Recently in Rodney Hardrick Category

Colton all-CIF offensive/defensive lineman John Taylor committed to Sacramento State last night, according to a text message received today by Colton coach Rick Bray. Taylor is the third Yellowjacket to commit to a Division I school, joining linebacker Rodney Hardrick (Oregon) and RB/DB Tyler Ervin (San Jose State). All three players will sign their letters of intent at 9:45 a.m. Wednesday in the Whitmore Auditorium on campus as part of National Signing Day.

Other signing ceremonies that have been announced are Summit's Devon Blackmon, who will sign with Oregon at 11:44 a.m. in classroom G101 on the Summit campus and Redlands' Jordan Smith, who will sign with San Diego State in a ceremony at Dodge Field at 12:30 p.m.

A few days after being part of Colton's first CIF-SS championship football team since 1978, Yellowjackets linebacker Rodney Hardrick made a verbal commitment to Oregon after an in-home visit with the Ducks Monday night according to Rivals.com.

Hardrick, a 6-foot-3, 205-pound senior who played tight end and outside linebacker for Colton, chose the Ducks over offers from Oregon State, Washington, New Mexico and Idaho. He is the second county player to commit to the Ducks, joining Chino Hills defensive back Ifo Ekpre-Olomu.

With the high school football season in high gear, recruiting of local athletes is starting to pick up as well. That's definitely the case at Colton High School, as several Yellowjackets are jumping headfirst into the recruiting process.

Star running back Tyler Ervin and linebacker/tight end Rodney Hardrick made unofficial visits to Arizona State and Boise State this weekend. Ervin went to check out the Oregon-Arizona State, while Hardrick flew up to see the Oregon State-Boise State clash.
"Rodney was taking care of two birds with one stone, as he's looking at both of those schools," Colton coach Rick Bray said. "It's an exciting time for all of these kids."

Another Yellowjacket receiving a large amount of interest is Devan Hussey, who is being pursued by several Ivy League schools. The University of Colorado has also been around the Colton campus a lot recently according to Bray.

A new wrinkle we added this year, the preseason all-area team wasn't very easy to put together. But I'm sure these guys will make me look somewhat smart.

OFFENSE
QB - Thomas Carter, Sr., Cajon
RB - Dillon Pretzinger, Sr., Rim of the World
RB - Jeremiah Armstead, Sr., Oak Hills
RB - Tyler Ervin, Sr., Colton
WR - Paul Pitts, Sr., Los Osos
WR - Angel Rivera, Sr., Arroyo Valley
TE - Rodney Hardrick, Sr., Colton
OL - Jamal Prater, Sr., Etiwanda
OL - Jordan Smith, Sr., Redlands
OL - Hector Sotelo, Sr., Serrano
OL - Gary Dixon, Sr., Summit
OL - Jesus Cortez, Sr., Chaffey
Util - Devon Blackmon, Sr., Summit
K - Cody Madsen, Sr., Redlands East Valley

DEFENSE
DL - Ethan Hillyer, Sr., Serrano
DL - John Siliga, Sr., Redlands
DL - Devon Lewis, Sr., Redlands East Valley
DL - Kyle Jerkins, Sr., Apple Valley
LB - Devan Hussey, Sr., Colton
LB - Dennis Taylor, Sr., Kaiser
LB - Jamal Wilson, Sr., Miller
LB - Jimmy Musgrave, Sr., Silverado
DB - Ifo Ekpre-Olomu, Sr., Chino Hills
DB - Josh Armstrong, Sr., Redlands East Valley
DB - Desman Carter, Sr., Kaiser
DB - Demontae Kazee, Jr., Cajon
Util - Sateki Finau, Sr., Rancho Cucamonga
P - Jake Van Ginkel, Sr., Upland

On the surface, it won't seem like much has changed as far as Colton High School football is concerned. The Yellowjackets will still run their double-wing offense, using a physical running game and an assortment of athletic playmakers on defense to great success. But they'll have a new guy overseeing that.

Longtime assistant Rick Bray, who has served as an assistant at Colton 21 of the last 25 season - the last 11 with Harold Strauss, is the new guy in charge of the Yellowjackets, taking the place of the legendary coach in the spring. And while Strauss - who is now concentrating full-time on his role as Colton's athletic director - will not be on the sideline, his influence will remain.

"I'm not going to change much, because there's really not much to be changed," Bray said. "Things worked pretty well here. We'll do some tinkering here and there, but Harold had this running pretty well."

The search for Colton's next football coach is close to reaching its next stage according to Yellowjackets athletic director Harold Strauss. The job, which opened at the end of January, will say open until Tuesday, with interviews set to take place shortly after.

"It's going well," Strauss said. "I wasn't sure how much interest we'd get because of the economy, but we have a good list going. We have 2 or 3 out-of-staters -- one from South Carolina and a couple more from the East Coast -- which is surprising."

Along with the coaching position, Strauss indicated that senior cornerback Jonathan Mack will likely take official visits to Southern Miss and South Dakota State. Mack, who committed to UNLV, has not signed yet, as the Rebels are looking to see if scholarship room can be cleared for him. In the interim, Mack is pursuing other options.

Also, junior linebacker Rodney Hardrick is receiving heavy interest from USC, Oregon and Boise State according to Strauss, with the Trojans expected to offer a scholarship at their junior day later this month.

First of all, I apologize for the extended break between posts. Between vacations and the general slow nature of the summer, I haven't been on here in a while. But with football season coming up, I plan to make up for that a bit with some team previews.

I'll first start off with Colton because, quite frankly, Harold Strauss was the first coach I was able to get in contact with today. Strauss, as you guys probably know by now, will be coaching his final season with the Yellowjackets, as he has been named to replace David Drake as Colton's athletic director.