Draft, Gonzalez Prefer Northern Exposure

One is going to Disney World, and the other settled for Woodland Hills. But eventually, The Times Orange County football players of the year, Chris Draft of Valencia and Tony Gonzalez of Huntington Beach, will end up in Northern California next season.

Wednesday, the first day recruits could sign college letters of intent for football, Draft, the back of the year, signed with Stanford, and Gonzalez, the lineman of the year, signed with California and will play football and basketball. Thirty players from Orange County signed with NCAA Division I-A schools Wednesday.

Gonzalez, a 6-foot-6, 230-pound tight end, was named to Reebok’s All-American team, Huntington Beach Coach George Pascoe said. Saturday, Gonzalez will attend an awards dinner at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., honoring 35 of the nation’s top prep players.

Wednesday, Draft attended two press conferences--one at Valencia High and one in Woodland Hills.

He will join former Orange County standouts--Tim Carey from Los Alamitos, Bryan Werner from Esperanza and Leon Vickers of Rancho Alamitos--who signed with Stanford in 1993.

“I talked to Leon and he told me, ‘You gotta come up here and show them that we got some players down in O.C.,’ ” Draft said.

Draft, a 6-1, 210-pound senior, has a nice predicament. The Cardinal defensive coaches would like to use him as a linebacker; the offensive coaches like his pass-catching abilities as a running back.

Gonzalez, an all-county selection in two sports, will split time between Cal football Coach Keith Gilbertson and basketball Coach Todd Bozeman.

Gonzalez led the Oilers in tackles and receptions in football and leads the Huntington Beach basketball team in scoring and rebounding.

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Best of the rest: Several other high-profile programs plucked players from the county.

Miami signed Dana Hills’ Scott Covington, Superprep magazine’s fifth-ranked quarterback in the nation. Carey was Superprep’s fifth-ranked quarterback last year.

USC landed Villa Park defensive back Grant Pearsall, a first-team all-county selection. Superprep rated the Trojans’ recruiting class second in the nation behind Tennessee’s.

UCLA signed all-county offensive lineman Terry Williams of El Dorado. Williams was Superprep’s 10th-ranked offensive lineman.

Fourteen Orange County players signed with Pacific 10 schools.

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Just ducky: Oregon signed four Orange County players, including Dana Hills linebacker Matt Schuetz. But the Ducks didn’t covet Schuetz for any staggering defensive statistics he posted.

Even though Schuetz played only one complete game last season, breaking his leg in the Dolphins’ second game, he was an all-league selection in 1992. Schuetz’s injury was one of many that plagued Dana Hills during its 1-9 season.

Also signing with Oregon were first-team all-county linebacker Ryan Klaasen of San Clemente, All-South Coast tight end Leie Sualua of Mater Dei, and All-Sea View quarterback Mike Phelps of Irvine.

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‘Cats and ‘dogs . . . Fresno State, Nevada and Villanova each signed four Orange County players.

The Bulldogs signed three first-team all-county players--Western quarterback Brandon Brennan, Fountain Valley offensive lineman Ken Foersch and Rancho Alamitos offensive lineman Jeremiah Ross. All-Empire wide receiver Anthony Tucker also signed with Fresno.

Nevada signed second-team all-county wide receiver Geoff Noisy of Irvine, Fountain Valley quarterback Scott Bertoni and Mission Viejo defensive back Matt Denny. The Wolf Pack also signed the Empire offensive back of the year, Denis Dawson.

Villanova signed three first-team all-county players--Capistrano Valley offensive lineman Mitch McCrimmon and Santa Margarita’s Brad and Brian Finneran--and second-team all-county lineman Bryan Luxembourger of Costa Mesa.

The Wildcats play in Division I-AA in football.

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Add ‘cats: Luxembourger and Costa Mesa teammate Binh Tran had their uniform numbers retired at the school Wednesday.

Luxembourger signed his letter of intent at the ceremony where his No. 64 was retired with Tran’s No. 1. Tran rushed for more than 4,300 yards in his career, sixth-best on the county’s all-time list.

Girls’ basketball player Olivia DiCamilli is the only other Costa Mesa athlete to have her uniform, No. 22, retired.

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‘Cats and ‘dogs 3: Laguna Hills quarterback Justin Vedder signed with Boston University, Villanova’s Yankee Conference rival.

The Terriers signed Vedder, who finished with 5,432 passing yards in his career, ninth on Orange County’s all-time list. Former Raiders and USC quarterback Todd Marinovich passed for a county-record 9,182 yards during his four-year career at Capistrano Valley and Mater Dei.

Vedder started three seasons at Laguna Hills and passed for 2,129 yards and 20 touchdowns last season to help the Hawks reach the Division VIII semifinals.

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No more football: First-team all-county running backs, Enrico Bozman of Los Alamitos and Allen Vaughan of San Clemente, are two notable absences from the signing list.

According to Los Alamitos Coach John Barnes, Bozman plans to concentrate on baseball. Vaughan, the South Coast MVP, said he has “retired” from football and will focus on his collegiate studies.

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More than football: Mater Dei offensive lineman John Houston made a commitment to play football at Pennsylvania, which plays in the Ivy League, in which athletic scholarships are not offered.

Houston, a first-team all-county selection, is looking forward to attending the school, which includes the Wharton business school.

“I’m interested in economics and everyone I’ve talked to said it’s one of the most highly regarded business schools,” Houston said.

Three Dana Hills players also will move East, to the Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, N.Y.

According to former Dana Hills Coach Jack Murry, linebacker Vic Harper, wide receiver Mike Whitaker and defensive lineman Jesus Morales will play football for the Division III school.

Although Division III universities don’t offer athletic scholarships, Murry said the trio will receive significant financial aid.

“They have academic scholarships available and it will also give the kids a chance to study and travel abroad,” Murry said.

Other non-Division I-A commitments included J.R. Walz (Holy Cross), Corona del Mar’s career-rushing leader, and Empire MVP Mike Good (Northern Arizona).

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Boys’ volleyball: Szlar Kovacs, a 6-9 middle blocker from Laguna Beach, will attend USC, Laguna Beach Coach Mike Soylular said. Kovacs signed in November.

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Girls’ soccer: Several top girls’ players have made college choices. Capistrano Valley’s Lindsay Light, an all-county midfielder, has committed to Cal but said Wednesday she won’t sign until after her recruiting trip to Berkeley Feb. 17.

Erin Bailey of Edison and Rhiannon Tanaka of Marina chose USC, Erin’s father, Jack, said.

Bailey was the Sunset MVP and both players were all-county midfielders. Both players will sign Friday at a dinner with USC Coach Karen Stanley, Jack said.

Three of Bailey teammates at Edison, ranked second in the county, have made their choices. Defenders Julie Koudelka and Michelle Kaping are going to UCLA and midfielder/forward Shellee Stucker picked San Diego State.

Sunny Hills’ midfielder Rhonda Partida signed with Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

Times staff writer Martin Beck contributed to this story.

Local High School Signings

FOOTBALL

Player School Pos. Hgt. Wgt. Scott Bertoni Fountain Valley QB 6-1 1/2 180 Brandon Brennan Western QB 6-2 190 Scott Covington Dana Hills QB 6-4 180 David Cruickshank Dana Hills DL 6-6 230 Reggie Davis Brethren Christian DB 6-4 200 Denis Dawson Loara RB 6-0 190 Matt Denny Mission Viejo DB 6-3 195 Chris Draft Valencia RB/LB 6-1 210 Brad Finneran Santa Margarita DB 6-4 190 Brian Finneran Santa Margarita WR 6-4 190 Ken Foersch Fountain Valley OL 6-4 255 Tony Gonzalez Huntington Beach TE 6-6 230 Mike Good Los Alamitos QB 6-0 185 Vic Harper Dana Hills LB 6-1 190 Chris Hoke Foothill DL 6-3 260 John Houston Mater Dei OL 6-4 245 Darryl Jones Brethren Christian OL 6-3 305 Ryan Klaasen San Clemente LB 6-2 235 B. Luxembourger Costa Mesa LB 6-2 220 Mitch McCrimmon Capistrano Valley OL 6-6 270 George McDonald Buena Park RB 5-11 180 Jesus Morales Dana Hills DL 5-8 175 Wesley Morris Kennedy DB 5-11 175 Geoff Noisy Irvine WR 6-1 180 Grant Pearsall Villa Park DB 6-1 180 Mike Phelps Irvine QB 6-5 210 Jason Reynolds Tustin/St.Paul LB 6-3 245 Levi Roquemore Capistrano Valley LB 6-0 220 Jeremiah Ross Rancho Alamitos OL 6-5 275 Matt Schuetz Dana Hills LB 6-4 225 Wali Sibrie Buena Park OL 6-3 270 Leie Sualua Mater Dei TE 6-3 223 Steve Trammell Los Alamitos DL 6-5 230 Anthony Tucker Los Alamitos WR 6-1 170 Derrek Uhl Trabuco Hills TE 6-5 220 Justin Vedder Laguna Hills QB 6-1 180 J.R. Walz Corona del Mar RB 5-9 175 Mike Whitaker Dana Hills WR 5-7 162 Terry Williams El Dorado OL 6-6 255 Nick Ziegler Huntington Beach LB 6-5 223

Player College Scott Bertoni Nevada Brandon Brennan Fresno State Scott Covington Miami David Cruickshank Washington Reggie Davis Washington Denis Dawson Nevada Matt Denny Nevada Chris Draft Stanford Brad Finneran Villanova Brian Finneran Villanova Ken Foersch Fresno State Tony Gonzalez California Mike Good Northern Arizona Vic Harper Merch. Marine Acad. Chris Hoke Brigham Young John Houston Pennsylvania Darryl Jones Washington State Ryan Klaasen Oregon B. Luxembourger Villanova Mitch McCrimmon Villanova George McDonald Illinois Jesus Morales Merch. Marine Acad. Wesley Morris Utah State Geoff Noisy Nevada Grant Pearsall USC Mike Phelps Oregon Jason Reynolds Arizona State Levi Roquemore New Mexico Jeremiah Ross Fresno State Matt Schuetz Oregon Wali Sibrie Arizona State Leie Sualua Oregon Steve Trammell Colorado State Anthony Tucker Fresno State Derrek Uhl Colorado State Justin Vedder Boston University J.R. Walz Holy Cross Mike Whitaker Merch. Marine Acad. Terry Williams UCLA Nick Ziegler Colorado

VOLLEYBALL

Player School Position College Lynette Anderson Esperanza Outside hitter Georgia Tech Monika Bickert El Toro Outside hitter Rice Kristen Campbell Corona del Mar Setter Duke Kim Coleman Corona del Mar Outside hitter UCLA Nina Foster Mission Viejo Middle blocker Alabama Ursula Luna Dana Hills Setter UC Santa Barbara Analisa Saylor Mission Viejo Setter Colorado State Amy Steele Laguna Hills Middle blocker Brigham Young Jennifer Stroffe Corona del Mar Outside hitter UC Santa Barbara Jeanne Vetter Dana Hills Outside hitter USC Kari Wehner Esperanza Setter Santa Clara

WATER POLO

Player School Position College Jake Yokota Capistrano Valley Driver UCLA

BOYS’ SOCCER

Player School Position College Dan Judkins Marina Fullback SMU

GIRLS’ SOCCER

Player School Position College Julie Koudelka Edison Defender UCLA Rhonda Partida Sunny Hills Midfielder Cal Poly SLO