Westlake’s Preston to Play Football for Cal

Todd Preston of Westlake High, who began the 1990 season as a relatively unheralded college quarterback prospect, has orally committed to attend California in the fall.

Preston, the Marmonte League’s most valuable offensive player as a junior and senior, said Wednesday that he will sign a letter of intent with Cal on Feb. 6, the first day of the next signing period for high school seniors.

The 6-foot-3, 180-pound Preston, who completed 166 of 285 passes for 2,427 yards and 21 touchdowns in leading Westlake to an 8-2-1 record, took a recruiting trip to Cal last weekend and to the University of the Pacific a week earlier before commiting to the Pacific 10 Conference school on Christmas Day.

“I went (to Cal) thinking I wanted to go there, and everything I saw convinced me that it was the place for me,” said Preston, an All-Southern Section Division II selection.

“I liked the coaches, I liked the players, and I liked the campus. It’s also a good academic school, and that was a big plus.”

Preston became the Westlake starter in the second game of his sophomore season after splitting time with senior Chris Edwards in a season-opening 17-14 loss to Buena. During his career, he completed 391 of 785 passes for 5,608 yards and 46 touchdowns. He threw 43 interceptions.

He ranks second on the all-time Ventura County career passing yardage list behind Tim Gutierrez, who threw for 7,272 yards for Santa Clara from 1987-89.

Preston said he also was heavily recruited by Pac-10 schools Oregon, Washington, Washington State and USC.

“I kind of wanted to play for a Pac-10 school, but that’s not the only reason I went to Cal, and not Pacific,” Preston said. “I just really felt comfortable up there. There are a lot of guys on the team who went to high school down here, so we’ve got something in common.”