Posted by Deputy Editor Mark Tennis

This is the first installment of this feature on ESPN, where all content for CalHiSports.com is FREE.

We start out this column with some unfortunate news, then some tragic news and then our thoughts about a key transfer.

First, the unfortunate news was delivered late this afternoon by colleague Martin Henderson, formerly of the L.A. Times. We say formerly because Martin called to let us know he had been laid off by the Times, along with others from the prep sports department.

According to Martin, the Times' prep coverage is going to be scaled back to columns by legendary reporter/writer Eric Sondheimer combined with some Friday game coverage and then whatever scores and stats come in via the phone.

This is bad news for Martin, but he's a strong enough journalist that he will no doubt land somewhere else. It's equally bad news for Southern California prep athletes and coaches because their opportunities for coverage in the media just took a major hit.

During the last school year, the layoffs in the newspaper industry caused layoffs to the prep sports departments at the San Jose Mercury-News, Alameda Newspaper Group and Stockton Record. The L.A. Times is just the latest in a trend that is nationwide in scope and may not be stopping anytime soon.

Ex-San Diego Hoover Star Dies

Our annual state athlete of the year honors are just days away from being announced, so it was extra-tough to hear about the drowning death over the weekend of former San Diego Hoover standout Todd Doxey.

Doxey was one of the top all-around athletes in the state just last year for the Cardinals. He earned all-state honors in football as a defensive back, then hit the hardwood and was one of the top players in the San Diego Section. He was a finalist for state athlete of the year honors in Division II.

In recent weeks, Doxey was in Eugene preparing for the start of practice for the upcoming 2008 football season at the University of Oregon.

On Sunday, according to published reports from the San Diego Union-Tribune and Eugene Register-Guard, Doxey went to the McKenzie River near Eugene with some friends for rafting and jumped into the river from a bridge. He began swimming toward a boat ramp, but then started having difficulties and eventually went under. A fisherman eventually got him out of the water and started CPR, but Doxey died on Sunday night at a local hospital.

Doxey redshirted last season for the Ducks and was hoping to move up the depth charts this season as a redshirt freshman defensive back.

The death reminds us of the 2003 downing death off Huntington Beach of 2002 all-state linebacker Drean Rucker from Canyon Springs of Moreno Valley. Rucker was supposed to play later that year at USC.

We express our condolences to Todd's family and the Hoover community. Cardinals' basketball coach Ollie Goulston is a frequent e-mailer and we know how much he cares about his current and former players.

Nick Montana Transfers to Oaks Christian

It was reported last week that Nicholas Montana, who quarterbacked successful freshman and sophomore football teams at Bay Area powerhouse De La Salle of Concord the last two seasons, has transferred to Oaks Christian of Westlake Village.

Montana, the son of NFL legend Joe Montana, is joining a potentially circus-like atmosphere at Oaks Christian, where next year's team already may have the sons of hockey legend Wayne Gretzky (Trevor) and actor Will Smith (Trey) on the roster. Of course, the Lions also have had the sons of ex-NFL linebacker Clay Matthews and ex-NFL running back Wendell Tyler help lead them to a CIF Div. III state bowl game crown.

In an article in the Contra Costa Times, the younger Montana told reporter Chase Bryson he was leaving De La Salle because "it just wasn't the right fit for him.

If throwing the ball 30 or more times per game is what he and his famous dad would like, even as a senior, then they are correct. While the Spartans did throw it more when current New England Patriots' third-string quarterback Matt Gutierrez was starting for three years, they have been first and foremost a veer-option running team.

De La Salle head coach Bob Ladouceur was expected to look into the possibility of using Nicholas during the upcoming season similar to the way he used graduated senior Mike MacGillivray last year. MacGillivray split time with effective junior Blake Wayne, potentially one of the best option QBs the Spartans have ever had, and the situation worked well as the Spartans went 13-0 and were the CalHiSports.com State Team of the Year.

Wayne obviously will now be the starter all by himself, and with all the speedy running backs he will have at his disposal, led by University of Arizona-bound Kylan Butler, the absence of the younger Montana shouldn't matter that much.

As for Oaks Christian, head coach Bill Redell recently named St. Bonaventure transfer Tony Macarena as his starter for the upcoming season, which caused another quarterback, Anthony Vito, to leave. Redell told the Ventura Star that Nicholas Montana will have to earn any playing time he gets.

We watched Nicholas in one JV game last year and at last May's Nike Football Training Camp at Stanford. He threw a nice, tight pass, but will need to get bigger and stronger to rank among the top prep quarterbacks in the nation.

The younger Montana also said a reason for the move was so he would be closer to his personal quarterback coach, Steve Clarkson, who was the personal coach to former Oaks Christian quarterback Jimmy Clausen. Nobody promotes his clients quite like Clarkson, but now that we are with ESPN we can guarantee that at least some of the hype won't get through.

With Oaks Christian already possessing one of the top junior running backs in the country in Malcolm Jones, we can see the Lions ranking among the nation's best for 2009, if not 2008. Could Nicholas Montana's last game at Oaks Christian end up being in the CIF Open Division state bowl game against you know who? That would be fun, wouldn't it?

Comments or corrections? Email mark@studentsports.com