Fullerton Free Safety Shoup Earns Frequent Flyer Points

When Fullerton Coach Gene Murphy talks about his team’s defense, his favorite phrase is, “We’re not very big, but we sure fly to the ball.”

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Murphy’s description most aptly fits Kevin Shoup, a sophomore free safety from Esperanza High. Shoup is 5 feet 11, listed at 178 pounds, but it’s doubtful he weighs that much.

Still, he is one of the hardest-hitting defensive backs in the Mission Conference. And his play has made him a favorite target of damage-minded offensive linemen looking for a smaller target.

“I wear No. 6 but the coaches always kid me that it looks like No. 9 when I get knocked to the ground,” Shoup said. “But I really don’t know why linemen come after me.”

The obvious reason: Shoup is often around the ball.

He leads Fullerton defensive backs with 32 solo tackles. He also has a team-high three interceptions and is second with nine pass deflections.

He was an All-Central Division pick this year after making the honorable-mention team last season. Shoup and his teammates travel to Santa Maria, where Fullerton (6-3-1) plays Allan Hancock (7-3) in the K-Swiss Bowl at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Murphy can’t pass on the chance to make fun of Shoup’s size and looks, calling him “Pasty, pale and anemic,” but he also praises him like few others.

“He’s a great kid,” Murphy added. “But to look at him, you would think he’s been through the wrath of God . . . He’s a sneaky assassin. He’s just a very talented football player.”

Shoup has given out and absorbed many punishing hits in two seasons at Fullerton but has only once been knocked out of a game. That happened three weeks ago against Rancho Santiago.

Near the end of the first half, Shoup was closing in on running back Ace Riggins to make an open-field tackle. Fullerton linebacker Juan Esquivel was charging from behind and hit Riggins at the same time Shoup did.

Esquivel’s forearm hit Shoup in the helmet and Shoup fell down.

“I blacked out for a second,” he said. “I got up and tried to run off the field, but I was out of it. They asked me where I was and I knew the answer, it was on the tip of my tongue, it just took awhile to say it. But we caused a fumble on the play.”

Shoup didn’t start out as the kind of defender Murphy raves about.

He mostly played soccer growing up and credits that sport with developing his quickness. He didn’t play organized football until he was a freshman. He started at running back but rarely played.

Shoup played more as a sophomore and made varsity as a junior. But not as a running back.

Instead, he excelled at defensive back despite being 5-9 and about 145 pounds. It matched his way of thinking.

“Offense is about execution,” he said. “On defense you have a lot more freedom to move to the ball and knock somebody’s head off.”

Shoup had four interceptions as a senior and earned All-Orange County honors, but because of his size, he wasn’t recruited by four-year colleges.

He had run track as a junior but took his senior spring off to have minor knee surgery and decide what community college he would attend.

Fullerton had gone 1-9 the year before and didn’t have a coach, so he figured he’d go to Orange Coast with high school teammate and friend Travis McCullough.

But Murphy was hired in the spring of 1993 and Shoup considered Fullerton again. But the person who changed his mind was Hornet defensive back Coach Al Feloa.

“He called me up all the time and told me he loved the way I played,” Shoup said. “In the end I couldn’t pass that up.”

Bowl Notes

Fullerton quarterback Marc O’Brien has completed 66% of his attempts for 2,192 yards and 14 touchdowns. He has also rushed for four touchdowns. Steve Correa leads Fullerton with 45 catches for 697 yards. James Hartford, a running back, leads with four touchdown passes. Mike Jacot is the rushing leader with 560 yards in 85 attempts.