With only a handful of experienced blockers set to return in 2012, Weber State went for the beef during Wednesday’s National Letter of Intent Day as six offensive linemen became part of first-year Weber State coach John L. Smith’s initial recruiting class.
“This was a good recruiting class for us and I thought it went a little better than I expected coming in due to the short time period we had,” said Smith, who was hired following the retirement of Ron McBride in November. “Our coaches came on board and did a great job of finding some guys that we think will make us better. We still have some more to sign but we need to sign guys that will make us better and I believe the players that we have signed will do that. Recruiting is a never-ending battle and we’ll continue to look forward to building our program.”
In Cedar City, Southern Utah’s recruiting efforts closer to home resulted in 20 of 28 commitments Wednesday coming from Utah for its first class of Big Sky Conference recruits.
“First, I want to thank the Utah high school football coaches for opening their doors to our coaching staff,” SUU coach Ed Lamb said. “The incoming class includes seven Utah first-team all-state honorees, three presidential scholars, an average GPA of 3.57, one Utah state triple jump champion, one Utah state wrestling champion, one Tongan national rugby system player, one Nevada first-team all-state honoree, four mid-year enrollees who are already training with the team and one JC transfer.”
Brian Scott, the 3A MVP from Hurricane High, also committed to Southern Utah. Scott, a 6-foot-2, 220-pound bruiser of a runner, gained more than 1,600 yards with 31 touchdowns.
Scott, like most recruits at the Football Championship Subdivision, is loaded with potential but never proved it against top-flight competition. Continuing development on the next level will ultimately reveal worth for players such as Scott.
Others, such as A.J. Wilcox, whose brother Jared also played for Weber State, was taken purely for potential. Wilcox, a 6-foot-5, 235 defensive end from Syracuse High, injured a shoulder during the summer before his senior season and did not play.
Weber State also signed Braden Corpus, a quarterback from Boise’s Borah High. Corpis, 6-foot-1, was a first team all-conference for Borah. In a run-first offense, Corpis threw for more than 1,900 yards and 16 touchdowns without an interception. He also ran for 900 yards and 12 scores.
The offensive linemen who signed letters of intent were Maxwell Curtis, Mountain View High (Idaho), Duncan Farnsworth, Milton High (Georgia), and Yuraaj Madra, Folsom High (California). Farnsworth will serve a LDS Church mission before competing for the Wildcats.
Weber State signees
Player Pos. Hometown School Ht/Wt
Hasan Ali DB San Antonio Holy Cross 6-0/201
Braden Corpus QB Boise, Idaho Borah 6-1/203
Maxwell Curtis OL Meridian, Idaho Mountain View 6-5/250
Cordero Dixon CB Gainesville, Fla. Gainesville 5-10/185
Duncan Farnsworth OL Lilburn, Ga. Milton 6-6/285
Gamal Fowler WR Dayton, Texas Dayton 5-11/175
Siamani Harris WR Kearns Hunter 6-3/230
Joe Hawkins OL Vero Beach, Fla. Vero Beach 6-1/300
Marquel Holmes LB Ocala, Fla. Trinity Catholic 6-0/213
Breck Lewis QB Spanish Fork Spanish Fork 6-1/195
Yuvraaj Madra OL Mather, Calif. Folsom 6-5/270
Davonte Maez CB West Valley Hunter 6-1/165
Cody McKague TE Boise Borah 6-4/213
Austin Mikkelson OL St. George Pine View 6-4/297
Shane Oliverson DL Hyde Park Preston 6-4/245
A.J. Wilcox DE Clearfield Syracuse 6-5/235
Cameron Young OL Cove, Texas Barber Hills 6-3/299
Chris Wheeler DB Templeton, Calif. Allan Hancock JC 6-0/175
Southern Utah signees
Player Pos. Hometown School Ht/Wt
Kole Afu DL Draper Alta 6-2/240
J.T. Anderson DB Layton Layton 6-2/165
Rhett Bird DL Mt. Pleasant North Sanpete 6-2/255
Jason Brimhall OL American Fork American Fork 6-5/255
Malik Brown ATH Las Vegas, Nev. Canyon Springs 6-1/185
Kyle Donaldson OL Pacifica, Calif. Orange Coast 6-4/334
Kolton Donovan LS St. George Pine View 6-3/255
Shad Enis DL Draper Alta 6-3/275
Mike Evans DL Esparto, Calif. Esparto 6-3/195
F. Fifita-Sitake DL Orem Mountain View 6-2/255
Sione Fukofuka ATH Nuku’alofa, Tonga Liahona 6-5/250
Porter Harris ATH St. George Desert Hills 6-3/180
Raysean Martin ATH Hayward, Calif. Tennyson 5-11/185
Mike Needham LB St. George Desert Hills 6-3/195
Taylor Parker ATH Hurricane Hurricane 6-2/185
Cole Payne WR Orem Orem 6-2/185
Taylor Pili LB Salt Lake City Granger 6-4/205
M. Redmond WR West Jordan West Jordan 6-3/190
Evan Ross OL Plain City Fremont 6-6/272
Spencer Rudolph OL Kaysville Davis 6-6/295
Tony Sarrocco OL Moorpark, Calif. Moorpark 6-4/260
Tony Sattiewhite QB Ogden Ogden 6-1/170
Brian Scott RB Hurricane Hurricane 6-1/220
Lloyd Stephens DE Plain City Fremont 6-3/200
Peterson Taeao DL Las Vegas, Nev. Liberty 6-3/315
Christian Taele RB Spanish Fork Spanish Fork 6-1/195
Yabbitse Wells CB Logan Sky View 5-11/158
Austin Young QB Colfax, Calif. Colfax 6-5/215
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