CATCH THEM IF YOU CAN—The Oaks Christian football team’s talented wide receiving corps features, front row from left, Chris Davis, Vinnie Saucer and Terry Johnson. Middle row: Jordan Payton, receivers coach Mike Sherrard and Trey Smith. Back row: Brett Medders, Dillon van der Wal and Blair Holliday. WENDY PIERRO/Acorn Newspapers Someone call Darrelle Revis.

While you’re at it, page Champ Bailey and Troy Polamalu, too.

Marmonte League football teams may need to import the NFL’s top defensive backs this season to have a shot at slowing down Oaks Christian’s aerial attack.

This collection of Lion passcatchers is deep, talented, supremely confident and has plenty of speed to burn.

“If we don’t make mistakes, it’s very hard to stop us,” said junior Jordan Payton, who led OCHS with 1,088 receiving yards and 18 touchdown catches in 2009.

“If our alignments are right, if our offense is moving, if the blocking is good—it just becomes so difficult to slow us down. And we’re fast, man. We have Division I prospects across the board in the receiving corps.”

Indeed they do.

Payton, who verbally committed to USC as a sophomore—a declaration he says remains solid despite the program’s problems with the NCAA—is the ballyhooed five-star prospect with 4.4- second speed in the 40-yard dash.

The blazing wideout averaged 24.2 yards per catch a year ago, with 40 percent of his receptions going for scores.

“I love having the ball, and I love making plays on the field,” said Payton, who also lines up at defensive back.

“That’s why my numbers are so high, because I’m always thinking about getting in the end zone, no matter if it’s a 2-yard route or a 50-yard route. It doesn’t matter.”

Payton’s not alone.

Senior Blair Holliday led the Lions with 48 catches last season. He was second on the squad with 857 receiving yards and hauled in eight touchdowns.

After collecting more than a half-dozen college scholarship offers, Holliday chose Duke.

“I wanted to make a decision on college from an academic standpoint,” Holliday said. “Football also came second. I limited it down to Stanford, Boston College or Duke, and Duke seemed like a perfect fit for me. It’s a great family atmosphere, and they’re building up a new program with a new coaching staff.”

With last year’s starting quarterback, Nick Montana, having moved on to Washington, senior Trevor Gretzky takes the reins behind center for Oaks Christian.

Holliday anticipates a seamless transition.

“We tell (Gretzky) just to put the ball in front of us, somewhere we can catch it,” Holliday said. “We tell him that he doesn’t need to make a perfect pass, and he doesn’t need to try and not make mistakes, because mistakes will happen.

“If he puts it somewhere we can get it, we will catch it.”

Gretzky’s tallest target is 6-foot-7, 235-pound senior Dillon van der Wal. A tight end/defensive end last year, the dominating Dutchman expects to see time in the slot this fall in addition to his role on defense. At his size, van der Wal can create matchup nightmares in the middle of the field. Wes Welker, he isn’t.

“I look at my size as a plus,” he said. “I can use my arms to keep defenders off me and create space to get open. I get to those passes up high, and the quarterback knows that if he puts it up there, I’ll bring it down.”

After registering 68 tackles and 15 sacks in 2009, van der Wal, who’s weighing multiple college offers, plans to bring more pain to opposing signal-callers.

“My goal for this year is to get more than 15 sacks,” he said.

Seniors Trey Smith and Brett Medders round out the Lions’ returning receivers.

Smith hauled in 23 receptions for 181 yards a season ago, while Medders provides a strong work ethic and gridiron toughness.

“I feel a lot more confident on the field than I did last year,” Smith said. “I did all right last year, but I think this year can be a really big year. . . .

“The seniors are ready to go out with a bang.”

According to Holliday, Smith, another college prospect, may be the team’s most sure-handed wideout.

Containing Oaks Christian’s four and five wide receiver sets may prove to be an impossible task, Medders said.

“Bubble screens or going down the field—we can do anything,” he said.

Among the new crop of speedy OCHS wideouts are sophomores Vinnie Saucer and Terry Johnson, as well as freshman Chris Davis.

Several Lion playmakers raved about the instruction they’re receiving from first-year coach Mike Sherrard, the former UCLA pass-catching star who was selected by the Dallas Cowboys as the 18th overall pick in the 1986 NFL Draft.

“I want to share my knowledge with these guys,” said Sherrard, a Westlake resident who competed on the San Francisco 49ers’ Super Bowl XXIV winning team.

“I’ve seen a lot after playing five years in college—I received a lot of great coaching in college— and working with the coaches and coordinators I had in the pros. I enjoy sharing those experiences with these young guys, and hopefully they can pick up on some of the stuff I’m teaching them.”

While he isn’t ready to anoint these Lions as the greatest thing since Jerry Rice and John Taylor, Sherrard sees something special within this all-star cast.

“All of the starters have been offered Division I scholarships,” the coach said. “You don’t see that at any other school.

“These guys all want to learn and are great athletes. It’s exciting for me to have a group of guys where I can take my abilities and what I’ve learned and I can pass it on to them to use on the field.”

Speaking of passing it along, does anyone have Revis’ cellphone number? Someone has to cover these guys.