Fairfax's Ivan Levant is SBLive Southern California Athlete of the Week (12/04/2023)
A midseason team slump didn't deter Ivan Levant.
The Fairfax senior quarterback has helped carry the Lions into the CIF Division 7-AA state championship football game with four straight wins, including a 20-14 victory over Chatsworth in the LA City Section Division 2 title game.
In that game Levant threw for 291 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for another as the Lions improved to 10-4 and will face Ferndale in Friday's state finals at El Camino College in Torrance.
For his big numbers, Levant earned a spot on a SBLive top performers list when his numbers really grew.
The 6-foot, 180-pounder earned 58 percent of the vote to make him the SBLive Southern California Athlete of the Week for football games played Nov. 24-26.
For the season, Levant has completed 213 of 362 passes for 3,563 yards and 44 touchdowns. He threw for 616 yards and eight touchdowns in a 59-26 win over Panorama on Nov. 3. According to the Cal-Hi Sports record book, it was the third highest total by a LA City quarterback and seventh best overall in California history.
The two LA City Section players ahead of him are also at the very top of the California state record book.
Pacific Palisades' David Koral has the state single-game record of 764 in a 2000 game versus Grant of Van Nuys, while No. 2 on the list is Los Angeles Hawkins' Jorge Amaya, who passed for 739 yards in 2014, a 46-27 win over Los Angeles West Adams.
Here are the other athletes Levant beat out to win the award.
Abduall Sanders, Mater Dei: Sanders had a 52-yard pick-six in Friday's win over St. John Bosco.
Vance Spafford, Mission Viejo: Spafford had five catches for 145 yards and two touchdowns against Servite.
Michael Ephraim, Jurupa Hills: Ephraim had six tackles, a sack, an interception, a forced fumble and a fumble return for a touchdown against Charter Oak.
Noah Penunuri, Rio Hondo Prep: Penunuri had 178 rushing yards and two touchdowns in Friday's 29-27 win over Santa Monica.
Jesse Sereno, Simi Valley: Sereno had 312 passing yards and two passing touchdowns against Mira Costa:
Brice Hawkins, Simi Valley: Hawkins had 142 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns on 22 carries against Mira Costa.
Kingston Tisdell, Birmingham: Tisdell had 178 passing yards and two touchdowns against Garfield.
David Sandy, Jordan: Sandy rushed for 221 yards and four touchdowns in Friday's win over George Washington Prep.
Dikshanta Adhikari, Cerritos: Adhikari had five catches for 67 yards and two touchdowns against Yucca Valley.
Jaden Mangini, La Jolla Country Day: Mangini had six touchdown passes and four rushing touchdowns against Grossmont, finishing with 429 passing yards and 113 rushing yards.
Madden Craig, La Jolla Country Day: Craig caught nine passes from Mangini, finishing with 194 receiving yards, three touchdowns and an interception.
Jack Schneider, Del Norte: Schneider completed 14 of 17 passes for 223 yards and two touchdowns and also rushed for 74 yards in Saturday's win over La Jolla.
Khalid Farah, Del Norte: Farah finished with eight tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble against La Jolla.
Matthew Barton, Mount Miguel: Barton had 214 passing yards and five passing touchdowns in Friday's win over Chula Vista.
Isaiah Hasten, St. Augustine: Hasten had five catches for 96 yards and grabbed two interceptions in Friday's win over Mission Hills.
