Valley Area Now Fertile Ground for Quarterbacks

The long-running hit movie, “Invasion of the Quarterback Snatchers,” continues to play in neighborhoods throughout the Valley and Ventura County region.

It debuted in 1998, about the time Kyle Boller of Hart High was obliterating the state season record for passing yards.

Since then, college coaches have come from Berkeley, Palo Alto, Logan, Utah; West Lafayette, Ind.; Eugene, Ore.; Knoxville, Tenn.; Lubbock, Texas; Baton Rouge, La., and University Park, Pa., to lure the region’s best quarterbacks.

When Kyle Matter of Hart signs today with Stanford and John Sciarra of St. Francis with UCLA, they will become the 11th and 12th quarterbacks from the region since 1999 to accept NCAA Division I scholarships.

The unprecedented interest in local quarterbacks shows no signs of waning.

Juniors Ben Olson of Thousand Oaks and Matt Moore of Hart are certain to sign after next season.

Each of the quarterbacks is 6 feet 1 or taller, received plenty of attention during summer passing leagues and demonstrated excellent leadership skills.

College coaches are flocking to the region for good reason--high school teams are passing the ball in record numbers.

“I remember back in the ’91 season when we threw for 4,000 yards, not too many people threw for 3,000 yards, let alone 4,000,” said Hart assistant coach Dean Herrington. “Now people are throwing the football.”

Not long ago, a Boston College assistant coach was visiting Alemany to watch quarterback Casey Clausen.

The assistant turned to then-Alemany coach Jim Bonds and said, “Now I know why there are so many good quarterbacks in California--all you do is throw the ball.”

Coaches who played quarterback or receiver have made four-receiver attacks the norm instead of the exception.

From Hart to Westlake, from St. Francis to Newbury Park, sophisticated passing schemes are serving as ideal training grounds for college quarterbacks.

Summer passing competitions, once frowned upon by coaches as a waste of time and energy, are proliferating like weeds in a neglected field. Tournaments featuring 48 teams are scheduled for June in Santa Barbara and July at Valley College.

California’s mild weather allows quarterbacks to throw year round, increasing their exposure through combines and competitions.

The communication revolution has made it easier for schools outside California to identify prospective quarterbacks. With the click of a computer, schools can learn valuable information on the Internet.

“Schools back East weren’t able to know what was going on in the West,” said Steve Clarkson, who runs the Air 7 quarterback school. “Kids got recruited because of who they knew, not necessarily how good they were.”

Boller started the quarterback onslaught by signing with California in 1999. He has started since his freshman season and should rank among the Pacific 10 Conference’s top quarterbacks this fall.

Clausen led Tennessee to six consecutive victories as a freshman starter last season, completing 62.4% of his passes for 1,473 yards and 15 touchdowns in a balanced attack.

Brandon Hance from Taft redshirted at Purdue but is expected to be the replacement for Drew Brees this fall.

Scott Vossmeyer, a redshirt freshman from Crescenta Valley, will battle sophomore Jason Fife as the backup to Joey Harrington at Oregon this spring. Also competing will be freshman Chris Lombardo from Newbury Park. He enrolled last month after recovering from a broken leg sustained during his senior season in 1999.

Zac Wasserman, a redshirt freshman from Westlake, will compete with freshman Zack Mills and junior Matt Senneca for the quarterback job at Penn State.

Coaches at Utah State are thrilled with redshirt freshman Rob Fockaert from Paraclete, but he’ll have to bide his time behind juniors Jose Fuentes and Jeff Crosbie.

Redshirt freshman Matt Cassel from Chatsworth will be the backup to Carson Palmer at USC this spring.

Redshirt freshman Jason Winn from Granada Hills will compete with sophomore B.J. Symons for the backup spot at Texas Tech, which returns junior Cliff Kingsbury, who passed for 3,418 yards last season.

Freshman Rick Clausen from Taft graduated last month and is already enrolled at Louisiana State, allowing him to compete in spring practice.

It would not be surprising if several area quarterbacks transferred because of a lack of playing time.

Finding a college that isn’t overflowing with quarterbacks is one of the most challenging tasks facing recruits.

The coming year should bring all-out recruiting battles for Olson and Moore.

The 6-5 Olson ended his junior season by passing for a career-best 480 yards against Arroyo Grande. He’s left-handed, with a powerful arm and equally impressive scrambling skills. Despite being the center for the basketball team, he leads the Lancers in three-point shooting percentage.

Olson attended Brigham Young’s football camp last summer, likes the school and is Mormon. But he said he’s also interested in Washington, UCLA, Stanford and California.

“If I feel the time is right, I’ll commit early,” Olson said.

The 6-4 Moore is almost Boller’s twin. He was an All-Southern Section free safety last season and backed up Matter at quarterback. His arm strength approaches Boller’s and he can run. He’ll start at third base for Hart’s baseball team.

Like Boller, Moore has grown up a UCLA fan. That’s going to put pressure on Bruin Coach Bob Toledo, who was criticized for bypassing Boller in favor of more-experienced J.P. Losman of Venice two years ago. Toledo got burned after Losman transferred to Tulane before ever taking a snap for UCLA.

“He’s a can’t-miss prospect as far as the physical skills,” Herrington said of Moore. “Some people might not recruit him because he wasn’t a starter his junior year, but they’ll regret it. Once they see him throw, they’re all going to want him.”

How long will the “Invasion of the Quarterback Snatchers” play in local neighborhoods?

“Last year was the exception when you had eight [quarterbacks] placed from a small area,” Bonds said. “But I think one or two a year can be realistic.”

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Eric Sondheimer’s column appears Wednesday and Sunday. He can be reached at (818) 772-3422 or eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.

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* SEE CHART ON LOCAL FOOTBALL COMMITMENTS, D9.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Aerial View

Since 1999, these high school quarterbacks from the Valley and Ventura County region have been recruited by NCAA Division I college football programs:

1. Kyle Boller, Hart ‘99, California

2. Matt Cassel, Chatsworth ‘00, USC

3. Brandon Hance, Taft ‘00, Purdue

4. Zac Wasserman, Westlake ‘00, Penn State

5. Chris Lombardo, Newbury Park ‘00, Oregon

6. Scott Vossmeyer, Crescenta valley ‘00, Oregon

7. Jason Winn, Granada Hills ‘00, Texas Tech

8. Robert Fockaert, Paraclete ‘00, Utah State

9. Casey Clausen, Alemany ‘00, Tennessee

10. Kyle Matter, Hart ‘01, Stanford

11. Rick Clausen, Taft ‘01, Louisiana State

12. John Sciarra, St. Francis ‘01, UCLA

13. Ben Olson, Thousand Oaks, ‘02, Expected to go Division I

14. Matt Moore, Hart ‘02, Expected to go Division I

LOCAL FOOTBALL COMMITMENTS

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Pos Name High School College DB Jamal Allen Montclair Prep San Jose State RB Matt Clark Cleveland UCLA QB Rick Clausen Taft Louisiana State DB Tyrone Culver Palmdale Fresno State DB Marcus Demps Highland San Diego State RB Tyler Ebell Ventura UCLA DB Terry Furlow Palmdale Fresno State DB Ryan Foltz Westlake California DB Julian Gooden Hueneme Weber State C Bill Griffin Ventura Montana State DT Kaelen Jakes Valencia Texas WR Keith Jarbo Burroughs Brown RB Freddy Keiaho Buena San Diego State RB Leslie Lee Hueneme Idaho DL Joe Lemma Westlake Oregon State LB Colin MacNeil Canyon Cornell OL Mark Manning Westlake San Jose State DB Lee Marks Taft Boise State QB Kyle Matter Hart Stanford RB Matt Milton St. Francis Nevada WR Chris Morgan Taft USC LB Bobby Otani St. Bonaventure USC OL Delroy Parke Montclair Prep Colorado State LB Leo Reed Westlake Hawaii WR Joey Rodriguez Granada Hills Weber State LB Greg Root Highland Wisconsin QB John Sciarra St. Francis UCLA DB Deron Smith Montclair Prep Cornell RB Gary Sonkur Montclair Prep Harvard RB Dwayne Taylor Hueneme Utah RB Eric Testan Oak Park Dartmouth OL Vik Tiku St. Bonaventure Dartmouth DB John Walker Birmingham USC DB Michael Washington Paraclete Utah State

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