He Goes for It No Matter Where He Plays

They can only wonder.

Tony Ciarelli, Newport Harbor’s defensive coordinator, is in awe.

Jason Deere, the school’s seventh-place finisher in the state wrestling meet, is pumped.

Mike Milner, El Toro’s football coach, is absolutely sure. Deere can play this game.

Deere, a first-year football player, is well-known in wrestling circles. He took seventh in the state last year among heavyweights. But now he’s on Newport Harbor’s defensive line as its rawest talent.

And he’s doing a terrific job. “I needed the weight training [for wrestling], and there was no other place I could get that kind of weight training, so I thought I might as well join football,” Deere said.

He had wanted to play since his freshman year, but had too much at stake in wrestling to risk injury, “But I decided to play and go for it,” he said.

Deere is a starting defensive tackle for the Sailors, and going for it is his specialty.

He had three timely sacks in last week’s 27-17 victory over El Toro. Although he has had better statistical games, “Given the competition,” Ciarelli said, “this was his best game of the year.”

Deere and 10th-ranked Newport Harbor continue their attempt to grab a share of the Sea View League title Friday when they play at Irvine. The Sailors (6-1, 1-1 in league) have a chance to share a league title if they can win the rest of their games--a real possibility--and Santa Margarita slips up.

But Deere’s enthusiastic performance this season has left Ciarelli’s imagination running wild.

“I wish I would have had him for four years,” said Ciarelli, who is also the school’s strength coach. “He’s a raw talent. That’s the right word--raw. He’s got more talent than he knows what to do with. He’s going out there and competing strictly on desire and physicality. He doesn’t know a lot about the game.”

Which is a little scary.

Sixteen of Deere’s 19 solo tackles have been for losses, and nine have been sacks. He also has 19 assisted tackles. His 5.4 tackles per game is the best among Newport Harbor linemen.

Deere said it hasn’t come easily, but that’s nothing new. He is, after all, a wrestler. He took second place at the Southern Section Division II and Masters wrestling tournaments during his junior year. He won a league title as a sophomore and took ninth in the section, though he was a smallish 215 pounds. That’s what this is all about--using football as a tool to improve in wrestling.

“I had to work real hard,” Deere said. “I had never played football before, and everyone else was seniors who had. I didn’t know what to do.

“I got knocked on my butt a lot early on.”

Every once in a while, a teammate will still take him to school in practice, but it’s evident that he’s an able contributor for the Sailors.

“Oh yeah, he’s a definite player,” El Toro’s Milner said. “He’s probably the best defensive lineman we’ve seen besides David Seale from Aliso Niguel. I think [Deere’s success] shows tremendous carry-over from wrestling. The guy’s obviously an accomplished wrestler, which gives him the qualities of great balance, competitiveness, explosive power and the desire to keep coming and coming. Those are the characteristics of a great defensive lineman.”

And that hasn’t been lost on the Newport Harbor coaching staff.

“Obviously, he’s going to be a scholarship guy in wrestling,” Ciarelli said, “but I think he could have been a scholarship guy out here [in football].”

That’s the way Deere played against El Toro--like a scholarship guy.

“From watching film beforehand, we rated him as their best down defensive lineman,” said Milner. “He’s a great competitor who goes all out on every play, which is an indication of why he’s a great wrestler.”

Deere knows he may have missed an opportunity along the way by holding off on football. Since the spring, his bench press has improved from 245 pounds to 285.

“I went to wrestling practice,” he said, “and I got a lot more explosive, a lot stronger. A lot stronger.

“I’ll be quicker and stronger than last year at almost the same weight.”

Deere will probably wrestle at 230 pounds (his weight now) or 235 instead of the 240 from a year ago. He also will be in shape when wrestling season arrives, which hasn’t always been the case.

He says he will “probably” attend Cal State Fullerton to wrestle, but wonders if he might not be headed to a major college football program if his path had been a little different.

All those variables have him optimistic about his future, but not without regret.

“I wish,” Deere said, “I would have played all four years.”