Grossmont football finds gusher in Waters

Grossmont (El Cajon) has found a gusher in senior Desean Waters.

After serving as a three-year starter at running back, the Foothillers senior has taken over as the quarterback of a spread offense his senior season.

"I love our new offense but I'm still getting used to it," said Waters, who has rushed for 270 yards on 36 carries.

Waters, who is also an all-league basketball point guard, generated 272 yards and five touchdowns in Friday's 37-7 romp over visiting University City. He also proved he could throw the ball against the Centurions, clicking on 7 of 10 aerials for 141 yards. For the season he has passed for 179 yards, completing 12 of 16 passes.

"Desean hasn't had that many chances to pass but I'd like to give him more," Grossmont coach Ron Murphy said. "Trouble is, when you get a big lead and then start throwing the ball people think you're trying to run the score up on them.

"But we've asked this kid to play quarterback for us, so I think it's only fair that we throw the ball when we get a chance to."

SAN DIEGO STATE STRIKES LOCAL BASEBALL GOLD MINE
Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn is harvesting local talent at SDSU. When Oceanside left-hander Mike Robards committed to the Aztecs it gave Gwynn's squad nine local commitments for the Class of 2011.

Robards was an All-Valley League selection this spring, going 8-4 with a 2.94 ERA for the Pirates. His 93 strikeouts (in 79 innings) ranked sixth among CIF-SDS pitchers.

"He's got nasty stuff," Oceanside coach Dave Barrett told the San Diego Union-Tribune. "The ball kind of explodes out of his hand. It's got life."

Robards joins an SDSU recruiting class that includes La Costa Canyon (Carlsbad) shortstop Phillip Evans, Parker (San Diego) left-hander Kendall Lindley, Valhalla (El Cajon) catcher Bryce Mosier and left-hander Francisco Tellez, Grossmont (El Cajon) right-hander Joe Musgrove, Poway right-hander Chad Smith, El Capitan (Lakeside) shortstop/center fielder Tyrone Wiggins and Hilltop (Chula Vista) infielder Gregory Allen.

Gwynn did not woo all the talent, however. Torrey Pines (San Diego) catcher Garrett Stubbs says he will continue his baseball career and education at the University of Southern California.

"I have a grandfather who went to USC so I've always been around USC stuff and was raised that way, so I grew up always wanting to go there," Stubbs said.

Other commitments: Poway catcher/infielder Dillon Dooney (Indiana), Mission Hills (San Marcos) pitcher/infielder Robbie Rocamora (Northern State in South Dakota) and Torrey Pines offensive tackle Daniel Murray (Cincinnati).

MURRIETA VALLEY WINS ON LAST-PLAY FG
Life for a kicker can be more of a lose than a win situation. If he makes a clutch kick he's a hero who is sometimes taken for granted. If he misfires, he most definitely is a goat.

Murrieta Valley (Murrieta) kicker Chad Romano doesn't dwell on the negative. That's a good thing, because his kicking career is only two games old.

Despite missing two earlier kicks in Friday's game against Escondido, Romano's 28-yard boot on the final play of the game gave the Nitehawks (1-1) a 17-15 victory over the Cougars (0-1).

It was a sloppy game as teams combined for 28 penalties between them.

HELIX PLAYING LOCK-DOWN DEFENSE
The Helix (La Mesa) Highlanders have outscored their first two opponents 101-10. Their defense has not allowed a touchdown. Junior linebacker Gary Thompson logged 11 tackles and junior safety Kacy Smith added 10 more stops as the Highlanders' defense allowed only three points in a 49-10 rout of Santa Fe Christian (Solana Beach, Calif.). SFC's touchdown came on a 49-yard interception return for a touchdown by Barrett Floyd. The Eagles did tag the Highlanders' defenders (albeit many reserves were on the field at the time) for a last-minute field goal.

SPRING VALLEY CRACKS CIF-SDS TOP 10
For one of the few times since Mount Miguel (Spring Valley) finished 11-1 in 1987, coach Tom Karlo’s Matadors have cracked the San Diego Union-Tribune Top 10. The Matadors have posted a pair of one-point victories – 21-20 over Morse and 13-12 over Valhalla.

OTHER TOP PERFORMANCES
— Senior Jude Isbell of Eastlake (Chula Vista) rushed 25 times for 200 yards and two touchdowns to help lead the Titans past San Diego Lincoln 42-21.

— Senior running back Tyler Gomogda of Rancho Bernardo (San Diego) rushed for 100 yards and a touchdown and also blocked a punt out of the end zone for a safety in the final seconds for a 29-28 nonleague win over San Pasqual.

— Tyler Jackson, a senior running back, set a Ramona record with five touchdowns while rushing for 164 yards in the Bulldogs' 42-21 win over Lakeside El Capitan.

— Poway's Aimee Trujillo won the Division I senior cross country race at the Laguna Hills Invitational with a time of 17 minutes, 51.50 seconds on a 3-mile course.

— La Costa Canyon (Carlsbad) senior quarterback Garrett Krstich completed 14 of 23 passes for 182 yards and a pair of touchdowns in a 24-7 triumph over Poway.

— Orange Glen (Escondido) senior Chris Locher stormed for 208 yards and three touchdowns on a mere 10 carries in his first game as a tailback, as the Patriots clobbered Crawford 51-0.

— Senior outside hitter Mariah Counts of Poway was chosen the MVP of the Fall Classic after recording four kills and five aces in a 25-17, 25-22 loss to Canyon Crest in the championship encounter.

— Alli Billmeyer of Torrey Pines (San Diego) won the Division I race at the Bronco Roundup, setting a course record with a time of 10 minutes, 52 seconds over 2 miles at Kit Carson Park.

— Hansell Wilson of Valhalla (El Cajon) scored on a 97-yard kickoff return, tying the Norsemen's record.

— Helix senior quarterback Brandon Lewis threw four touchdown passes in the Highlanders' 49-10 romp over Santa Fe Christian.

COMING ATTRACTIONS
Top billing this week is a duel between host La Costa Canyon (2-0) and San Clemente (3-0) Friday at 7 p.m. This is an excellent cross-section encounter. In another battle of unbeatens, Torrey Pines (2-0) travels to Olympian (Chula Vista) (1-0). The latter team has won 11 games in a row.

DICKENS' DEALINGS
Halls of famed are popping up at every level these days, as they should. Honoring athletes and giving them immortality status might sound like overkill but that's not the case. Deserving athletes create publicity for their schools, especially those that go on to become superstars at higher levels.

The CIF-San Diego Section is in the process of selecting the Top 50 high school athletes as it celebrates its 50th year of teaching sportsmanship. The criterion for these selections will be based on their high school careers as the CIF-SDS constructs a Hall of Fame.

No question the CIF-SDS has had its share of superstars. That's why this is such a great idea.

I've been doing this for 42 years and I still have to sit back and try to wean a list of 300 superstars to a list of 50.

Obviously, visible superstars are Bill Walton of Helix, football's Reggie Bush (Helix), Oceanside's Junior Seau, Kearny's baseball-basketball player of the year Alan Trammell, record-breaking miler Tim Danielson (Chula Vista), El Cajon Valley grad Mark Malone (football-track), East County superstar Tony Clark (basketball-baseball), Chase Budinger (La Costa Canyon – PoY for basketball and volleyball), Lincoln's Marcus Allen (football), La Jolla Country Day's Candice Wiggins, Point Loma's Terri Mann (basketball), Santana's Terry Forester (who has spent 17 years in Major League Baseball), and Padres first baseman Adrian Gonzalez (Eastlake) are just some of the athletes worthy of such recognition.

Others off the top of my head include Foothills Christian's Troy Leaf (basketball), Santana baseball standout Jimmy Tatum, Mira Mesa's Lisa Dodd (softball), El Cajon Valley distance runner Terry Cotton, Grossmont's Ralph Drollinger (basketball-UCLA), Wilbert Olinde (basketball-UCLA), Patrick Henry's strikeout ace Donna Kerr and at least 100 more.

The selection committee is soliciting names online, which is definitely a smart thing to do. There are only about five sportswriters worthy of voting on a poll like this because they don't know the players like I do.

If you have a nomination make sure you turn it in at www.cifsds.org.

It's about time the CIF-SDS has established a legitimate Hall of Fame.