SOUTH COAST LEAGUE FOOTBALL PREVIEW : Moving to Tight End at Capistrano Valley Suits Spence to a T

Inside Blake Spence’s senior-sized body was a disgruntled freshman hoping for more playing time.

After a season on Capistrano Valley’s freshman “B” team, Spence wasn’t sure football was for him. He wanted to concentrate on basketball, where his size was truly appreciated. And he told Cougar Coach Eric Patton as much.

Patton listened, then dropped a bombshell.

The coaching staff was thinking of moving Spence from running back to tight end, Patton said. And get this, Spence would be a candidate for a starting position on the varsity.

“I said, ‘Oh, I’ll be out there in five minutes,’ ” Spence said. “He said, ‘Aren’t you going to smile or anything?’ ”

Now a senior, Spence laughs when he thinks about how far he has come in his football career. Once a freshman running back who struggled to scratch out yardage, Spence is perhaps the South Coast League’s most-coveted recruit.

“If he doesn’t go to a Pac-10 school, there’s something wrong,” Patton said. “He’s got great size and great speed.”

Those two attributes--more than anything else--are what distance Spence from so many other high school tight ends. He is 6 feet 5, 225 pounds, and runs almost as fast as any Capistrano Valley player.

In an era in which traditional tight ends--half blocker, half receiver--seem difficult to unearth, Spence figures to make some college coach very happy.

This season, Patton has altered the Cougars’ offense to take better advantage of Spence’s abilities.

“How do you build an offense around a tight end?” Patton asked. “I don’t know, but we’re going to try. He’s a factor.”

Look for Spence to line up as a wide receiver. Watch him go in motion. See him in the traditional tight end spot--next to the tackle. And, if he has anything to do with it, check him out in the backfield.

“Rod Bernstine is my idol,” Spence said of the San Diego Chargers’ versatile tight end who frequently carries the ball on short-yardage situations. “I think (carrying the ball) has been mentioned, but I don’t know how seriously.”

A tip to Patton: Give the kid a try. It can’t hurt.

“They’re putting me at the X spot,” Spence said. “It’s nice. I like the transition (from position to position).”

In the end, it doesn’t matter to Spence where he plays as long as quarterback Sam Gaines gets the ball to him often enough.

“They main thing I like is catching the ball and running over defensive backs,” Spence said. “The best part of the game is running with the ball.”

It figures to be a scary proposition for many 5-10, 180-pound defensive backs.

Spence is not one to shy away from contact, even if he has earned the right to be wary of a tough hit.

He’s coming off surgery to repair tendon damage in both shoulders, which have been repeatedly separated in the last few years. The shoulder injuries ended his junior season three games early, and he underwent surgery on the left one Nov. 21 and the right one Feb. 6.

“It was a reconstruction of the joints,” Spence said. “The tendons were too long, too stretched out to keep the bones in the socket. Basically, they clipped the tendons.”

It was almost three months before he was able to go full tilt, and now he said he’s ready for this season.

“I’ve had some soreness, but I haven’t had any problems since we started practice,” Spence said.

And he doesn’t expect anything to slow him down this season. After all, so much more is at stake than a few seasons ago.

“(Recruiters) have been sending me letters for a couple of years now,” Spence said. “I’ve gotten a few phone calls. A lot of what happens next year depends on what happens this year.

“I’ve got to perform well.”