Salaam, Abrams Are Making Big Marks at a Little School : High school football: Running back, kicker get national acclaim at La Jolla Country Day.

Eighteen boys came out for football at La Jolla Country Day this year. Two of them-- two --are preseason All-Americans considered to be among the hottest college recruits in the country.

Rick Woods, the coach, has never spent so much time answering questions for major college coaches and filling requests for videotape . . . and likely never will again.

“Not here,” he said. “Not at a school like this.”

LJCD is a private K-12 school with a secondary enrollment of about 250. The senior class this year totals 70. Students are generally more interested in physics than football.

Yet Eric Abrams, the school’s 5-foot-7 left-footed kicker, is being touted as the best in the nation by many recruiting experts.

And Rashaan Salaam, the running back, has gained 3,456 yards rushing and scored 74 touchdowns in his first 18 games. Salaam, 6-2 and 204 pounds of speed and power, has either reached or is within striking range of every San Diego Section rushing and scoring record.

“They’re two of 217 kids from across the nation who made this year’s Super Prep Preseason All-American Team,” said Super Prep Magazine Editor Allen Wallace. “They might be the only two from an eight-man program.”

Salaam played four years of Pop Warner ball in Southeast San Diego and had planned to star at Lincoln. But his mother insisted on a private-school education. When he arrived at LJCD as a freshman, Salaam must have reminded Woods of his old self.

“I thought, ‘Eight-man football. What is this?’ ” Salaam moaned. “I was just so sad. I wanted to play with my friends and against my friends and keep the memories coming on. I mean, I’m like a football-aholic.”

“He was standing looking at us, after he heard we play eight-man ball,” Woods said. “I tried to convince him that we work hard and play ball just like everybody else.”

Salaam became convinced that first day of practice when, running along hills and canyons by UC San Diego, he rejected his breakfast. Instead of finishing the run, Salaam, then 13, shuffled over to Scripps Memorial Hospital across the street and called for a ride home.

The story still gets a laugh from Woods, a former Big Ten quarterback at Minnesota who recognizes what he has in Salaam.

“He’s just different than any other back around,” Woods said. “Nobody has his combined speed and power. He could have done the same numbers at Morse last year, if not more. There was no one like him on my college team. And we had Rick Upchurch.”

Opposing Coastal League teams can’t cry foul. Salaam may be a big bully, but he’s usually the youngest player on the field. He’s the second-youngest member of LJCD’s senior class. He turns 17 Tuesday. He doesn’t have a driver’s license yet, and Woods drives him back and forth from his Spring Valley home each day.

But even as a 14-year-old sophomore, Salaam had a frightening physical presence. Woods recalls the opening kickoff of Salaam’s first JV game in 1989.

“He hit the ball carrier just before the sideline and the kid must have flew 10 yards into the bench,” Woods said. “I thought he was seriously hurt. Every time (Salaam) touched the ball he scored. It was just ridiculous.

“That’s when I decided I can’t let him play JV anymore. I put him on the varsity bench until (he turned 15 and was eligible to play varsity under section rules).”

Salaam stood rather impatiently on the sidelines the next three weeks and then, on Oct. 14, began his assault on the section record book in his first game against Parker. He scored five touchdowns and compiled 368 all-purpose yards, including 216 rushing in 18 carries. He had a 60-yard touchdown reception and a 75-yard kick return for a touchdown. LJCD won, 48-30.

“No, we weren’t prepared (for Salaam),” recalled Parker Coach Dan Kuiper. “I certainly will be happy when he graduates and goes on to college.”

Later that season, he had the third-biggest rushing day in section history, with 371 yards and five touchdowns in a 72-27 victory over Midway Baptist. In six games, he gained 1,294 yards in 100 carries. But his only lament to this point occurred in the final game that year. Parker held Salaam to 156 yards and two touchdowns in the section championship game. Salaam fumbled on what looked like a third scoring run that likely would have won the game late in the fourth quarter. Parker won, 23-22.

After playing just six games as a sophomore, Salaam gained 2,162 yards in 114 carries and led LJCD to the section eight-man championship in an 11-0 season in 1990.

Salaam might have done even more damage if it wasn’t for a 45-point rule that stops any eight-man game when a team leads by 45 points. Five of LJCD’s seven eight-man games were called early last year--one in the first quarter. What’s more, the Torres even won four 11-man games.

As it was, Salaam set section standards for average yards per gain (18.9), points scored in a season (316) and career (488) and touchdown runs in a season (45) and career (67).

To top off 1990, he rushed for 407 yards (second-highest in section history) as the Torres defeated Bishop’s, 65-37, in the section championship game.

“We had some pretty good players, pretty good speed and size,” Bishop’s Coach Dave Hild said, “but we never really found a way to stop him.”

Two years ago as a sophomore, Abrams kicked the third-longest field goal in section history--53 yards. He hasn’t been heard from much since, mainly because Salaam leaves him few field-goal opportunities. But he is on the verge of becoming the section’s most prolific kicker in conversions and points.

What doesn’t show up on the statistical sheet are Abrams’ towering kickoffs.

“I’ve been doing what I do 20 years,” said Florida talent scout Mark Steiner. “I’ve never, ever seen a kicker with his range and height on the ball. I personally saw him kick 60-yard field goals. I absolutely couldn’t believe it.”

Once, while attempting an extra point at Francis Parker last season, Abrams’ kick went through the uprights, over the stadium fence and into the street, where the ball struck the side of a passing car.

Odd as it seems, Abrams might be known around campus for anything but his kicking, which has earned him a first or second rating with national scouting services.

He played the male lead in “Hello, Dolly,” last year’s school drama production. He’s a baritone in the LJCD’s Madrigal choir. He returns as a second-team all-section shortstop and 1990 team MVP in baseball. His charity work for the Make-A-Wish Foundation--to which he has contributed $14,500 after collecting pledges for each conversion kick the past two seasons--has been widely publicized.

He carries a cumulative 4.32 grade-point average in an advanced placement curriculum, is a member of the San Diego Honor Seminar and the LJCD Cum Laude Society. He received the Yale Book Award as the school’s top academic junior.

“Everybody I’ve ever talked to on the college level says great things about the youngster,” said Wallace. “Strong leg, accurate, great kid, 1,280 SAT, the whole enchilada. That’s Eric.

“He’s the most well-known kicker in the United States, by far. He can go to any school he wants to because of his grades and because of what he has done, even though the most significant thing about Eric is he only kicked one field goal last season because of this other kid on his team named Rashaan Salaam--who scores every time he touches the ball.”

Abrams, who has kicked for former Charger special teams coach Wayne Sevier and caught the eye of Charger General Manager Bobby Beathard, decided to concentrate on kicking in middle school.

Said Abrams: “I know if I have any future at all in football, it’s as a kicker.”

What a future it might be.

“Someday, God willing, I think he’ll be in the pros,” Steiner said. “I think he’ll be a first-round draft choice. I don’t think there are three or four kickers in college football right now that are better than him.”

“I honestly think he has the ability,” said Charger kicker John Carney, Abrams’ occasional practice mate, “and he has a very good head set. He just hasn’t had a lot of opportunities at La Jolla Country Day.

“His strength for his age is excellent. He’s a much better kicker than I was at his age. He has developed his talent into a very smooth kicking style. From this point on, it’s a matter of staying healthy and taking advantage of the opportunities that come his way.”

Beathard, after stumbling upon a Carney-Abrams summer workout at the Charger practice facility, later pulled Carney aside and advised him that the kid may someday have his job.

“He told me, ‘Most kickers don’t tutor their eventual replacements,’ ” Carney said. “If I can stay with the Chargers until Eric gets out of college, I won’t complain.”

Abrams and Salaam share space on several national scouting polls. Orange County-based Super Prep had Abrams second best in the country behind Michael Proctor of Pelham, Ala., and Salaam sixth in the nation and second in California behind Omar Love of Rialto Eisenhower.

Super Prep notes: “Some observers flat out state Rashaan is a better prospect at this stage than Marcus Allen.”

Max Emfinger’s National High School Football Recruiting Service of Houston lists Abrams No. 1 in the nation and Salaam No. 3 in the state behind David Dotson (Valley View) and Kwame Ellis (Oakland Skyline).

Los Angeles-based Blue Chip Report has Abrams No. 1 and Salaam No. 2 (behind Dotson) in the Western Region, noting Salaam’s times of 10.8 and 21.8 in the 100 and 200 meters as well as 4.4 in the 40, along with his 1,010 SAT score.

“I’m thinking about the future so much,” said Salaam, who is considering UCLA, USC and Notre Dame. “I’m so anxious to get there. Because all this stuff that’s happening to me right now--with all this recruiting--it’s like a dream come true. I’m in awe right now. I need to let that go.”

For Abrams, who is favoring Stanford, college might be a nice break from his demanding high-school schedule.

“I like keeping busy,” he said. “I don’t like sitting around with nothing to do. But it bothers me that I have to study on weekends. I could have been a little more socially active.”

For La Jolla Country Day, this is a special time in the spotlight.

“We’ve had (top players) as younger kids,” Woods said. “But the ones with the real talent usually leave for Torrey Pines and La Jolla High. I would try to convince those kids if they stayed, we could have something special here. Until now, that’s never happened.

“It’s just been a real big, uplifting thing for the whole program.

Tracking LJCD’s Record-Setters Career Rushing Yards

Yards Player School Years 4,486 O.J. Hall RBV 87-89 3,764 Terry Rodgers Sweetwater 83-85 3,680 Rashaan Salaam LJCD 89-

Single-Game Rushing Yards

Yards Player School Year 455 Erich Fredburg Julian 89 407 Rashaan Salaam LJCD 90 371 Rashaan Salaam LJCD 89

Rushing Average, Season

YPA Player School Year 18.9 Rashaan Salaam LJCD 90 13.89 Teddy Lawrence LJCD 90 12.29 Rashaan Salaam LJCD 89

Career Scoring

Pts Player School Years 488 Rashaan Salaam LJCD 89- 360 Terry Rodgers Sweetwater 83-85 320 Paul Lawton San Marcos 67-69

Points Scored, Season

Pts Player School Year 316 Rashaan Salaam LJCD 90 222 Scott Garcia RBV 88 214 Carl King Lutheran 84

Points Scored, Game

Pts Player School Year 44 Keith Winkler LJCD 85 42 Markeith Ross RBV 90 42 Rashaan Salaaam LJCD 90

Career Rushing Touchdowns

No. Player School Years 67 Rashaan Salaam LJCD 89- 56 Terry Rodgers Sweetwater 83-85 48 O.J. Hall RBV 87-89

Rushing Touchdowns, Season

No. Player School Year 45 Rashaan Salaam LJCD 89 36 Scott Garcia RBV 88 32 Terry Rodgers Sweetwater 85 32 Gary Taylor Sweetwater 90

Rushing Touchdowns, Game

No. Player School Year 7 Markeith Ross RBV 90 7 Rashaan Salaam LJCD 90 7 Rashaan Salaam LJCD 90

Total Offensive Yards, Game

Yards Player School Year 477 Rashaan Salaam LJCD 89 434 Jim Plum Helix 81 401 Bill Dunckle Fallbrook 85

Longest Field Goal

Yards Player School Year 56 German Puentes Morse 86 54 Tom Wurth Monte Vista 85 53 Eric Abrams LJCD 89 53 Brian Wagner Hilltop 79 54 Ron White University City 86

Career Extra Points

No. Player School Years 147 Abel Lopez RBV 87-89 136 Eric Abrams LJCD 89- 120 Scott Webb Helix 80-82

Extra Points, Season

No. Player School Year 81 Abel Lopez RBV 89 74 Eric Abrams LJCD 90 66 Jose Villafana Morse 90

Points Scored Kicking, Career

Pts Player School Years 207 Scott Webb Helix 80-82 168 Abel Lopez RBV 87-89 154 Eric Abrams LJCD 89-

Points Scored Kicking, Season

Pts Player School Year 84 Abel Lopez RBV 89 77 Eric Abrams LJCD 90 77 Scott Webb LJCD 82 72 Scott Webb LJCD 81

Note: Not all of Salaam’s statistics appear in the current CIF-San Diego Section Record Book. The career totals for both players include 1991 statistics. Salaam has also returned three kicks and six punts for touchdowns.