Terra Nova's Gordon to play at CCSF
- Thread starter jordan24
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Is it even for sure that Gordon will play football at the next level? He was just drafted by the NY Mets to play baseball.
I'm not really surprised Gordon got no offers. He's a good player but he also plays in a wide open system that makes it easier for TN to score points than shooting fish in a barrel. Do we remember Chris Forbes? Dude was the original Anthony Gordon. Dude lit up the PAL, went to CCSF and immediately quit because he couldn't take a snap from under center and drop back or read a defense. How about Carl Cox? He was the kid who started it all for TN. TCU came knocking on his door and offered him to go play CB for the Horned Frogs, an offer he turned down because he was so spectacular in Terra Nova's system that he thought he could go to CCSF and earn himself an offer as a QB. After being the teams holder for 2 years he's now at a small school trying to be a Receiver. Yes I know Gordon was far better thrower than those two but that's also because Gordon couldn't run like those guys.
The system is amazing. Watching Terra Nova is fun. Unfortunately, it's not a system that helps guys succeed at the next level and right now it isn't even one that'll help guys get to the next level.
I'm not really surprised Gordon got no offers. He's a good player but he also plays in a wide open system that makes it easier for TN to score points than shooting fish in a barrel. Do we remember Chris Forbes? Dude was the original Anthony Gordon. Dude lit up the PAL, went to CCSF and immediately quit because he couldn't take a snap from under center and drop back or read a defense. How about Carl Cox? He was the kid who started it all for TN. TCU came knocking on his door and offered him to go play CB for the Horned Frogs, an offer he turned down because he was so spectacular in Terra Nova's system that he thought he could go to CCSF and earn himself an offer as a QB. After being the teams holder for 2 years he's now at a small school trying to be a Receiver. Yes I know Gordon was far better thrower than those two but that's also because Gordon couldn't run like those guys.
The system is amazing. Watching Terra Nova is fun. Unfortunately, it's not a system that helps guys succeed at the next level and right now it isn't even one that'll help guys get to the next level.
LecheDeMiPalo - I know what you're saying to a degree, but don;t agree overall. Its harder to judge the players from the weaker leagues like the PAL [Bay, Ocean & Lake Divisions] which feature some incredibly weak teams/programs. Therehave been numerous "record setting" football players out of the PAL in recent years who simply vanish at the next level & I mean any "next level" - I could start naming them, but that is another post subject.
As for Gordan his accomplishments were certainly noteworthy. Part of it may be schools at the next level don;t want to waste a scholarship on an athlete whose upside just maybe baseball. I wouldn't discount Gordan altogether as another PAL QB is doing just fine at the next, next level -his name being Julian Edleman of the New England Patriot's out of Woodside High [go figure].
The PAL Lake is weak, the Bay and Ocean are legit. Need I remind you that the PAL has produced a state game representative and the open division champion in the last 2 years and that SHP that represented NorCal in the SBG wasn't even the best team in their league!
The same year SHP represented NorCal, Menlo destroyed McClymonds who was regional game representative at the small school division. Menlo benched their starters in the 4th quarter which is why Mack was able to put up 28 points and make the score look more respectable. Central Catholic didn't put up those types of performances vs. Mack and at the time Menlo was a bottom feeder in the Bay.
Also, you tell me which guys have disappeared at the college level
The same year SHP represented NorCal, Menlo destroyed McClymonds who was regional game representative at the small school division. Menlo benched their starters in the 4th quarter which is why Mack was able to put up 28 points and make the score look more respectable. Central Catholic didn't put up those types of performances vs. Mack and at the time Menlo was a bottom feeder in the Bay.
Also, you tell me which guys have disappeared at the college level
Thank you Bubba3000 as I could, but do not wish to start a PAL list of the record setters who disappeared leaving the HS level [aka "Busts"].
Part of the issue is simply the discrepancy in the quality of the leagues & programs which is certainly no secret. Over the years I have seen some of the "record setters" in the PAL Lake & Ocean divisions specifically recording some ridiculous numbers/stats that just would not have happened in other leagues against better competition. The players while accomplishing very good season stats simply don't get the recognition or attract scholarships because of the teams they're playing against throughout the season. It may not seem fair at times, but that is the reality & why schools like DLS attract the very best players.
To be fair to some PAL players, I know alot of them that were good enough earn scholarships and played at a high level, but grades and other off the field issues got them canned. I do agree with the talent level that they face week in and out. The Pal wasnt always like this as alot of the talent has shifted into other areas mainly towards the Stockton area. When I say talent I mean elite athletes.
PAL95 is correct as well with his statement above. The PAL as a whole is not what it once was 20 years or so ago. The PAL in its glory years had many fine teams & many excellent athletes. What I have noticed is the PAL like some other leagues produces more "sleeper" athletes who are good in HS and excel at the next level rather than HS "superstars" who make it to the next level. A good example would Eric Bakhtiari 2002 grad of Burlingame HS and older brother of David Bakhtiari 2009 Serra grad who starts on O-Line for the Green Bay Packers. The 2 Iranian brothers were both very good their senior season's in HS, but as I recall did not get wide spread attention by the major colleges. Eric went to University of San Diego while David went to Colorado. Eric out of Burlingame High played for a number of teams in the NFL and finally signed with the 49ers in 2012 only to get cut later in the season. He played in pre-season and looked good in 2013, but again didn;t make the 49ers final cut.
PAL95 - it would be interesting to hear of some of the stars from the past in the PAL if there are some who you particularly remember with basketball being a little easier than football. An easy one would be Keith Hernandez [going way back] who starred at Capuchino when they were a power on the peninsula and played QB the same time as Jesse Freitas Jr. & Dan Fouts. Of course Keith went on to play baseball & of course was in several Seinfeld episodes. As I remember Hernandez was a heck of a QB in HS.
PAL95 - it would be interesting to hear of some of the stars from the past in the PAL if there are some who you particularly remember with basketball being a little easier than football. An easy one would be Keith Hernandez [going way back] who starred at Capuchino when they were a power on the peninsula and played QB the same time as Jesse Freitas Jr. & Dan Fouts. Of course Keith went on to play baseball & of course was in several Seinfeld episodes. As I remember Hernandez was a heck of a QB in HS.
Alot of athletes I remember in the 90's just off the top of my head for PAL football. Spelling could be wrong lol
Jonni Tavake 92 SSF monster bruising rb slash lb who got a ride to CAL, but got into some troubles.
Kenny Moore 92 Menlo Atherton. One of the best free safeties I have seen in highschool. Played all four years at WSU.
Brent Vartan 94 Menlo Atherton. 4.4 guy went to Cal and was a starting kickoff returner.
Darren Hooper 93 Aragon. Got a full ride to U of A and wound up playing baseball. Put up big numbers as a rb.
Marcelino Barret 95 Aragon. The best rb to come out of Aragon period and one of the best to come out the PAL. High D1 prospect but other issues prevented him from continuing.
Devon Wyman I believe 1990 6/8 dl for Carlmont was as nasty as there ever was. Got drafted by the Patriots. Got a superbowl ring and then got in trouble. Later played for the Sabercats.
Paul Bradford Carlmont 1989 great corner who later started at cb for the Chargers and had a solid career in the NFL
Tuipiluto San Mateo 1995 went to UW on a full ride. Was a record breaking rb
Rick Jones MA 1993 wr signed with SJSU and then transferred to Morehouse as a starter at DE
Charles Perry R.I.P Woodside star at football and basketball, but grades I think was his demise 1995
These are just off the top of my head but as you can see the 90's were full of top tier athletes that no longer exist in the PAL. And just think, this is with most of the inner city kids EPA going to St Francis and Serra and there was still plenty of talent in the PAL.
Jonni Tavake 92 SSF monster bruising rb slash lb who got a ride to CAL, but got into some troubles.
Kenny Moore 92 Menlo Atherton. One of the best free safeties I have seen in highschool. Played all four years at WSU.
Brent Vartan 94 Menlo Atherton. 4.4 guy went to Cal and was a starting kickoff returner.
Darren Hooper 93 Aragon. Got a full ride to U of A and wound up playing baseball. Put up big numbers as a rb.
Marcelino Barret 95 Aragon. The best rb to come out of Aragon period and one of the best to come out the PAL. High D1 prospect but other issues prevented him from continuing.
Devon Wyman I believe 1990 6/8 dl for Carlmont was as nasty as there ever was. Got drafted by the Patriots. Got a superbowl ring and then got in trouble. Later played for the Sabercats.
Paul Bradford Carlmont 1989 great corner who later started at cb for the Chargers and had a solid career in the NFL
Tuipiluto San Mateo 1995 went to UW on a full ride. Was a record breaking rb
Rick Jones MA 1993 wr signed with SJSU and then transferred to Morehouse as a starter at DE
Charles Perry R.I.P Woodside star at football and basketball, but grades I think was his demise 1995
These are just off the top of my head but as you can see the 90's were full of top tier athletes that no longer exist in the PAL. And just think, this is with most of the inner city kids EPA going to St Francis and Serra and there was still plenty of talent in the PAL.
Nice PAL95 and remember a lot of these guys, but you know more of their personal history than most fans on here would. One player I remember vividly was Toke Kefu from San Mateo who at the time set the all time CCS rushing record for yards gained. Toke was sure fun to watch and SM won a CCS Division crown his senior year [which is when Julian Edelman was a junior at Woodside]. Kefu who I believe is a coach at SM currently went on to Eastern Washington University was excellent at the HS level but perhaps not quick enough for the next level, not taking away from his HS career and a very nice person as well. Drew Shiller was fun to watch in any of his 3 sports, but always liked him in football best.
Yes Kefu was a player and so was Drew, but there was another player before Drew named Dan Uharriet who was just as good as Drew at football and basketball. I dont know his story, but he was fun to watch. There was also a WR from MA I believe in early 2000's that went to Stanford along with their qb TC Ostrander. The wr didnt do much at Stanford but played for the Chargers as well as the Miami Dolphins. I highly doubt you will see this type of talent in the PAL EVER again. The few top flight athletes are at the privates, mainly Serra and St Francis and even Menlo.
No talent in the PAL? Whatttttt? I coach in The PAL and graduated 06. I'll put a nice little list for you from them til now about guys who went somewhere off the top of my head.
Jefferson
- Ngalu Fusimalohi, G, Kansas
- Kyani Harris, WR, Indiana State
- Lofi Tamasese, G, Army
- Jericho Tamasese, G, Army
- Myles Holmes, CB, Rhode Island
El Camino
Trevor Kelly, DT, California
DJ Peluso, RB, Cal Poly
Terra Nova
Daniel Porter, RB, Kansas
Mateus Porter, LB, Old Dominion
Jack Forbes, LB, Portland State
Dominic DeSouza, T, Baylor
Dominic Ortisi, WR, Hawai'i
South San Francisco
Eric Moore, S, Prairie View A&M
John Mark Henderson, CB, Syracuse
Justin Whitney, S, Delta State
Kenape Eliapo, NT, Utah
Ailao Eliapo, G, San Jose State
Rika Levi, NT, Texas Tech
Terrell Townsend, DE, San Jose State
Capuchino
Justin Ewing, RB, Gallaudet (School for the hearing impaired)
Carlmont
David Aknin, FB, California
San Mateo
George Naufahu, RB, UNLV
Andrew Ho, WR, Hawai'i
Aragon
Manase Tonga, FB, BYU
Matagni Tonga, DE, Houston
Curran Brandt, LB, Air Force
Martin Taualo, DE, Eastern Washington
Burlingame
Benji Palu, C, California
Woodside
Julian Edleman, QB, Kent State
Sekope Kaufusi, LB, Washington State
Tyreece Jacks, RB, Sacramento State
Menlo Atherton
Taylor Mashack, S, Northern Illinois
Jefferson
- Ngalu Fusimalohi, G, Kansas
- Kyani Harris, WR, Indiana State
- Lofi Tamasese, G, Army
- Jericho Tamasese, G, Army
- Myles Holmes, CB, Rhode Island
El Camino
Trevor Kelly, DT, California
DJ Peluso, RB, Cal Poly
Terra Nova
Daniel Porter, RB, Kansas
Mateus Porter, LB, Old Dominion
Jack Forbes, LB, Portland State
Dominic DeSouza, T, Baylor
Dominic Ortisi, WR, Hawai'i
South San Francisco
Eric Moore, S, Prairie View A&M
John Mark Henderson, CB, Syracuse
Justin Whitney, S, Delta State
Kenape Eliapo, NT, Utah
Ailao Eliapo, G, San Jose State
Rika Levi, NT, Texas Tech
Terrell Townsend, DE, San Jose State
Capuchino
Justin Ewing, RB, Gallaudet (School for the hearing impaired)
Carlmont
David Aknin, FB, California
San Mateo
George Naufahu, RB, UNLV
Andrew Ho, WR, Hawai'i
Aragon
Manase Tonga, FB, BYU
Matagni Tonga, DE, Houston
Curran Brandt, LB, Air Force
Martin Taualo, DE, Eastern Washington
Burlingame
Benji Palu, C, California
Woodside
Julian Edleman, QB, Kent State
Sekope Kaufusi, LB, Washington State
Tyreece Jacks, RB, Sacramento State
Menlo Atherton
Taylor Mashack, S, Northern Illinois
I know there are alot missing from my list. I just think it will not have the same type of players it had in the 90's and even before that with guys contributing in the NFL on sundays!
SPortela24 put together a nice list and considerable number of athletes from the HS level. The one thing that appeared to me however is that many athletes from many HS/leagues go on to the next level, but as I mentioned in previous posts they simply "disappear" at the higher level of play. The leagues with better programs & better competitive schedules have a much higher rate of athletes which do well when moving on to the college divisions [which only makes sense].
The transition is tough and the WCAL & likewise the De Anza leagues send lots of players on to the next level each year. One of the points I was attempting to make is that the stats of some players in the PAL league in recent years since they diluted it further with the 3 section ["Bay, Ocean & Lake Divisons"] are "watered down" due to the level of competiton throughout their season schedules.
Glancing at the list of PAL athletes above I did spot David Aknin who had a tremendous year at Carlmont in the PAL and was one of the best RB's to come out of the PAL in many years, but I simply lost track of him afterwards. The list says he played FB at CAL, however I believe he first enrolled at UCSF before transferring to CSM and then to CAL for his final 2 years where he played in one game in 2 seasons. It is not a rap on Aknin per say, but rather a testament to the success ratio of players from the weaker leagues in NorCal who rack up big stats against weaker competition at the HS level.
The transition is tough and the WCAL & likewise the De Anza leagues send lots of players on to the next level each year. One of the points I was attempting to make is that the stats of some players in the PAL league in recent years since they diluted it further with the 3 section ["Bay, Ocean & Lake Divisons"] are "watered down" due to the level of competiton throughout their season schedules.
Glancing at the list of PAL athletes above I did spot David Aknin who had a tremendous year at Carlmont in the PAL and was one of the best RB's to come out of the PAL in many years, but I simply lost track of him afterwards. The list says he played FB at CAL, however I believe he first enrolled at UCSF before transferring to CSM and then to CAL for his final 2 years where he played in one game in 2 seasons. It is not a rap on Aknin per say, but rather a testament to the success ratio of players from the weaker leagues in NorCal who rack up big stats against weaker competition at the HS level.
Eh. I wouldn't say that but rather that PAL really benefits off of line play. I coached at Jefferson in 2010 when we had the Tamasese brothers and Ngalu Fushimalohi, Trevor Kelly was a mile down the road at El Camino and Rika Levi was at South City.
Ngalu was a All Big-12 Honorable mention at Kansas 2 years ago.
Lofi Tamasese got playing time as a freshman last season at Army.
Jericho Tamasese was at Army's prep school, USMAPS.
Rika Levi started at NT for Texas Tech.
And Trevor Kelly started at the 3T for Cal.
that is 5 Division 1 linemen right there within a 10 minute drive of one another.
Hell, Westmoor recently put out a Division 1 guy and a player who had an NFL waiver with Carolina, Ray Hisatake. He had to go the JUCO route because Westmoor hasn't had football since the 90's but still. Combine him with a guy I play with in Ako Poti of Jefferson / Penn State and you can see exactly why you lose track of PAL guys after high school; because they play in the trenches! Those two played around the same time as the Eliapo brother at South City so right there I just named you another Division 1 line between all within 10 mins of each other.
And for every David Aknin who just didn't cut it at the next level there is a Sekope Kaufusi who started at the next level but just played for a crap program or even a Tyreece Jacks who had all the talent in the world but made some bad choices.
Ngalu was a All Big-12 Honorable mention at Kansas 2 years ago.
Lofi Tamasese got playing time as a freshman last season at Army.
Jericho Tamasese was at Army's prep school, USMAPS.
Rika Levi started at NT for Texas Tech.
And Trevor Kelly started at the 3T for Cal.
that is 5 Division 1 linemen right there within a 10 minute drive of one another.
Hell, Westmoor recently put out a Division 1 guy and a player who had an NFL waiver with Carolina, Ray Hisatake. He had to go the JUCO route because Westmoor hasn't had football since the 90's but still. Combine him with a guy I play with in Ako Poti of Jefferson / Penn State and you can see exactly why you lose track of PAL guys after high school; because they play in the trenches! Those two played around the same time as the Eliapo brother at South City so right there I just named you another Division 1 line between all within 10 mins of each other.
And for every David Aknin who just didn't cut it at the next level there is a Sekope Kaufusi who started at the next level but just played for a crap program or even a Tyreece Jacks who had all the talent in the world but made some bad choices.
And this is what I mean by elite athletes of the past missing now. The big guys get the rides, but the altheles are not the same.
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