Imperial High School’s Royce Freeman made a splash as the San Diego Section’s all-time career leader in rushing yards (7,606), rushing touchdowns (111), and points scored (724) before going on to star with the University of Oregon Ducks, where he earned honors as the Pac-12 Offensive Freshman of the Year.
Freeman ventured to Oregon as the highest rated recruit out of the 2014 class of graduated high school seniors. While with the Ducks, he racked up 5,621 rushing yards and 60 rushing touchdowns (the Pac-12 career leader). He also caught 79 passes for 814 yards and four touchdowns.
Freeman is now playing in the NFL with the Denver Broncos on a four-year, $3.94 million contract that awarded him a signing bonus of $997,020. In three games with the Broncos, Freeman, a third-round pick by the team in the 2018 draft, has rushed 36 times for 152 yards and two touchdowns.
There’s another former San Diego Section standout — and one much closer to home — to keep an eye on come college game days this fall.
Former Mater Dei Catholic High School standout C.J. Verdell is now a redshirt freshman at the University of Oregon and appears to be following right in Freeman’s footsteps.
Verdell rushed 20 times for 115 yards and scored on a 48-yard run in the Ducks’ 38-31 overtime loss to visiting Stanford last Saturday.
For the season, the former Crusader standout has rushed 59 times for 314 yards and scored two touchdowns. He also had six catches for 94 additional yards.
Verdell is averaging 5.3 yards per carry on the season. He averaged 9.6 yards per carry in a 62-14 win over Portland State on Sept. 8.
Last Saturday’s yardage total was his highest on the season and the 48-yard TD run was the longest of his collegiate career, which has now spanned four games for the Ducks (3-1).
In three varsity seasons at Mater Dei Catholic, Verdell rushed for 4,855 yards, scored 64 rushing touchdowns and 74 touchdowns overall. He averaged 10.4 yards per carry.
Verdell racked up 174 all-purpose yards and scored three touchdowns as the Crusaders defeated Immanuel Reedley, 56-21, to win the 2015 Division V-AA state championship game.
On the other side of the football, Stanford senior safety Frank Buncom IV, a former St. Augustine High School standout (and South County resident), recorded five tackles against the Ducks, including four unassisted tackles.
His biggest game to date included a six-tackle performance (three solo stops and three assists) to go with three pass deflections in a 17-3 win over the University of Southern California on Sept. 8.
He had three tackles in the Cardinal’s 30-10 victory against UC Davis on Sept. 15.
Eastlake High School alumnus Isiah Olave had six tackles (four solo stops and two assists) in the loss for the Aggies.
Stanford improved to 4-0 on the season (2-0 in conference) with last Saturday’s overtime win.
UC Davis, which defeated Idaho, 44-21, last Saturday, is 3-1 on the season.
Clash of the Titans
Olave is among 16 former Eastlake players now playing at the next level, including former Titan great Tony Jefferson, who is now embarking on his sixth NFL season overall and second with the Baltimore Ravens.
Titans playing collegiate football this season include one at the NCAA Division I FBS level, two at the NCAA Division I FCS level, four at the NCAA Division II level, three at the NCAA Division III level, two at the NAIA level and three at the community college level.
Billy Dunkle, a 2018 EHS graduate, is currently a freshman offensive lineman at San Diego State University where he weighs in at 355 pounds and stands 6 feet, 5 inches tall.
Former Eastlake place-kicker Aeden Johnson is now a senior at the University of San Diego, a Division I FCS member along with UC Davis.
In a Sept. 15 game at Harvard, Johnson made both field goal attempts, including a 32-yard boot, in a 36-14 loss.
Former Titans playing at the Division II level include senior running back Aaron Baltazar (Azusa Pacific University), junior running back Isaiah Strayhorn (Northwest Missouri State University), defensive back Tommy Lopez (Eastern New Mexico University) and freshman defensive lineman Jalen Graham (Western State Colorado University).
Baltazar had three carries for 16 yard and one catch for two yards in Azusa Pacific’s 58-14 victory against visiting Simon Fraser University on Sept. 8.
Strayhorn has 36 carries for 203 yards and two touchdowns in four games this season for Northwest Missouri State.
Ex-Eastlake players competing at the Division III level include senior defensive lineman Justin Scott (Capital University), sophomore offensive lineman Francisco Aguilar (University of Mount Union) and junior offensive lineman Jake Suggett (Central College).
Former Titans competing at the NAIA level include freshman offensive lineman Dylan Teller (Dakota State University) and freshman safety Jae Vitin (College of Idaho).
Former Titans on this year’s Southwestern College roster include freshman defensive back Micah Mendillo, freshman defensive lineman Sergio Carzoli and freshman defensive back Rayshawn Parks-Price.
Mendillo has logged three tackles, including 1.5 tackles for a loss, in four games for the Jaguars this season, while Parks-Price has recorded two tackles, including one tackle for a loss.
Extra points
- Olympian High School alumnus Dominic Gudino, a sophomore offensive lineman, and Castle Park High School grad Luq Barcoo, a junior cornerback, join Dunkle at SDSU.
Gudino, the Aztecs’ starting center, has appeared in three games this season while Barcoo has logged playing time in two games with four tackles and one pass break-up.
As part of the SDSU offensive line, Gudino has helped the Aztecs average 198.25 rushing yards per game so far this season. SDSU (3-1) has won its last three games following a 31-10 loss to No. 13 Stanford to kick off the season, including last Saturday’s 23-20 overtime win over Eastern Michigan at SDCCU Stadium.
- Former Southwestern College quarterback Mike Glass passed for a touchdown and rushed for a touchdown for Eastern Michigan in last weekend’s game. On the season, Glass has completed 58.5 percent of his passes for 502 yards with five touchdowns and one interception.
Glass passed for 284 yards in a 35-28 loss at Buffalo on Sept. 15.
- Mar Vista High School alumnus Gabriel Preciado, a redshirt freshman offensive lineman, joins Eastlake’s Johnson on the USD Toreros roster.
- Mater Dei Catholic alumni Quentin Frazier, a sophomore defensive back, and Kyle Caldwell, a redshirt freshman defensive end, and one-time Titan Josh Olave, a sophomore cornerback, join Baltazar at Azusa Pacific.
NFL Star Watch
Alex Smith (Bonita Vista Middle School/Helix High School)
Smith passed for 220 yards with two touchdowns and one interception to lead the Washington Redskins to a 31-17 upset win over the visiting Green Bay Packers on Sunday. Three games into the season, Smith has passed for 767 yards with four touchdowns and one interception to go with a 102.2 quarterback rating.
Tony Jefferson (Eastlake High School)
Jefferson five tackles, including one for a loss, in the Baltimore Ravens’ 27-14 win over the visiting Denver Broncos on Sunday. In three games this season, Jefferson has collected 18 tackles and one interception.
Jason Myers (Mater Dei Catholic High School)
Myers has appeared in all three of the New York Jets games so far this season with a 100 percent rating on five field goals made, including a 55-yarder, and eight extra-point conversions in nine attempts (88.9 percent).
Jaguars earn respect in narrow loss to defending national champion Fullerton
The Southwestern College Jaguars did not reward their fans with a victory against the two-time defending state champion Fullerton Hornets but they had to earn an immeasurable amount of respect from all those assembled in DeVore Stadium last Saturday, including the Hornets, who finished No. 1 in the nation in last year’s national community college rankings.
The Hornets (4-0) captured a gritty 19-14 non-conference win in front of 500 fans to extend their three-year winning streak to 23 games. The Jaguars (3-1) had their cumulative 10-game winning streak snapped with the loss.
“They’re definitely a super talented team but we put more pressure on them than they’re used to,” SWC head coach Ed Carberry said with obvious pride. “Both teams played super hard; they came up with more plays than we did.”
A perfect game might have put the Jags over the top but the hosts were challenged throughout the evening. Southwestern forced Fullerton into three turnovers — an interception by Isaac Wright and fumble recoveries by Alexis Quinones and Wright — but was forced to play catch-up the final half of the contest after shocking the Hornets with the opening touchdown of the game.
Freshman Deandre Daniels (23 carries, 75 yards) capped a five-play, 48-yard scoring drive with a nine-yard touchdown run to put the Jaguars up 7-0 with 1:38 remaining in the first quarter.
The SWC defense held the high-powered visitors off the scoreboard until 7:04 was left in the first half when Sean North scored on a 20-yard pass from Gresch Jensen.
The first half ended 7-7. The Hornets took a 17-7 lead on a 17-yard TD run by Jensen and a 27-yard field goal by Corey Lewis in the third quarter.
Daniels narrowed the Fullerton lead to 17-14 on a three-yard run with 2:48 elapsed in the fourth quarter before the Hornets sealed the win on a safety with 29 seconds left in the game.
Fullerton out-gained Southwestern 344-119 in total yards (259-71 in the passing department) and collected three turnovers.
“They normally use five wideout; their quarterback is not used to getting hit and we hit him several times,” Carberry said. “They were not used to that.”
The Jags play this Saturday at East Los Angeles College (2-2) before returning home to kick off National Southern Conference play on Oct. 13 against Saddleback College.
