Football: Is anyone capable of stopping Santa Clara’s Wood?

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

I’ll be the first to admit that I had no idea who Cierre Wood was after hearing his name for the very first time around this time last year. If my memory serves me, a buddy of mine, Erik Boal over at the Daily News, told me to keep a watchful eye on the running back from Santa Clara, and was he right on the money with this kid.

Wood was impressive week in and week out as a junior, and I blogged about his efforts so many times that it was easy to lose count of how many appearances he ended up making on Varsity Times Insider. Which brings me to my point: The Saints opened the season over the weekend and you know who was at it again.

‘He’s special. He might be one of the best athletes we’ve ever had at this school,’’ Santa Clara Coach Fran Fredette said of Wood, who rushed for 144 yards and three scores in less than two quarters of work during Saturday’s 29-7 victory over Mary Star. Just imagine his numbers if he had played in the second half...

Wood rushed for 2,612 yards and 34 touchdowns a season ago. And Division I offers from seemingly every major school in the nation followed suit before he decided to orally commit to Notre Dame back in April. Duplicating those statistics won’t be easy this time around, not with opposing defenses designed to stop him.

‘I don’t know if anything can prepare us for the challenges we have ahead of us, but with Cierre out on the field, we always have a chance,’’ Fredette said. ‘If I had 11 Cierre Woods on this team, we might win every single game, although that’s not realistic. There’s a reason why everyone is keeping tabs on him. He’s that good.’’

Hueneme will get a firsthand look at the 6-foot-1, 210-pound senior Friday. Nonleague games against Channel Islands, L.A. Baptist and Kilpatrick follow before Santa Clara debuts in the Tri-Valley League. Wood made a believer out of me and I’m betting he’ll make believers out of everyone else before all is said and done.

-- Sean Ceglinsky