Agoura Stocks Pac-10
They are three Chargers charging in different directions.
Three Agoura High players stood at a podium at a press conference arranged by the Ventura County Football Coaches Assn. and signed letters of intent Wednesday to three different Pacific 10 Conference schools.
Wednesday was the first day of the signing period for high school football players.
Quarterback Ryan McCann, who passed for more than 4,500 yards and 45 touchdowns in three seasons, will go to UCLA. Teammate Marcus Helfman, a 6-foot-5 tight end, is headed to California, and offensive tackle Derek Graf will play for USC.
Graf received a phone call recently from another former Agoura lineman, All-Pro tackle Todd Steussie of the Minnesota Vikings. Steussie, who attended Cal after graduating from Agoura in 1989, didn’t pressure Graf to decide on any certain school.
“It was really nice of him to call me,” Graf said. “I’ve never met him but have always looked up to him. He told me to take my time before deciding.”
Additionally, five other area players are heading to Pac-10 schools:
USC is getting running back Miguel Fletcher of Alemany. Running back Kenny Pritchett of Crescenta Valley chose UCLA. Palmdale defensive lineman Matt Leonard, The Times’ Valley lineman of the year, is headed to Stanford. St. Francis quarterback Kjell Nesen is going to Washington State and Kennedy defensive lineman Armand Seals is headed to Oregon State.
Just as he said he would at a press conference last week, Notre Dame’s Justin Fargas, the nation’s top-rated high school running back who rushed for 6,293 yards and 76 touchdowns in three seasons, signed a letter of intent Wednesday morning to play for Michigan.
“It’s been a grind,” said Antonio Fargas, Justin’s father. “Since he made his [announcement], there’s been so much speculation that he could [instead] go to SC or UCLA. And we left it open. He was even willing to go through last-minute speculation. But he made his [oral] commitment and he honored it [by signing a letter of intent].”
By no coincidence, New Mexico should end up with five Valley-area recruits, including three out of high school. No college team has claimed more of the region’s players during the recruiting season.
When Jim Fenwick resigned his position as head coach at Cal State Northridge in early January to become the offensive coordinator at New Mexico, he recruited heavily from the region.
Quarterback Justin Mobley and wide receiver Joe Manning, both of Antelope Valley, and running back Quincy Wright of El Camino Real are all expected to sign with New Mexico this week.
Two players from different teams in Ventura are headed for Cal Poly San Luis Obispo: Joe Martinez, a two-time All-Ventura County linebacker from Ventura High, and Andrew Jones, an All-Ventura County offensive lineman from St. Bonaventure.
Brian Abraham of St. Francis, a 6-1, 235-pound offensive lineman, signed with Pennsylvania.
Elsewhere, eight-man football players were not overlooked.
Ronnie Polk, a 6-1, 165-pound wide receiver who signed to play with Northern Arizona, became Campbell Hall’s first player to receive a football scholarship, according to Coach Anthony Harris.
Polk’s teammate, Danny Popielinski, a 6-2, 190-pound defensive back, made a commitment to play for Cornell, an Ivy League school.
Staff writers Steve Henson and Paige A. Leech contributed to this story.