Garrett is Now Jack of All Trades on Palomar Team

Jerry Garrett, troubled with academic ineligibility during what was otherwise a promising athletic career at Oceanside High School, is making a comeback at Palomar College.

Garrett, an option quarterback at Oceanside, is playing five positions for Coach Tom Craft. Last week, in Palomar’s 23-12 loss to Cerritos, he caught eight passes for 107 yards and a touchdown, returned three kickoffs for 72 yards, returned a punt for 20 yards, punted four times for an average of 38 yards and played defensive back.

Garrett also played last year at Palomar, but appeared in only five games because of a broken leg. Still, he caught 30 passes for 581 yards, a 19.7-yard average per reception, and three touchdowns.

Although Garrett’s academic difficulties are not entirely behind him, Craft is betting Garrett will get his Associate of Arts degree. Garrett must pass the fall, spring and summer semesters.

“Knowing this is his last stop, I think he’ll eventually get it done,” Craft said. “He’s got nothing left after this year.”

Craft said some people wondered why he took a chance on Garrett.

“That’s what makes community college coaching and teaching one of the most challenging things,” said Craft, who is in his ninth season as Palomar’s coach.

Craft said there are plenty of Division I football coaches willing to take a chance on Garrett, assuming he graduates. Fresno State, Oregon, Arizona and Oregon State are among the interested, according to Craft.

“Jerry is very talented, intelligent and charismatic, but he has to make up his mind so that he can follow through with some of the things that he wants to do,” Craft said. “We’ve presented him with a very high-profile situation here. Academically, we’ve done everything we can do for him. The rest is up to Jerry.”

Palomar’s gunner: Former San Pasqual High quarterback Andy Loveland is throwing the ball to Garrett in Craft’s no-huddle, run-and-shoot-style offense. Loveland, who led San Pasqual to the 2-A championship game in 1988 and the semifinals in 1987, spent two lost years at Colorado State.

Loveland redshirted his freshman year, then was academically ineligible last year.

In his first game at Palomar, Loveland completed 25 of 37 for 283 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.

Add junior college: Two former Chula Vista High players helped Southwestern College defeat Mt. San Jacinto Saturday, 46-20. Sophomore quarterback Derek Chapman completed 13 of 24 passes for three touchdowns and freshman running back Steve Gomez ran for 105 yards.

Also, two of Chapman’s scoring passes went to Victor Dean, who played at Lincoln.

All-Tournament: University of San Diego’s Nikki Wallace, last year’s freshman women’s volleyball player of the year in the West Coast Conference, is three for three in all-tournament selections this season. After being named MVP of the University of Nevada tournament, Wallace, a middle blocker from Lancaster, made all-tournament at Cal State Northridge and USD’s Volley World tournament.

USD junior Andrea Bruns, a walk-on from Apple Valley, Minn., was selected all-tournament at Nevada and USD. Jennifer Loftus, a freshman middle blocker from Arcadia, set a USD record for kills in a three-game match with 18 against Cal State Fullerton in the Northridge tournament, breaking Wallace’s mark. Loftus was also selected to the all-tournment team at Northridge.

Soccer mania: The USD men’s soccer team will host the Met Life Soccer Classic Friday and Sunday at Torero Stadium.

Cal, North Carolina Charlotte and Cleveland State will participate. Matches begin at 5 p.m. Friday and noon on Sunday.

Organizers are hoping they can bring back some of 3,500 people who watched the Toreros (2-2) lose to San Diego State last Saturday.