ORANGE COUNTY ALL-STAR FOOTBALL GAME : La Quinta’s Julian Has Something to Prove

Trent Julian wasn’t even hit.

Entering his senior season last fall, Julian was looking for the type of year that could bring him a Division I football scholarship.

A muscular 6-foot-2, 190 pounds, Julian was armed with experience in the offensive and defensive backfields, excellent speed and about 150 recruiting letters from such schools as Colorado, Texas El Paso, Washington, San Diego State and Arizona State.

Then in a practice game before La Quinta High School’s first football game last fall, Julian tore the cartilage in his left knee while making a cut as he ran.

“I kind of had a cartilage tag--it was sticking out like a label on a shirt,” Julian said.

After the injury, there were no more recruiting letters. There were no more phone calls. Julian was faced with the question of whether to have surgery immediately and miss a minimum of five games, or have surgery after the season and play at what his doctors estimated to be 80% of his ability.

He chose the latter.

“It was a tough call. Looking back, had we gone the other way (surgery first), we didn’t know how long it would take to rehabilitate,” La Quinta football Coach Roger Takahashi said. “In the end though, 90% of Trent Julian is better than most. As he went, our offense went. I don’t feel it cost us anything.”

In eight games, Julian carried the ball 97 times for 508 yards and a 5.2 yard average. He had 24 receptions for 424 yards (17.7 avg.) and scored 16 touchdowns, sixth in the county.

“It was a courageous effort on his part--he played in a lot of pain,” Takahashi said. “He’s a cutter and a slasher and the injury affected him.”

For Julian it wasn’t just a matter of playing in pain. In the team’s sixth game (Julian’s third) against Bolsa Grande, Julian planted his leg, his knee locked and he reinjured his knee. He missed the next week, then played the rest of the season.

“He lost a little speed,” Takahashi said. “I remember in the playoff game he was caught from behind by Corona del Mar. If he was healthy he would have gone all the way.”

Julian, who will play for the South team in Friday’s 31st Orange County high school all-star football game at Orange Coast College, plans to attend Rancho Santiago College and transfer to a four-year program if he can prove that he has recovered completely.

Julian will take his first step in proving he’s recovered by playing Friday. It will be his first game since undergoing surgery seven months ago.

“Trent was really looking for a big year and he still had an all-star year, but I know somewhere in his heart he’s disappointed,” Takahashi said. “But he never showed it on the field or said anything to me--his father told me he was feeling some disappointment.”

These days, Julian is feeling better. He will be one of the few players who will play on offense and defense in Friday’s game.

Edison Coach Dave White, who also is the South coach, said the coaches had decided before practices that Julian (along with Doug Cunningham of Huntington Beach and Warren Johnson of Corona del Mar) would play both ways.

“He’s one of the top athletes,” White said. “As a receiver, he’s smart and has good hands--he finds the holes in the defense. On defense he has a great instinct for where the ball’s going. But the bottom line is his athletic ability.”

And White figures that ability will carry him through Friday night.

“Mentally it’s probably a little tougher (to play both ways) because he has to learn both playbooks,” White said.

Julian agreed.

“I run my head off, no doubt about it, it’s tough,” Julian said. “It’s a little weird. I’ll work out with the defensive backs for 15 minutes then I’ll line up and do drills with the receivers for 15 minutes.

“I was just as surprised as anyone to be playing both ways. We had a pizza feed and a meeting and the offense went one way and the defense went the other. The coach said: ‘Julian and Cunningham stay, we’re going to give you offensive playbooks.’ ”

Julian would have played both ways for La Quinta last fall, but the injury took its toll and Takahashi played him exclusively at running back. At Rancho Santiago, Julian will play defensive back.

As might be expected, Julian’s emotions are somewhat mixed about being confined to one side of the ball.

“Even though it’s better to give the hit than receive, I like to have the ball in my hands,” Julian said.