U.S. Air Force Player of the Year: Dano Graves

Three weeks after the storybook season - the CIF State Bowl championship, the No. 7 national ranking, the state-record 85 touchdowns accounted for - Folsom (Calif.) High School senior Dano Graves was still in a mist.

"It still is very surreal," Graves said Sunday night. "It still hasn't all sunk in."

Here's a little more to sink into.

Graves today has been named the U.S. Air Force National Player of the Year presented by MaxPreps.



Dano Graves National Player of the Year photo gallery

The undersized 5-foot-9, 185-pound senior quarterback beat out a long list of highly recruited, superbly credentialed stars throughout the land by stamping a monster season with back-to-back six-touchdown performances against nationally ranked opponents.

He completed 236 of 363 passes for 3,702 yards and 62 touchdowns, with just six interceptions. Impressive numbers on their own. But the ever-elusive, athletic and determined standout was just as impressive as a runner, rushing for 994 yards and 23 touchdowns.

This came on the heels of a 4,756-total-yard, 66-touchdown junior campaign, meaning Graves accounted for a staggering 9,452 yards and 128 touchdowns over two seasons against many of Northern California's top competition.

The Bulldogs went 25-3 in that span, including 14-1 in 2010.

"I've known the kid since he was in Kindergarten," said Folsom coach Kris Richardson. "He never ceases to amaze me. From his athleticism to leadership to competitive nature to just being a great kid, I've run out of superlatives."



Leave that up to more impartial sorts or even combatants.

Like Grant (Sacramento, Calif.) coach Mike Alberghini, after Graves burned his then No. 8 nationally ranked Pacers for 418 of Folsom's 506 yards and accounted for six touchdowns in the Bulldogs' 41-20 Sac-Joaquin Section Division 2 title game win before more than 20,000 fans at Sacramento State University.

Grant's defense featured five probable Division I talents, including all-american lineman Viliami Moala. Grant had allowed eight points per game going into the contest.

"Teams don't score six touchdowns on us, and he did it all by himself," Alberghini told the Sacramento Bee. "In all my years, Graves was the hardest to prepare for, the best we've ever faced, without a doubt. I don't know if we'll ever see a Dano again."

Serra (Gardena, Calif.) coach Scott Altenberg most certainly wants no part of another Dano. His team, with at least a half-dozen Division I prospects, came in the CIF Division 2 State Bowl game against Folsom ranked 18th in the country. But the Cavaliers were also done in by Graves, who in a driving rain threw for three scores and ran for three more during a 41-20 defeat.

"He was electric on film and even better in person," Altenberg said. "He was fantastic. His arm strength was impressive but it was his elusiveness that hurt us. Normally we get all over quarterbacks with our speed and athleticism, but we couldn't get to him. He's a great competitor."

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Indeed, beyond all the numbers, Graves' leadership is beyond reproach. When Grant smacked Folsom 49-14 to start the season in front of a nationally televised audience, Graves didn't flinch.



"We definitely were shell-shocked. We'd never been beaten like that before and most of us had played together since we were 8 years old," Graves said. "We knew we were better than that. We just went back to work. Our entire goal was to see Grant again."

Continue reading{PAGEBREAK}Said Richardson: "You could see it in his eyes (the week after first Grant game). He wasn't going to let it happen again."

That kind of determination has allowed him to overcome his lack of height, a topic he's already grown tired of.

In the mold of Doug Flutie, Graves has just three scholarship offers: One from Air Force along with Football Championship Subdivision schools Sacramento State and Portland State.

His 6-foot brother David, the Sacramento Bee Player of the Year in 2008, is a quarterback at Hawaii, and their father Dave, a 6-3 strong safety, walked on and played at Cal Poly in the 1980s. Graves actually played receiver as a sophomore, catching 24 balls for 349 yards and four touchdowns from his brother.

Like college recruiters seem to be communicating now, Graves was told he was too small to put up the numbers he did in high school.



"It definitely drives me to prove others wrong," he said. "It angers me somewhat (not to have more offers) but I understand it. I've come to the realization how people think. It's just a reality."

Sacramento Bee writer Joe Davidson, who has covered high school sports in the region more than two decades, said Graves' strong team-first personality, along with athleticism, had allowed him to excel.

"Dano doesn't seem to realize or care a bit that he's supposedly too small to play the position," Davidson said. "Well, he's also too quick to corner, too instinctive and too accurate and too driven to deal with also."

Asked if Graves reminds him of any of the other area's greats — like Troy Taylor of Cordova (1985), Aaron Garcia of Grant (1987) or Randy Fasani of Del Oro (1996) — Davidson said absolutely not. All of those quarterbacks went on to have highly successful college careers and made it to the NFL.

"He blows them all away," Davidson said. "Not with the look test obviously, but because of how he leads his team, how he makes all the throws, how he runs like a tailback.

"He doesn't remind me of anyone because he absolutely stands alone."

Graves by the numbers

 

9,452: Two-year career total yards as quarterback

 

4,696: 2010 total yards

185: Pounds

 

132: Total career touchdowns

 

85: Total 2010 touchdowns, a state record

 

69: Inches tall

 

7: National team ranking

 

4: Touchdown receptions as sophomore receiver

 

3: College scholarship offers

 

1: State Bowl championship; National Player of Year award