Six Moorpark High football players landed on the Ventura County Star's midseason Top 100 rankings, published Tuesday, Oct. 6.
Five of the six were unranked on the Star's preseason list of 65 players. The Musketeers opened 2026 with a 4-2 record, and the individual numbers tell the story.
Senior quarterback Dawson Armstrong earned the highest slot at No. 12. Through five games, Armstrong threw for 1,509 yards and 18 touchdowns against just two interceptions. Head coach Christian Dearborn praised Armstrong's arm in an Aug. 20 preseason feature in the Thousand Oaks Acorn, saying Armstrong has "a special zip on the football" and that he was excited to see the quarterback linked up with Moorpark's receivers.
Armstrong's top target, senior receiver Davis Benson, ranked No. 20. Benson recorded 304 receiving yards and five touchdowns in just two games before a hamstring injury slowed him. He was the lone Musketeer who appeared on the preseason list, at No. 19.
Benson is also a track and field standout who won the 110 hurdles and long jump at the CIF Southern Section Division 3 finals.
Senior defensive lineman David Dias landed at No. 22. The Star's Joe Curley and Dominic Massimino, who compiled the rankings, called Dias the county's most disruptive interior defensive lineman. He posted 5.5 sacks, six hurries and 7.0 tackles for a loss through five games. In Moorpark's 40-36 win over Camarillo, Dias recorded 3.0 tackles for a loss and 2.5 sacks.
Junior receiver Blake Davidson came in at No. 42 after a breakout start, making 22 catches for 461 yards and seven touchdowns. His 98-yard catch-and-run fueled the Musketeers' comeback against Camarillo. In the Channel League opener at Santa Barbara on Friday, Oct. 2, Davidson caught a short pass from Armstrong, broke free with back-to-back spin moves and scored a 25-yard touchdown, according to the Santa Barbara Independent.
Junior running back Brody Tweedy ranked No. 51. The 5-foot-9, 210-pound back has rushed for 630 yards and six touchdowns in six games. He opened the second half of the Santa Barbara game with a 54-yard run.
Offensive tackle Todd Lindemer rounded out the group at No. 97. The Star described the 6-foot-3, 270-pound lineman as important to the team's offensive success this fall.
Moorpark went 10-2 last season under Dearborn, a 2012 Moorpark High graduate, and won the program's first playoff game in seven years before falling to eventual CIF champion Ventura in the quarterfinals.
"We weren't satisfied with a 10-2 season … Our coaches are hungry, and our players are hungry because ultimately we didn't reach that final goal," Dearborn said in the Acorn's August feature.
The Musketeers dropped their Channel League opener 38-24 at Santa Barbara but host Rio Mesa at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 9, according to MaxPreps.
