Okwo Made His Presence Felt

Michael Okwo prefers to look at his entire high school career rather than each individual year, which is fitting since he’s as complete a player as can be found at the high school level.

A running back and linebacker for Manhattan Beach Mira Costa, Okwo could dominate a game from either side of the ball. He had 2,481 yards and 30 touchdowns as a running back; 120 tackles and seven sacks as a linebacker this season.

He was the driving force behind Mira Costa’s 13-1 season and run to the Southern Section Division III championship game and is The Times’ back of the year.

“I prefer to look not like it was a good year, but that it was a good three years,” said Okwo, whose team lost to Sherman Oaks Notre Dame in the Division III final. “We were expecting to take it all this year and even though we didn’t, we know how good the season was.”

In his three years on varsity, Okwo’s teams made the Division III finals twice and the semifinals the other year. He had 400 tackles and 14 sacks for his career and rushed for 6,014 yards and 71 touchdowns.

Okwo, who will probably play linebacker in college, has offers from Stanford, USC, UCLA and Oregon State, but has yet to make a decision.

“It hasn’t hit me yet that [my high school career] is over,” he said. “I won’t really feel it until spring practice starts and I’m not out there, but I’ll still be getting ready for next year.”