — was 6-6.

 The combined record of the 16 teams that represented all 32 first-team players was 177-35. Those squads, all ranked among the top 24, won a combined eight section, five Northern California and four state titles.

 The team with the only perfect 13-0 record — Lincoln — claimed my Metro Coach of the Year award.

Phil Ferrigno, in his 17th season at the San Francisco public school, told anyone who would listen before this season that this Mustangs team was special. Even he was taken aback by his squad’s dominance — a 449-128 point differential, including 53-0 over Mission in the San Francisco Section final — a state 6-A title and the first 13-win season in school history.

With four other coaches who led their teams to state crowns, the competition was steep, but Ferrigno’s overall body of work over almost two decades in the challenging Academic Athletic Association pushed him to the top. The perfect season was culminated with a 23-14 state title win over Orange Glen-Escondido at CCSF, where he played as a prep and junior college player.

“They all just do the right things,” Ferrigno said more than once during the season. “On the field. Off the field. It’s been nothing but joy.”

 Two other local coaches, Liberty-Brentwood’s Ryan Partridge and McClymonds-Oakland’s Michael Peters, have been honored as well.

Partridge, who in his second season led Liberty (13-1) to the Division 1-A state title, is a finalist for the NFL’s Don Shula High School Coach of the Year. He’ll fly to Orlando, site of the Pro Bowl on Jan. 27, when the winner will be announced.

Peters was selected California Coach of the Year by Cal-Hi Sports for leading the Warriors to their third straight state title.

 Other coaches who deserve standing ovations are Paul Rosa (Wilcox-Santa Clara) and Adhir Ravipati (Menlo-Atherton), who each captured state titles, and Palo Alto’s Nelson Gifford, who in his first season elevated the Vikings (10-2) back to section-title contention following four straight losing campaigns.

 Though Ison rushed for 408 yards and four touchdowns in a 56-47 playoff win over San Marin-Novato, and St. Patrick-St. Vincent-Vallejo quarterback Akil Edwards accounted for 435 yards and seven touchdowns in a playoff win over St. Mary’s-Berkeley, the single-game performance of the year goes to Sione Vaki.

The two-way Liberty standout showed off his skills in probably the most important game of the regular season, a 24-21 win at Pittsburg. Vaki had 10 catches for 175 yards and two touchdowns, then won it on defense with a forced fumble and two interceptions, the latter to seal the victory.

 Vaki’s teammate Jay Butterfield wins a very competitive Junior of the Year award, with 3,293 passing yards and 43 touchdowns for The Chronicle’s No. 2 team and state champion. Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa junior QB Jackson Pavitt (3,046 total yards, 41 TDs) was right there.

 The sophomore of the year goes to the MenloAtherton’s Troy Franklin, who was featured sparingly during the regular season because of injuries. But Ravipati unleashed the 6-foot-2, 180-pound receiver in the postseason, highlighted by three touchdowns, including the gamewinning 70-yard run, in a 27-20 NorCal 3-AA title win at Eureka. De La Salle quarterback Dorian Hale also was considered.

 Top freshman? Benicia’s Dominic Spivey, a 6-foot, 185-pound linebacker who had 105 tackles and forced five fumbles for the Panthers (8-4).

MaxPreps senior writer Mitch Stephens covers high school sports for The San Francisco Chronicle. E-mail: mstephens@maxpreps.com