San Diego Player of the Week : Evenson Is Up and At ‘Em After Long Night of Studying

Tony Evenson stayed up most of the night last Thursday working on a psychology paper due the next morning. He arrived at St. Augustine High School Friday morning weary, with a bad cold.

“Academics are why I’m there, but sports are a big part of my life,” he said.

And despite the lack of sleep, Evenson played a big part in St. Augustine’s 12-0 victory over San Diego High in a City Central League game Friday. Evenson, a senior wide receiver/defensive back, scored the game’s only points and saved a touchdown with an interception in the end zone.

“I was really sick going into the game,” he said. “I had an hour’s sleep, but it came out all right.”

He caught 8 passes for 180 yards, including passes for 25 and 35 yards from quarterback Leon Olias that went for touchdowns. He did, however, miss both extra point tries.

Defensively, he made his first two interceptions of the season, one a diving catch in the end zone to end a San Diego drive. He was credited with 11 tackles and recovered a fumble after catching a San Diego runner from behind and knocking the ball loose.

St. Augustine Coach Joe Galindo likes to say that Evenson is 5-feet 7-inches tall to give opponents who haven’t seen him the wrong impression, but concedes that he is closer to 5-10. Regardless of his size, the defensive side of the ball is where Evenson stood the tallest against San Diego.

“I was really tired after the game,” Evenson said Sunday, still fighting his cold. “But it was a good tired.

“I decided that (not sleeping) would be my pregame plan from now on.”

Galindo wasn’t surprised by Evenson’s busy night.

“Early in the year, I said, ‘Tony, I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to be the iron man.’ He said, ‘No sweat coach.’ ”

So far this season, Evenson has 41 receptions for 700 yards. As a runner he has 107 yards in 24 carries and has returned one punt and one kickoff for touchdowns. That totals 1,215 all-purpose yards and 62 points. He also is the team’s placekicker.

Galindo said Evenson’s best game was his four-touchdown, five-extra point effort in a 35-12 victory over Marian.

Evenson disagrees.

“It (the Marian game) wasn’t as much of a game,” Evenson said. “Sure I contributed to the win, but the game wasn’t on the line. It felt a lot better when the game was on the line, rather than just scoring and scoring and scoring. The two touchdowns (against San Diego) really meant more to me than the four, because we were in the game and they (San Diego) always had a chance to come back.”

Evenson is the point guard on the basketball team and ran track his first two years. As a sophomore, he was on the mile relay team that placed eighth in San Diego County.

As a player, Evenson’s biggest attributes are his speed and his desire for perfection. Despite not practicing his kicking for two weeks because of an injured thigh, he was disturbed by his two missed extra points.

“If you make a mistake it’s all right, but if you do it twice, you haven’t learned anything and you’re just out there playing,” he said. “I like to think that a perfect game for me is not making any mistakes. Friday night I missed some kicks, and I’d like to figure out what I was doing wrong. If it was a different situation those kicks could have decided the game then all the other stuff I did would be null because I missed those kicks.”

It probably had nothing to do with his lack of sleep.