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Would have done this by yesterday, but a nasty cold threw me for a loss. I'm ready to go again though. With that, here's a complete breakdown of local Division I FBS (I-A) and FCS (I-AA) signees.
By school
1. Redlands 4; 2 tie. Colony 3, Colton 3, Los Osos 3, Rancho Cucamonga 3, Redlands East Valley 3; 7 tie. Arroyo Valley 2, Don Lugo 2, Hesperia 2, Kaiser 2, Serrano 2, Upland 2; 13 tie. Aquinas 1, Cajon 1, Chaffey 1, Granite Hills 1, Miller 1, Sultana 1.
Redlands was the surprising winner in this category, as three Terriers - OL Justin Corrales (Bryant University), LB Cole Gridley (Valparaiso) and K/P Shaun McClain (Weber State) were able to parlay strong senior seasons into FCS scholarships. LB Jordan Thomas (San Diego State) was the only FBS scholarship to Redlands, but the Terriers get props for getting their successful kids scholarships.
The teams with three scholarship players are among the usual suspects when it comes to getting kids to Division I scholarships, as REV, Colton, Colony, Rancho Cucamonga and Los Osos have seen an army of players get to the next level recently. REV, Colton and Los Osos all sent their players to FBS school, with each having at least one kid sign with a Pac-10 school. Rancho also had a Pac-10 kid in TE Randall Telfer (USC), while Colony had a Big 12 kid in DB Jered Bell (Colorado).
No real shocks in the 2 and 1 scholarship crowd except maybe Serrano, which had two FBS kids. The Diamondbacks are known for doing more with less, so its no shock that they made a CIF final with two FBS seniors on the roster.
By college:
1. San Diego State 4. 2 tie. Fresno State 3, Oregon 3, USC 3; 5 tie. Montana State 2, Sacramento State 2, San Jose State 2, UNLV 2, Utah 2, UTEP 2; 11 tie. Army 1, Bryant 1, Colorado 1, Iowa State 1, Kansas State 1, Nevada 1, Portland State 1, Prairie View A&M 1, San Diego 1, UCLA 1, Valparaiso 1, Washington 1, Washington State 1, Weber State 1.
On the non-BCS level, San Diego State and Fresno State continue to do work in the county. When Aztecs coach Brady Hoke was hired last year, he told recruits that he was going to put an emphasis on Inland Empire athletes. He's done exactly that, signing 3 SAL kids last year and four county kids this year in Thomas, Serrano DE Everett Beed, Hesperia WR Jay Waddell and Granite Hills TE Bryce Quigley. A fifth, Serrano RB Dionza Bradford, verbally committed to San Diego State before backing out and going with UNLV. So Hoke is getting things done.
Pat Hill has consistently brought local talent into the fold and this year is no different, with Los Osos WR Sean Alston, Arroyo Valley LB Ofa Fifita and Rancho Cucamonga QB Greg Watson all inking with the Bulldogs. Montana State also was a big player in the FCS ranks, getting guys with FBS interest in Don Lugo DB Steve Bethley and Miller RB David Dash.
As far as the Pac-10 goes, 2010 saw a reversal from 2009. Last year, it was UCLA and Oregon State that cleaned up, while this year saw their rivals have success. The Trojans, despite a coaching change, got Kaiser RB/DB Anthony Brown, Telfer and the county's highest-ranked recruit, Don Lugo DT George Uko, to sign. Only an 11th-hour stunner by Kaiser LB Josh Shirley kept UCLA from being swept out of the county.
As for the Oregon schools, the Ducks got two extremely productive defensive players in Los Osos DE Tony Washington and Colton DB Derrick Malone and stole Colton K Alejandro Maldonado from Washington on the last weekend. Last year, it was Oregon State that did damage, with Freshman All-American OL Michael Philipp from Arroyo Valley being the crown jewel.
As far as out-of-region teams, I guess the big winner would be the Big 12 North. Colorado (Colony DB Jered Bell), Iowa State (Hesperia/Chaffey College TE Ricky Howard) and Kansas State (Sultana/Mt. SAC OL Manase Foketi) all signed area players while Nebraska courted several local players as well.
Been working the phones a bit this morning and got information on a few signing-day press conferences. Redlands East Valley will be holding its press conference at the crack of dawn Wednesday, with a 7 a.m. signing with DE Andrew Hudson (Washington), QB Tyler Shreve (Utah) and OL David Peterson (San Jose State) set to be in REV's football office.
Serrano will be holding its signing at 10:30 a.m. in the performing arts room on campus. Set to sign are DE Everett Beed (San Diego State) and RB Dionza Bradford (UNLV), along with a few soccer players according to athletic director Ray Maholchic.
Kaiser linebacker Josh Shirley will be at the FOX studios in Los Angeles for his announcement Wednesday. While the exact time of the announcement hasn't been set yet, Shirley was told to be at the studios at 11 a.m. according to a text he sent me. Shirley is deciding between USC, Miami (Fla), Washington and Arizona.
Serrano running back Dionza Bradford apparently is back with UNLV, recommitting to the Rebels last week after an official visit to the school that he originally verballed to over the summer.
Bradford, a first-team all-CIF and second-team all-Sun selection, verbally committed to UNLV coach Mike Sanford in July along with Serrano teammate Everett Beed but decommitted in November after Sanford was fired. Both Bradford and Beed committed to San Diego State in December after an official visit to the campus but changed back to UNLV and new coach Bobby Hauck last weekend according to Rivals.com
Beed is still solid with San Diego State after an official visit to Arizona State according to Rivals. com.
Talked to Serrano defensive end Everett Beed this morning, as he was one of the San Bernardino county all-stars present at this morning's media day. During the conversation, Beed confirmed that him and teammate Dionza Bradford committed to San Diego State after an official visit to the school two weekends ago.
"We're committed," Beed said. "Dionza is all San Diego State. We really liked what they had and we liked that there are going to be four High Desert guys there."
Bradford and Beed join Hesperia WR Jay Waddell and Granite Hills TE Bryce Quigley as Aztec commits. They both initially committed to UNLV but decommitted after the Rebels' coach, Mike Sanford, was fired in late November.
Beed did leave the door open for a future change, as he indicated that he is taking an official visit to Arizona within the next month. However, he reiterated that it would take a lot for the Wildcats to sway him.
"I want to see what Arizona has to offer," Beed said. "But San Diego State is a great place and I'm committed to them."
Palm Springs held its first half lead, as it exchanged touchdowns with Serrano in the second half to win 24-14. Junior running back Nephi Garcia scored each one of the Indians' 24 points, adding a 54-yard touchdown run and extra point to his two touchdowns, two extra points and two field goals in the first half.
Dionza Bradford rushed 21 times for 101 yards and a touchdown and caught a 10-yard touchdown pass from Joey Peterson in the fourth quarter for Serrano. Peterson completed 13 of 25 passes for 136 yards, a touchdown and an interception to, you guessed it, Garcia.
Here some stats:
Total yards: Serrano 236, Palm Springs 275
Rushes-yards: Serrano 32-100, Palm Springs 41-214
Passing yards: Serrano 136, Palm Springs 61
Att-Com-Int: Serrano 13-25-1, Palm Springs 4-10-2
Turnovers: Serrano 2, Palm Springs 2
Penalties-Yards: Serrano 6-45, Palm Springs 6-39
Individual
Passing
Serrano: Joey Peterson 13-25-1-136
Palm Springs: Michael Karls 4-9-2-61
Rushing
Serrano: Dionza Bradford 21-101, Jeremy Delacruz 4-18
Palm Springs: Nephi Garcia 13-108, Karls 21-68, Evan Williams 5-39
Receiving
Serrano: Jerry Devora 4-59, Seth Tate 3-30, Bradford 2-23
Palm Springs: Garcia 3-59
Blogging from the Eastern title game is a little sporadic. Small press box + lack of chairs plus more reporters than normal = fun times at Palm Springs High.
The Indians - I'm pretty sure I accidentally called them Cardinals in my preview story today - are being led by running back Nephi Garcia, who has accounted for all 17 Palm Springs points. Garcia ran in a 5-yard touchdown, returned a kickoff 80 yards for a score and kicked a 30-yard field goal. Oh yeah, he kicked both extra points too. I wouldn't be surprised if he's selling concessions right now.
Dionza Bradford, who has 77 yards rushing on 13 carries, scored Serrano's only touchdown on a 2-yard run late in the first quarter. He also fumbled while the Diamondbacks were driving late in the first half. Joey Peterson has 36 yards on 3 of 5 passing for Serrano, with Joey Devora catching two passes for 30 yards. Ethan Hillyer has one interception on defense.
About 10 minutes before the second half resumes. Who knows if I'll be able to blog again before the game ends.
Speaking of Malone, the senior safety made a verbal committment to the Ducks over the weekend according to Rivals.com, just over a month after Oregon offered the 6-foot-3, 195-pound 3-star safety.
Malone, who was considering Nebraska, Washington, Arizona State and Arizona, made his commitment after taking an official visit to Eugene for Oregon's rivalry game for Oregon State last Thursday.
Also, Serrano running back Dionza Bradford and defensive end Everett Beed informed me at the CIF-SS football luncheon that they will be taking official visits to San Diego State next weekend. Both Diamondbacks were committed to UNLV, but decommitted when the school fired head coach Mike Sanford in November.
The Serrano High School football team seemingly had Perris Citrus Hill right where it wanted it during their CIF-SS Eastern Division semifinal matchup last December, up 15-11 with just under three minutes left. But unfortunately for the Diamondbacks, that scenario didn't treat them well in 2008.
Citrus Hill, which had been throttled by Serrano's physical, aggressive defense for the first 45 minutes of the game, deftly marched 80 yards in two minutes to score the game-winning touchdown, grabbing an 18-15 lead and providing the Diamondbacks with a rallying cry for the 2009 season.

T.J. Berka has been covering sports for The Sun since 2006. As a graduate of the University of Michigan, T.J. know good sports when he sees them - at least he thinks he does.



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