Norco keeps producing the beef

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It’s not a stretch to envision three former Norco offensive linemen starting for Arizona State a couple years from now.

Garth Gerhart and Adam Tello (yes, that’s their real hair) are currently redshirt freshmen for the Sun Devils, and Norco senior right tackle Kyle Johnson is taking an official recruiting trip to Arizona State this weekend.

‘I’ve got Garth showing me around,’ said Johnson, a 6-foot-7, 290-pound behemoth. ‘I’d like to go there and be with them, we were really close when we were here.’

Johnson also played right tackle last season, with Tello at right guard and Gerhart at center. Together, they were a big reason the Cougars (5-1, 1-0) won a second consecutive Southern Section title. Johnson said not having his linemates on the field has been a major adjustment this season.

‘We’re not as good as we were in those positions, but we make up for it,’ he said.

Johnson said he was a basketball player when he arrived at Norco as a freshman. Two years ago, he still considered himself ‘tall, skinny and weak,’ despite weighing about 210 pounds. He then took a liking to football and has been progressing ever since.

‘Kind of like Konrad Reuland?’ I asked.

‘Who’s that?’ Johnson replied.

Sigh.....how quickly they’re forgotten.

- Dan Arritt