THE HIGH SCHOOLS : Riche Swinton Signs for All Involved

High school athletes strive to achieve excellence for many reasons, one of which is the lure of a college scholarship.

Riche Swinton, running back and defensive back for the Montclair Prep football team, reached his goal on Wednesday. His parents, coach, recruiter and high school principal huddled in an office at Montclair Prep to watch him sign a letter-of-intent with Washington State.

Swinton will remember the moment for a long time. And not just because attaining a college scholarship has been a goal of his since the first time he buckled a chin strap.

Swinton’s accomplishment was made special by the involvement of his parents, Oscar and Paula, who have been supportive from the time he played for the Chatsworth Chiefs in the Valley Youth Conference.

Oscar Swinton has kept a running tab on Riche’s statistics throughout his career. He has saved every article mentioning his son’s achievements in football. Eventually, he said, he will put them into a scrapbook.

“It’s all saved in one big pile,” Oscar Swinton said. “It’s not too organized, but we haven’t missed too many articles, I don’t think. It’ll make a nice thick book some day.”

It was Oscar Swinton who called reporters during the football season to make sure that his son’s statistics were in order. He also videotaped all of Montclair Prep’s games.

“We’d go over the film the next day,” he said.

It was Oscar Swinton who compiled packets of news clippings and statistics to send to schools that were recruiting his son.

“I just went ahead and did what I thought was best, then told Riche about it later,” Oscar Swinton said. “I even called all the recruiting coordinators to find out what was going on.

“The phone bill was big, but it was worth it. I wanted him to get in a good school, and he did.”

Swinton was recruited by two other Pac-10 teams, but not as a running back.

Arizona wanted him to play defensive back. So did Cal.

“I decided that it was important that I stuck with my No. 1 goal,” Swinton said. “I have always tried out for running back first, then ended up playing defense, too. In my heart, I’ll always be a running back.”

John Hazelton, coach at Montclair Prep, said he had no trouble selling Swinton to Washington State.

“He gained 2,200 yards this year,” Hazelton said. “That makes for a lot of good-looking film. His film is fabulous. I’d be in the room with the recruiters when they were watching the films, and I never had to say a word. He sold himself.”

When he’s given room to maneuver, Swinton is indeed a sight to behold.

Swinton is a stocky 5-10, 183 pounds, and is capable of giving a defender a limp leg and a stiff forearm at the same time.

But he has worked hard to develop that talent.

Said Hazelton: “I think Riche entered this season with a lot to prove--not only to college recruiters, but to himself. We had a lot of schools looking at film two seasons ago, and even more looking at film of Todd Bowser last spring. What they saw in Riche was a good running back. The question was, would he look that much better in 1985?”

So, during the off-season, Swinton worked in the weight room and on the track. He gained 20 pounds, dropped almost a 10th of a second off his time in the 40 and increased his bench press 70 pounds, to 290.

“You should have seen the way he jumped off the film this season,” Hazelton said. “On defense, he really put some shots on people. And on offense, he just ran away from them.”

Said Swinton: “I knew when I started all that weight training last year that people were going to be skeptical about my ability because I played at a small school. I knew I had to earn their respect.”

Swinton’s father once told him he would never be anything more than an average running back and student.

“I told him that during his sophomore year,” Oscar Swinton said. “I was working in Atlanta and I couldn’t come see his games, but he wasn’t working hard enough in the classroom or on the field, so I attacked his ego--used a little reverse psychology on him.

“He reminded me about it during the season. He said, ‘I’ve been out to prove you wrong, ever since you said that.’ ”

Swinton is also proving his father wrong about his scholastics. Swinton says he was getting mostly Cs when his father gave him the tongue lashing. He will graduate from school in June with a grade-point average near 3.7.

“I’ve realized the importance of grades,” Swinton said. “I know that I couldn’t go where I wanted to go and do what I wanted to do without good grades.”

All of which brings us to signing day, when Swinton made his choice.

“I know my dad asked me what was wrong,” Swinton said. “I was happy, but I was nervous. I was feeling many different emotions all at the same time. My day had finally come.”

Whether Swinton will have as many happy days as a Pac-10 running back remains to be seen. His goals remain much the same--on and off the football field.

“I want to get my degree--that’s very important,” Swinton said. “My next goal is to do something special on the football field.

“I don’t want to be an average college player. I’m a back from a small high school. There are still people who doubt that I can be a good Pac-10 running back. I still have a lot to prove.”