Salaam, Watson Show La Jolla Is Home to Stars

Although they attended neighboring high schools and followed each other’s record-breaking rushing performances, friends Rashaan Salaam and E.J. Watson never played in the same game before Saturday’s San Diego County all-star football contest.

Consider their first meeting a draw.

To be continued . . . perhaps in college.

Though the 3-A team, which included 1-A players Salaam and kicker Eric Abrams from La Jolla Country Day, eked out a 17-16 victory in front of 3,500 at Southwestern College’s Devore Stadium, Salaam and Watson were the dominating performers for their respective teams.

Salaam, a 6-foot-3 All-American, rushed for 116 yards on 19 carries, caught four passes for 80 yards and scored two touchdowns to lead the 3-A to its second victory in this second annual game staged by the Hall of Champions and the San Diego County High School Sports Assn.

La Jolla’s Watson, 5-foot-9 and the San Diego Section’s 2-A player of the year last season, rushed for 118 yards in 16 carries, caught two passes for 57 yards and scored two touchdowns.

Dead even. Maybe they’ll decide things in the years to come. Salaam will attend Colorado in the fall. Watson is bound for Colorado State.

“(Jokingly) guys at his school said I was sad. Guys at my school said he was sad,” Salaam said. “But right here, we proved the best two running backs in the county were from La Jolla.”

Said Watson: “People in La Jolla compared us to each other all the time, but I never did. We’re friends. I wasn’t trying to battle him. I wanted him to prove he was a good back. He is a good back. There’s no competition between us. I give him respect. He gives me respect.”

Despite Salaam’s obvious talent, there were those who believed his statistics were tainted because he played eight-man football.”

“That stuff about him being just a good 1-A player is . . . He’s a great back,” Watson said.

Salaam: “That stuff is all down the drain right now.”

Point Loma Coach Bennie Edens, who guided the 3-A squad, agreed. “He’s heads and shoulders above most backs that come out of high school. He proved he can run with the best of them. That Watson proved he could too. He’s really a good one, too.”

With a 50-yard catch and run along the left sideline, Watson gave the 2-A a 14-10 lead with 11:20 left in the third quarter.

Salaam, however, turned the tide two series later, scoring on a two-yard plunge and giving the 3-A a 17-14 lead with 14:22 left.

For the 3-A, Salaam and Abrams were the only scorers.

Turnovers and missed opportunities marred an otherwise well-played first half.

Both sides seemed capable of mounting drives but had trouble sustaining them.

There were three fumbles--two by the 3-A. There were four missed field goals--three by Abrams and one by the 2-A’s Noel Prefontaine (El Camino). There was one interception--Chato Jackson (Vista) picked off Prefontaine.

All but one lost opportunity, a 58-yard missed field goal by Abrams, occurred before either side got on the board.

Abrams struck first, nailing a 43-yard field with 5:37 left, to give the 3-A a 3-0 lead.

The 2-A countered with a nine-play, 80-yard drive and took the lead, 7-3, when Watson scored on a 16-yard cutback run off left tackle.

Keys to the drive included a 27-yard run by Mark Frazier (San Marcos), a 14-yard run by Watson and Watson’s move on 3-A linebacker Jose Perez (Vista) on the touchdown run.

The 3-A outgained the 2-A, 165-134, in the first half. Quarterback Jorge Munoz (Hilltop) led the 3-A by completing seven of 12 passes for 95 yards. Tom Luginbill (Torrey Pines), added to the team when Chad Davis (Mira Mesa) decided not to play, added 27 yards passing, completing four of seven.

Salaam proved he belonged with his first carry, a 28-yard dart off left tackle. On the next play, he bolted up the middle for a 13-yard gain and finished the run with a stick on Perez.

Watson provided most of the offense for the 2-A in the first half, gaining 73 yards in eight carries.