After leading Cathedral Catholic High School to a state championship football appearance last fall and being named the CIF San Diego Section Offensive Player of the Year, Honor Fa’alave-Johnson became a wanted young man.

By, it turns out, not only colleges but other high schools.

The junior running back/defensive back said he was been recruited by high schools from Florida to Orange County. It prompted him to take to social media.

“I appreciate all the different programs reaching out to my family and I,” Fa’alave-Johnson posted on X (formerly Twitter). “However, I’ll be staying in San Diego and playing my final season at Cathedral Catholic. Excited to run it back with my brothers, coaches, and represent the City one more time.”

Reached by phone, Fa’alave-Johnson said the schools recruiting him included IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., plus “almost the whole Trinity League.”

There are six schools in the Trinity League. Mater Dei Catholic, Santa Margarita, Servite, Orange Lutheran and JSerra are all located in Orange County. The sixth school, St. John Bosco, is in Bellflower.

“This has been real heavy on mind,” Fa’alave-Johnson said. “For my senior year, I was debating going to the Trinity League and getting experience facing the best talent to get me ready for college.

“The more I prayed about it and talked to my family, I was born and raised in San Diego. I love Coach (Sean) Doyle, coach (John) Montali (the Dons’ defensive coordinator) and the entire coaching staff.

“I feel schools in the Trinity League try to win, but not develop the kids as much. They try to throw money at you and do crazy stuff. I feel the people you start with, you should finish with. That’s the ultimate conclusion I came to.”

Fa-alave-Johnson said the Trinity League schools offered him free tuition. He said some offered travel expenses and housing.

Like the Trinity League programs, Cathedral Catholic is a private school. Annual tuition is $21,972. The school offers financial aid based on need.

Doyle said he wasn’t surprised that the Trinity League schools tried to poach his star player.

“They’ve been doing that for a lot of years,” Doyle said. “And Honor’s pretty dang good, obviously. I knew he would be on the radar of, if you want to say, national teams.”

The 6-foot-1, 190-pound Fa’alave-Johnson lines up at running back and the slot on offense and at safety and cornerback on defense. He rushed for 1,265 yards, averaged 9.9 yards per carry and scored 21 rushing touchdowns. He caught 35 passes for 564 yards and seven touchdowns.

On defense, he recorded 38 tackles and intercepted two passes.

Because Cathedral routed many opponents this year, Fa’alave-Johnson sat out the second half of many games and missed one game with an injury. As a result, his total rushing yards were modest compared to some players. Four running backs in the state rushed for more than 4,000 yards.

A better measure of Fa’alave-Johnson’s skill is that he scored a touchdown once every 5.8 times he touched the football. His touchdowns included runs of 80, 36, 72, 32, 55, 37, 33, 57, 47, 57, 43 and 74 yards.

And he was at his best in some of Cathedral’s biggest games. In a 42-33 win over Lincoln, he rushed 24 times for 186 yards and scored five touchdowns. In a 42-35 San Diego Section Open Division semifinals win against Mission Hills, he carried 18 times for 255 yards and scored five TDs.

While Fa’alave-Johnson earned the most attention for his play at running back, he said this week that he’s leaning toward playing in the defensive secondary in college. He said the physical beating a running back absorbs is the main factor in his thinking.

“I want as long of a career as possible,” he said. “Honestly, this year opened my eyes on the offensive side. I want a package or some plays (in college) I could go in on offense. But I primarily want to play defense (in college).”

Fa’alave-Johnson said he has narrowed his college choices to 10 schools: USC, Oregon, Texas, Texas A&M, Alabama, Penn State, Miami, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Oklahoma. New Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp visited Fa’alave-Johnson at Cathedral recently.