Trenches are land of opportunity
Carlos Escobar agreed to become a Swede on Wednesday, and the most unlikely element of this story is not that his black hair and beard defy typical Nordic appearance.
What sets Escobar apart from the other five Orange Coast College football players who sat side-by-side at a table in the gymnasium lobby to sign their National Letters of Intent to continue their playing careers at four-year schools, is how little he did to set himself apart.
Escobar accepted a partial scholarship offer from Bethany College in Kansas, an NAIA school that is hoping to improve upon a 1-10 season in 2016.
The Swedes, in fact, have apparently left no stone unturned to find prospective players. And Escobar was, few would argue, under a pretty small stone.
The 6-foot-2, 262-pound noseguard is the kind of kid coaches like to coach. OCC Coach Kevin Emerson said he didn’t miss a day of practice and his enthusiasm and effort were exemplary. He intends to study history at Bethany and he wants to pursue a career in teaching.
But OCC statistics indicate that Escobar played in two games in two seasons, one per year, and accumulated the grand total of one tackle.
Further, Escobar played two years of varsity football at Capistrano Valley High, and though his senior season in 2014 ended when he broke his hand in the third game, he said he started as a junior defensive tackle. Yet Escobar is not credited with any tackles on the team statistics listed for both seasons on the MaxPreps.com website.
This is not revealed to disparage Escobar’s ability, but merely to point out the high demand for linemen at small-college football programs.
“There are a lot of community college sophomores looking for a home,” said Chris Snyder, the Bethany offensive coordinator assigned to recruit in Southern California who wooed Escobar. “We try to talk to as many sophomores as we can when we check in [with community college programs] in November, and Carlos is someone who expressed interest in playing for us.”
Snyder acknowledged that evaluating Escobar was limited, due to a lack of game videotape, but noted that his school has had success recruiting kids who are buried on the depth charts of talent-laden Southern California JC programs.
“One of our best receivers last season was a kid who was the No. 6 receiver at Grossmont,” Snyder said. His Hudl tape [another website that features video of individual players] was just 2.5 minutes long, including special teams. “Everyone is looking for offensive and defensive linemen and [Emerson] gave [Escobar] a good recommendation.”
So, Escobar is off to tackle his next football opportunity in Lindsborg, Kansas. Here’s wishing him well.
Hendry blossoms
Another story of a football longshot defying the odds is OCC sophomore Preston Hendry, who signed Wednesday with Washington State.
The 6-foot-5, 225-pound defensive end earned second-team All-Southern Conference honors last fall, when he made 30 tackles in eight games, including three sacks. He was also second-team all-conference in 2015 after making 53 tackles and 5.5 sacks in 11 games.
But Hendry was a receiver his first three seasons at Tesoro High, shifting to defensive end as a senior. He said he played sporadically in 2014 at Tesoro and was used primarily in pass-rush situations.
“It’s a unique story, because it wasn’t like he was the main guy in high school,” Emerson said. “But he had the body frame and OCC provided an opportunity to develop that body and grasp the skills used at his position. It’s an amazing story to go from basically not being a full-time player in high school to being a Division-I scholarship guy.”
Hendry, who said he had 13 scholarship offers before his sophomore season at OCC, said he wanted to play for a Pac-12 program. He said he ultimately chose Washington State over Arizona State.
Hendry said he weighed 190 pounds as a senior at Tesoro, gained 15 pounds for his freshman year at OCC, and played at 225 last fall. He said he is approaching 235 pounds and he is working hard to put on more muscle.
Hendry said he did not figure on playing college football at all, but his best friend, former Tesoro teammate and OCC offensive lineman Zack Hickman, convinced him to try playing at OCC.
“Nick said ‘You have nothing else to do, and you don’t have anything to lose,’” Hendry recalled. “I ended up sticking with it and it was one of the best decisions I’ve made. I’m blessed to be in this situation.”
Lions’ forfeits costly
Vanguard University men’s basketball coach Rhett Soliday is in his first year as athletic director at the school, and his two jobs intersected with disappointing consequences recently.
Soliday learned that one of his players dropped a class in the fall semester, while concurrently repeating a class to better a grade needed to move toward degree progress. Since the repeat class, by a recent NAIA rule, didn’t count as units toward eligibility, the dropped class left the player short of the 12 credit hours needed to be eligible.
The result was Vanguard having to forfeit 12 victories through Dec. 14, including a conference win over San Diego Christian. Heading into Thursday’s Golden State Athletic Conference home game against visiting Menlo, Vanguard’s adjusted record is 4-18, 2-6 in conference.
Having lost, 86-82, in overtime at San Diego Christian on Saturday, the Lions are tied for seventh in the nine-team GSAC, in which the top six teams qualify for the postseason conference tournament. San Diego Christian is sixth at 3-8.
Soliday declined to identify the player, who became eligible when the spring semester began and is playing for the team.
Soliday said the lost victories will virtually require Vanguard to win the conference tournament to qualify for the NAIA Tournament. Further, the forfeit to San Diego Christian, and the disappointment that came from the forfeits, has hurt the Lions’ chances of earning a GSAC Tournament berth.
“Bottom line, it was just a bummer and it has affected our guys,” Soliday said. “The challenge for us is to get our focus back on becoming the best team we can be heading into March.”
