Top five and favorite for Hutchings

Michael Hutchings said USC is still his favorite but that he does have a top five which also includes UCLA, Cal, Washington and Oregon and another trip to Los Angeles to see both schools should happen this off-season.

The new coaching staff at UCLA has sparked more interest in Hutchings, a 2013 outside linebacker from Concord (Calif.) De La Salle, but the Trojans might still be tough to beat. Unofficial visits will be important moving forward.

"I'll visit USC and UCLA," Hutchings said. "That UCLA coaching staff is coming together as a dynamite coaching staff so I want to definitely visit those two. Cal is right in my backyard, I go there all the time with (Michael) Barton and he's a little bit of an influence on me with that one.

"Washington, a couple guys have already visited there, and they love it at Washington. USC is still the favorite. USC is still the No. 1.

"They've been the best recruiters so far. They know what's going on and any questions I have they get answered. I have two contacts there in coach (Joe) Barry and coach (Clay) Helton. They just do a great job recruiting there."

Hutchings was one of the standout defensive players in De La Salle's 35-0 victory against Westlake Village (Calif.) Westlake in Saturday's state championship bowl game.

Along with Barton, a Cal commit who said he's not considering any other programs, the two form arguably the best linebacker duo in California. De La Salle's offense played well but its defense dominated in Saturday night's victory.

Hutchings had a lot to do with it.

"That offense is a pretty good offense with that spread and no-huddle," Hutchings said. "We came in expecting them to be out of shape because of the bigger bodies but they're in shape, they came out and they were ready. We came in fighting hard and I'm glad our offensive and defensive lines held up and that was a dominant performance just like last year. We want to continue this.

"Before the game, coach (Bob Ladouceur) said we wanted to hop out on them quickly. We jumped out on them 14-0 and we got a little bit of breathing room. That got all the nerves out and let us calm down a little bit and we just executed.

"After that start, we executed, we were calm and we do what De La Salle does. We grinded that football and played that tenacious defense led by Barton."