Football signing day: Who’s signing and who’s still uncertain
The first day to sign documents is Wednesday, and then lives will change.
National signing day for high school football used to be a February-exclusive event. But in an effort to ease the chaos on teenagers, their families and the coaches who work to bring them into their fold via exhaustive recruiting, there is now an early signing period to go with the February day.
Sacramento State and UC Davis will use Wednesday to jump start their 2020 football seasons, and scores of area high school talents will sign and then fax binding letters of commitment to play on full scholarship for FCS- and FBS-level programs.
UCD and coach Dan Hawkins will sign two area stars Wednesday in Folsom receiver C.J. Hutton and Rio Americano quarterback Mitchell Dixon.
Sac State and first-year coach Troy Taylor will receive a signed document from record-setting running back Cameron Skattebo of Rio Linda.
The region’s top team this season, Sac-Joaquin Section Division I champion Oak Ridge, may not have anyone sign Wednesday. But there will be some this winter.
Wednesday marks the first day students can sign, not the only day.
The Trojans very well may have the area’s top recruit next season in junior quarterback Justin Lamson.
And proof that recruiters do not care, nor do they have the time to digest, a prep team’s won-loss record: Grant.
The Pacers went 1-9, their poorest showing since the early 1970s, but the proud program will continue a tradition of sending players to the next level with an on-campus ceremony of players, coaches and faculty and family.
Grant coach Mike Alberghini will watch three players sign packages on Wednesday — two guys and a girl. Jordan Davis, the first girl to play varsity football at Grant, will sign with Army to play soccer. Linemen Omarr Norman-Lott and Isaiah Tupou are headed to Arizona State and BYU, respectively.
More proof that wins, losses and stats do not entice nor spook recruiters is Rio Americano’s Mitchell Dixon. A stout 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds, Dixon checks off as a leader, character, student and more for a program that went 3-7 this season.
And proof that small-school guys battling injuries can land rides: Tre Maronic.
The Bear River all-purpose player will sign with Western Illinois, an FCS member from the Ohio Valley Conference. That conference champion was Austin Peay, which beat Sac State in the FCS playoffs earlier this month.
Other linemen who will sign Wednesday include Placer’s Kyle Christiansen with Cal Poly, Whitney’s Kevin Good with Montana, Gerad Lichtenhan of Davis with Colorado and Grady Manley of Lincoln with San Jose State. Roseville tight end Tommy Spencer is signing with Oregon State.
From Vacaville, cornerback/receiver Michael Briscoe will sign with Cal Poly and quarterback/safety Jeremy Villalobos with Drake.
The area’s top two national recruits — receiver Elijhah Badger and all-purpose back Daniyel Ngata of Folsom — will not announce where they will play until Jan. 2, while in Orlando for the Under Armour All-American Game. It’s common for national All-Star games like this to urge players to hold off commitments to maximize exposure.
Other star players from Folsom being recruited include tight end/defensive end DeShawn Lynch, receiver/defensive back Cameron Broussard and linebacker Davion Blackwell.
Who’d we miss?
Update us with any area football players signing this week by emailing to jdavidson@sacbee.com and csalerno@sacbee.com.
CIF finals
The immediate Sacramento area did not send a football team to the CIF championship for the first time since 2007, but two Sac-Joaquin Section small-school powers capped their season on top and did so at the same time and 12 miles apart.
Ripon capped a 14-1 season with a 31-28 home triumph of Highland of Palmdale in the CIF State Division 4-AA game. Nearby, rival Escalon capped a 14-1 campaign with a 52-21 rout of La Jolla in the Division 4-A game.
Ripon beat Escalon 42-21 in a Trans Valley League game Oct. 18.
The teams that edged Oak Ridge and Elk Grove in NorCal thrillers went on to win CIF championships. Central of Fresno capped a 15-0 season with a 34-19 win over Sierra Canyon of Chatsworth in the Division I-AA final a week after beating Oak Ridge. Clayton Valley Charter of Concord beat Aquinas of San Bernardino 10-7 in the Division 2-AA finale a week after stunning Elk Grove.
National No. 1 Bosco of Bellflower beat De La Salle 49-21 in the CIF Open championship. De La Salle has not lost to a NorCal team since 1992 and has a stunning gap against the rest of the fiendl, but has not closed the gap with Bosco or Mater Dei in recent years.
This story was originally published December 17, 2019 at 6:33 AM.