Cal Does Best Locally With 3 Signings

With a swift stroke of a pen Wednesday, several of the best football players from San Diego County high schools solidified previous verbal commitments to colleges on the first day national letters of intent could be signed.

The schools ranged from the more prestigious Pacific 10 Conference to the more obscure Golden State Athletic Conference. And no one benefitted from the pool of talent in the San Diego area more than Cal, which signed three players, and Northern Arizona, Arizona, Arizona State and Colorado State, which signed two each.

Cal picked up three Times’ first-team all-county players in Mission Bay’s Dareke Fleming, El Camino’s Ricky Spears and Point Loma’s Brett Callan.

Callan was second in the county receiving with 59 catches for 1,033 yards and seven touchdowns and started at safety. Fleming, a two-way lineman who also was recruited as a wrestler, was the co-defensive player of the year in the Western League. Spears was leaning toward UCLA--his brother was a starting defensive back for USC--but decided to play in Berkeley.

Although Oceanside’s Pulu Poumele hadn’t received word on whether or not he had passed his Scholastic Aptitude Test, the defensive end/outside linebacker signed with Arizona. He will be joined there by running back Terry Vaughn (5-9, 176), who led the county in rushing with 1,496 yards on 180 carries.

“He has all the tools that any school might look for,” Oceanside Coach John Carroll said of Poumele. “He has excellent mobility and he’s very strong.”

Poumele was the fourth Oceanside player to sign with a Division I program, the third to go to the Pac-10. Linebacker Junior Faave signed with Hawaii, and defensive tackle Sale Isaia chose UCLA.

Headed for Northern Arizona are Serra’s Rod Alexander and El Camino’s Jerry Avery.

Alexander was recruited primarily as a receiver but could also kickoff and punt for NAU. Avery, a Times second-team selection, was recruited as a defensive back.

Colorado State landed Eric Olsen of San Pasqual and Derek Ross of Mt. Carmel. They had also received a commitment from quarterback Anthony Hill of University City, but Hill had not yet signed late Wednesday.

Olsen, a wide receiver, averaged 19.2 yards and scored seven touchdowns on 17 receptions for San Pasqual’s ground-oriented offense. He was a Times’ first-team selection.

CSU was interested in Ross (6-4, 214) as a linebacker.

“I think his No. 1 strength as a player is his character,” Mt. Carmel Coach Bill Christopher said. “And he just likes to hit people. He takes offense if people run at him.”

Orange Glen’s Troy Martz, a Times’ first-team pick at guard, and Serra’s Jeff Kaiser opted for Arizona State. Kaiser was picked as a offensive lineman.

Martz visited Oregon and turned down a trip to USC, then chose Tempe over Eugene and Los Angeles.

“I liked the atmosphere at Arizona State,” Martz said. “The facilities, the campus . . . they were just superior to others. It was really hot, but it’s only that way two months out of the year.”

Two area players will take their talents to military academies: Josh Wright of Rancho Buena Vista to Air Force, Eric Alfsen of Southwest to Navy.

El Camino nose tackle Peau Atoe, who was voted the CIF 2-A defensive player of the year, was contacted by many Division I schools, including Colorado and Arizona. But his future remains in doubt because he will not take the SAT until later this month.

El Camino tailback Brian Madlangbayan, who rushed for a school-record 30 touchdowns and 1,726 yards this season, is awaiting to see whether he will be offered Hawaii’s last scholarship.

AZTEC FOOTBALL SIGNINGS

Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Where From Brandon Bejarano DL 6-6 235 El Rancho High (Pico Rivera) Lawrence Calhoun LB 6-1 195 Long Beach Poly High David Cole OL 6-6 245 San Luis Obispo High Andy Coviello LB 6-0 210 Sacramento Comm. College (Fair Oaks) Jamal Duff LB-TE 6-7 225 Foothill High (Tustin) Burton Ewert OL 6-7 235 Grace Davis High (Modesto) Lou Foster LB 6-0 215 De Anza Comm. College (San Jose) Shane Griffis OL 6-6 240 Exeter High Tim Gutierrez QB 6-2 200 Santa Clara High (Oxnard) Michael Landry DB 5-10 170 John Ehret High (Marrero, La.) John McCartney DB 6-0 190 Lincoln High (San Diego) Damon Pieri DB 6-0 185 Phoenix Comm. College (Glendale) Greg Porter DL 6-3 225 Highland High (Bakersfield) Chad Provensal LB 6-0 205 Bakersfield High Mark Roberts LB 6-2 210 West Bakersfield High Steve Rudisill DB 6-1 185 Thousand Oaks High Jason Savorn P 6-2 196 Cordova High (Rancho Cordova) Curtis Shearer WR 5-11 175 Silver Creek High (San Jose) Jeff Speech WR 6-1 170 Riordan High (San Francisco) Eric Sutton DB 5-10 175 Inglewood High Sam Williford DB 6-0 185 Muir High (Pasadena) T. C. Wright RB 5-9 180 Mesa Comm. College (Mesa, Ariz.) Michael Wynn QB-DB 6-3 205 San Fernando High Marc Ziegler TE 6-4 215 Mira Mesa High (San Diego) Louis Zumstein OL 6-4 265 Chula Vista High