News

2010 Season

Vista Murrieta's boys track and field team served notice last July, ironically enough, in a non-CIF-sanctioned event. And most of the Broncos sports programs have been on a roll ever since.

With a strong finish in track and field and outright Southwestern League championships in baseball, softball, boys track and field, football and girls volleyball, Vista Murrieta edged Murrieta Valley to win The Californian's All-Valley Program of the Year Award for 2011.

Vista Murrieta, paced by a 257-point push from the track team on The Californian's point scale, placed first with 633 points. Murrieta Valley, which got a 154-point effort from its swimming teams, was second with 591 points.

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Jon Sanchez knew there was a chance that the hierarchy at San Diego State would re-shuffle this offseason.

But coach Brady Hoke's departure didn't matter to the Vista Murrieta defensive lineman. He'd made up his mind, and on Wednesday, Sanchez made his commitment to the Aztecs official alongside Broncos classmates and dozens of scholar-athletes participating in National Signing Day throughout the Valley.

"I was surprised (Hoke) left, but I was going there for the school," Sanchez said. "I wasn't going there for the coach, and I knew there was a chance he could leave. ...

"I was committed there. I wasn't going to leave."

 

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A DUAL-THREAT, BROWN HAS LED THE BRONCOS TO THEIR SECOND STRAIGHT TITLE GAME APPEARANCE

MURRIETA ---- Penny Brown can take a hit. The challenge most Friday nights is withstandingapostgame embrace with a 6-foot-3, 240-pound frame that carves opposing defenses.

Indeed, getting your arms around Vista Murrieta quarterback Derrick Brown is not an easy task.

"He's like a Rottweiler that thinks he's a Chihuahua," Penny, Derrick Brown's mother, said. " … He comes over to hug you and he almost rolls into you. You're overwhelmed by his size and his weight. He just smothers you.

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The Inland area's three championship football teams -- Corona Centennial, Elsinore and Colton -- were among the most lauded as the CIF-Southern Section unveiled its all-section teams Thursday afternoon.

Centennial swept the top honors in the Inland Division, with senior quarterback Michael Eubank chosen Offensive Player of the Year and senior safety Chris Gonzalez chosen Defensive Player of the Year. Matt Logan was selected the division's Coach of the Year.

 

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VISTA MURRIETA QB NAMES OFFENSIVE MVP, WHILE TEMECULA VALLEY LB TAKES DEFENSIVE MVP HONORS

Derrick Brown remembers his first encounter with Adam Pulsipher.

Both were big-bodied kids exchanging blows in the paint for their varsity basketball squads, both were sophomores and both were on the cusp of starring roles under the Friday night lights.

Two years later, both NCAA Division I prospects ---- Brown a quarterback at Vista Murrieta and Pulsipher a middle linebacker at Temecula Valley ---- realized their potential in banner 2010 seasons.

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1. Oceanside bounces back, hands Chaparral a season-opening loss

The lowdown: The Pirates' football team rebounds from its disastrous opener and stuns the Pumas -- one of the top-ranked teams in state and national preseason polls.

Link: http://www.nctimes.com/sports/high-school/nct/football/article_1914f253-e25b-560e-a13f-9ef762a45b9f.html

Hits: 3,815

2. Brown act leads Vista Murrieta to redeeming win over Chaparral

The lowdown: Broncos quarterback Derrick Brown scores as a runner, passer and receiver in topping the Pumas in a televised game.

Link: http://nctimes.com/sports/high-school/cal/football/article_00fe3d31-b0e6-538f-b251-880d760408b2.html

Hits: 1,728

3. CIF SS football parings

The lowdown: This year's playoff groupings.

Link: http://nctimes.com/sports/high-school/cal/football/article_bfc6c107-3260-5ce4-81f7-7929fdbc5b9c.html

Hits: 1,479

4. Great Oak stuns Chaparral with fourth-quarter rally

The lowdown: The Wolfpack's football team storms back to get its first-ever victory over the Pumas.

Link: http://nctimes.com/sports/high-school/cal/football/article_19a22bfe-12df-5f0c-a36d-d8422f716730.html

Hits: 1,307

5. Vista Murrieta returns to section championship game

The lowdown: The Broncos' football team comes up with an overtime goal-line stand to return to Inland Division championship.

Link: http://nctimes.com/sports/high-school/cal/football/article_d17e956e-7a93-5ae1-b8b0-eab63cf505a4.html

Hits: 1,265

6. Vista Murrieta overwhelms Norco in quarterfinals

The lowdown: For the second year in a row, the Broncos' football team ousts Norco from the playoffs.

Link: http://nctimes.com/sports/high-school/cal/football/article_5595b6d6-e836-5bbe-ab42-108d6c6cbf70.html

Hits: 1,110

7. Temecula Valley plays part of spoiler

The lowdown: Their season already over, the Golden Bears rally for a comeback victory that knocks Great Oak's football team out of the playoffs.

Link: http://nctimes.com/sports/high-school/cal/football/article_5a5da216-4d2d-51e6-9ac8-ea42f0f25aa7.html

Hits: 1,008

8. Corona Centennial runs right over Chaparral

The lowdown: Ousted by the Pumas in last year's semifinals, the Huskies score a rout to send Chaparral to an 0-3 start.

Link: http://nctimes.com/sports/high-school/cal/football/article_30d85cf0-8c7b-5832-ada0-1cbd5ac4423f.html

Hits: 995

9. Chaparral tripped up -- again

The lowdown: One of the top teams in the state's preseason polls, the Pumas fall to 0-2 with a loss to Fresno Central.

Link: http://nctimes.com/sports/high-school/cal/football/article_1381e07b-0774-5a95-b46c-2d69cb2b0697.html

Hits: 994

10. Vista Murrieta can't ground Encino Crespi's passing game

The lowdown: The Broncos' football team drops its first nonleague game in more than six years.

Link: http://nctimes.com/sports/high-school/cal/football/article_a2c191cb-e28b-5428-875d-6b6302434c1f.html

If the past two years are any indication, the holiday season is an award-winning time of year for Vista Murrieta graduate Ryan Hofmeister.

Last December, after pacing the Broncos to the Southwestern League title and their first appearance in the CIF Southern Section Inland Division title game, the then senior linebacker earned spots on both the All-League First Team, the All-CIF SS Inland Division First Team, and was voted The Californian's All-Valley Defensive Player of the Year.

Even with all that, and stats which included: 195 total tackles, 10 sacks, two forced fumbles and two recovered fumbles; Hofmeister only received offers from four-year programs on the East Coast. And, according to Broncos' former defensive coordinator and now offensive coordinator Eric Peterson, he wanted to stay on the West Coast.

So off to Riverside Community College he went, to play for former San Diego State and Palomar College coach Tom Craft. The Tigers, who had gone 1-9 the prior season, made a quick turnaround with the likes of Hofmeister and other Riverside County stars like Riverside North's Maurice Cox on their roster.

And come November they were 9-1 and primed for a bowl game against Los Angeles Harbor. RCC won its first bowl game in 17 years ----31-14 ---- and the honors began rolling in again for Hofmeister, who was named the Central Conference's East Division Defensive Player of the Year.

"He was a great player on the field, and really led by example," Craft said. "He's one of the smartest players I've coached, and he really saved us this year. You don't turn a 1-9 program to 10-1 team and not have a guy who is so dominant. He was a huge part of our success."

All his junior colleges and prep accolades were over-shadowed when UCLA called with an offer ---- a full-ride to play for the Bruins next fall. It was an opportunity he had been hoping for the year before, but, even with 4.5-second 40-yard-dash speed, most programs never looked past his 5-foot-11, 190-pound stature.

"Ryan is a testimony of a great student who has everything in order academically, but gets overlooked athletically," Craft said. "In high school, when people thought about him at the next level it was hard because he's small. But he's highly intelligent, on and off the field; he just needed a platform to prove himself, and it worked out just how we thought it would."

Since high school, Hofmeister put on 20 pounds and grew two inches and that helped him on the field as he led the Tigers with 137 tackles, including 44 solo wrap- ups, 10 tackles for losses and five pass break-ups. With all that, Hofmeister proved irresistible to UCLA and earlier this fall, he made a verbal commitment to play for the Bruins.

The agreement will be made official on Wednesday, when Hofmeister, will sign his letter of intent.

"It really worked for a kid like Ryan who has such a great work ethic," Peterson said of Hofmeister taking the junior college route.

"He's one of the best football players I've coached. He's experienced a lot of adversity and gotten through it and that's just a testament to who he is and to his mother."

COLLINS RUSHES FOR 283 YARDS AND FIVE TDS IN 45-21 VICTORY OVER BRONCOS

CORONA -- Vista Murrieta's defensive coaches began their search for an answer to Corona Centennial's video-game-like offense early Sunday morning.

Six days later, the Huskies confirmed what has become obvious to rival coaches this season:

There is no answer.

Barrinton Collins rushed for 283 yards and five touchdowns as second-ranked Centennial rolled up 540 yards of offense in lapping visiting Vista Murrieta 45-21 in the CIF Southern Section Inland Division championship Friday night.

"We have a lot of really experienced, good defensive coaches," Broncos defensive coordinator David Olson said. "Everyone had a lot of ideas, but we knew we had to make plays. We knew that if you missed them, they were gone -- and we missed them a couple of times."

 

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CORONA ---- It's a bitter pill to swallow when you have to stand there and watch the opponent you just fought for 48 grueling minutes hoot and holler.

It's even tougher when you do it for the second year in a row.

But there was a silver lining for Vista Murrieta's football team in the wake of its 45-21 loss to Corona Centennial in the CIF Southern Section Inland Division championship Friday night.

The Broncos are getting there, step by step. They are not an elite program just yet, but they are closer. Effort alone nearly took the this team to the very top.

 

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BRONCOS SEEK THE TYPE OF ELITE STATUS CORONA CENTENNIAL HAS EARNED WITH FIVE CIF SS CHAMPIONSHIPS. THEY COULD TAKE A STEP TOWARD THAT WITH A VICTORY OVER THE FAVORED HUSKIES IN FRIDAY'S INLAND DIVISION FINAL

MURRIETA ---- The owner of a state title and five section crowns, Corona Centennial's football legacy is certainly already in place.

Meanwhile, Vista Murrieta right guard Zayde Khalil can admit his program is playing catch up as one of the newer schools in Riverside County, and the Broncos can write a significant chapter in its history in its meeting with the Huskies at 7:30 tonight at Corona Centennial High School in the CIF Southern Section Inland Division championship.

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MURRIETA -- With Corona Centennial's video game-like offense racing up and down the field game after game, it's easy to forget the five slower guys who make it all possible.

When push comes to shove, Centennial's offensive line is usually the one doing the shoving.

Rest assured, as Vista Murrieta prepares for Friday night's highly anticipated CIF Southern Section Inland Division championship game, the Bronco coaching staff is well aware of the Huskies' tanks in the trenches.

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BRONCOS BACK IN FINALS AFTER DOUBLE-OT STOP, AND WIN, OVER RANCHO CUCAMONGA

MURRIETA ---- The 11-month wait is over. Vista Murrieta's football team will get another crack at a CIF Southern Section championship.

Quarterback Derrick Brown rushed for two overtime touchdowns and the second-seeded Broncos dialed up a fourth-and-goal stop from the 1 to clinch a wild 35-28, double-overtime victory over Rancho Cucamonga on Saturday night to send host Vista Murrieta to its second Inland Division final in as many years.

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By MARK E. STRODER - For The Californian | Posted: Saturday, October 30, 2010 12:56 am

MURRIETA -- The Vista Murrieta football team received an extra-special performance from its special teams on Friday night.

The Broncos erupted for 31 second-quarter points — 24 of which were either scored or set up by their special teams — en route to a 45-18 victory over Great Oak.

"Every week we go into (games) trying to make big plays in special teams, whether it be blocked punts, returns, kickoffs, anything where we see a weakness," said Vista Murrieta coach Coley Candaele. "Sometimes the offense can have a bad night, sometimes the defense can have a bad night, but the special teams can always have a good night."

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By: Brian Haas This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it | Posted: Saturday, October 23, 2010 12:33 am

TEMECULA ---- Vista Murrieta used a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns from John Hardin on Friday night to edge a feisty Temecula Valley team, 33-22, in a Southwestern League contest.

"You have to be up every week to play here in the Southwestern League," Vista Murrieta coach Coley Candaele said. "Anyone can beat anyone out here. We knew Temecula Valley had a much improved football team and they proved it tonight."

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The Californian | Posted: Wednesday, October 13, 2010 8:15 pm

CHAPARRAL (1-4) vs. VISTA MURRIETA (4-1)

KICKOFF: 7 p.m. Thursday

SITE: Vista Murrieta HS

TV: Fox Sports West (delayed broadcast at 8 p.m.)

LEAGUE: Southwestern

LAST MEETING: Chaparral defeated Vista Murrieta, 13-7, in last year's CIF SS Inland Division title game.

SERIES UPDATE: Vista Murrieta has won four of the last six contests between the two teams, five of which have been decided by six or fewer points. Two of them went into overtime.

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PUMAS, BRONCOS KICKING OFF SOUTHWESTERN LEAGUE PLAY WITH THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL

Monday, October 11, 2010 

TEMECULA ---- The way losses mounted at Chaparral to start the year, the Pumas' end zones might have become a makeshift pet cemetery, of sorts, if coach Tom Leach didn't have such an affinity for the black rabbit's foot he carried throughout last year's section-title run.

The loss to Oceanside didn't do the trick. Neither did the one to Fresno Central.

But by the time Corona Centennial poured on 45 points in a rout, Leach ---- as superstitious as he is boisterous ---- knew it was time to ditch the good-luck charm for a new furry talisman.

 

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TRACK STAR RUNS FOR 142 YARDS AND A SCORE IN BRONCOS' FINAL NONLEAGUE GAME

By BRIAN HAAS - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it | Posted: Saturday, October 9, 2010 12:39 am

PACIFIC PALISADES ---- Jovonte Slater played a half while rushing for 142 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries and Vista Murrieta's football team wrapped up its nonleague schedule on the road Friday night with a 45-16 rout of Pacific Palisades.

The Broncos (4-1) can now set their sights on the team that defeated them ---- Chaparral ---- in the CIF Southern Section Inland Division championship game last season, as they will open up Southwestern League play against the Pumas in a televised game Thursday.

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CRESPI QB THROWS FOR 482 YARDS, 5 TDS IN HANDING BRONCOS FIRST NONLEAGUE LOSS SINCE 2004

By JEFF SANDERS - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it | Posted: Saturday, October 2, 2010 12:54 am

MURRIETA ---- Six years had passed since Vista Murrieta lost a nonleague game. Broncos coach Coley Candaele hopes the aftertaste of a new low pushes his Broncos to newer heights down the road.

Encino Crespi quarterback Kenneth Stenhouse threw for 482 yards and five touchdowns, the Broncos' offense didn't do enough with five takeaways and the visiting Celts handed Vista Murrieta a school record-setting 45-31 loss in a matchup between heavyweight programs Friday night.

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By JOHN MURPHY
The Press-Enterprise

CORONA - The Vista Murrieta football team moved in fits and starts for more than 3 ½ quarters and misfired often. But in the final three minutes, the Broncos got it together to score the winning touchdown and defeat Corona Santiago 21-17.

Darion Williams' 14-yard scoring catch from Derrick Brown with 16.5 seconds left won it for Vista Murrieta, ranked No. 1 in the CIF-Southern Section's Inland Division.

Williams took a pass on the left sideline as the momentum of the play moved to the right and sprinted to the end zone untouched.

"I saw a wide-open space," Williams said. "All I had to do was outrun them. You have no idea (how this feels). I cannot believe it. As soon as I caught the ball I knew we had won the game."

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BY LANDON NEGRI This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it | Posted: Saturday, September 25, 2010

MURRIETA -- Vista Murrieta's football team isn't firing on all cylinders yet. But the Broncos are getting closer, and at the right time.

On Friday night, their defense was again the catalyst. Vista Murrieta kept Los Osos' offense from scoring and it held the visiting Grizzlies to minus-2 yards rushing in a 30-7 nonleague, homecoming victory.

Jagade Snyder and Larry Parrish each had interceptions, Su'a Cravens added a safety, and defensive lineman Jonathan Sanchez led a unit that kept Los Osos from crossing the Vista Murrieta 40-yard-line until fourth-quarter garbage time.

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By JEFF SANDERS - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it North County Times - Californian

Michael Mazur Catches Pass in 3rd Quarter

CORONA -- His offense mired in a deep funk, Derrick Brown tucked the football in, lowered his shoulder and bulldozed over Corona Santiago's Thierry Nguema at the goal line for Vista Murrieta's first score.

Just like that, after a half of misfires and stutter-stepping, the Broncos' 6-foot-3 quarterback was right again.

Brown's 16-yard scamper in the third quarter rejuvenated Vista Murrieta's offense and the Utah-committed quarterback completed a second-half comeback with a 14-yard touchdown pass to Darion Williams with 16.5 seconds remaining as the top-ranked Broncos survived a 21-17 scare at Santiago on Friday night.

"He started playing in the fourth quarter," Candaele said of Brown, who finished with 199 yards passing and 58 yards rushing after the Broncos were limited to three first downs the entire first half. "He was way out of his game in the first half. He'd been playing tentative.

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BY LANDON NEGRI - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it North County Times - Californian

Jovante Slater

MURRIETA ---- Jovonte Slater can do more than sprint on an all-weather track. The synthetic football turf seems to suit his soles just as well.

Slater ran for two touchdowns and returned a punt for another as Vista Murrieta's football team opened its season with a decisive 49-27 nonleague victory over visiting Etiwanda.

Playing for the first time since losing the CIF Southern Section Inland Division championship to Chaparral in December, the Broncos didn't always fire on all cylinders Friday night.

Slater certainly did.

The senior, a returning state-meet placer in track and field who has committed to USC on a track scholarship, ran for 117 yards on 10 carries and had more than 100 yards of return yardage, including an 82-yard punt return that gave Vista Murrieta a 42-7 lead with 6:12 remaining in the third quarter.

"That's what I was coming out here to prove," Slater said, when asked if he should be known more for than just his track talents. "I can do track and football. I can do both."

Slater's first touchdown of the night, a 17-yarder, gave the Broncos (1-0) a 14-0 lead with 6:26 left in the second quarter. Utah-bound Broncos quarterback Derrick Brown then rumbled 3 yards for a score to extend the lead to 21-0, but the Eagles (0-2) pieced together a 90-yard drive at the end of the half, scoring when quarterback Larry Cutbirth found senior Mike Sena for an 18-yard touchdown pass with 43 seconds left.

That seemed to just irritate the Broncos, who took just 8 seconds to score in the third quarter on Slater's 48-yard touchdown run after Aaron Piecukonis recovered an on-side kick on a gutsy, Sean Payton-like call by Vista Murrieta coach Coley Candaele.

Brown then hit Michael Mazur on a 33-yard scoring strike -- their second such connection of the night -- before Slater's punt return put an exclamation on the evening.

"He gets in the open field, and he's just tough," Candaele said of Slater. "And he's just learning to play football more and more."

Brown threw two scoring passes but completed just 4 of 12 passes for 83 yards. Overall, the Broncos, committed 14 penalites for 138 yards.

"There's a lot of newer kids playing," Candaele said. "Things are going to be a little more sluggish and a little off timing-wise."

For Etiwanda, Cutbirth completed 23 of 40 passes for 324 yards for two touchdowns, but he was also intercepted three times, which helped Vistabuild its big halftime lead.

"Our kids came out ready to play tonight," said Etiwanda coach Stephen Bryce, whose club lost to Fontana Summit last week. "We schedule teams like these for a reason." That very point led to some postgame bickering between the two staffs, as Etiwanda played its first string until the very end. The Broncos, meanwhile, had gone to their second- and third-string levels in the waning moments.

 
Friday, July 16, 2010

 

The Press-Enterprise

In preparation for the upcoming high school football season, CalPreps.com has established its preseason power ratings.

CalPreps sees Temecula Chaparral repeating as the Inland Division champ, while Fontana Kaiser begins as the favorite to bring home the Eastern Division crown.

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 By Eric-Paul Johnson July 13, 2010 10:04 PM

Vista Murrieta track and football standout Jovonte Slater has accepted a scholarship offer from USC, Slater's father, Dedrick, said by phone Tuesday evening.

Dedrick Slater said the scholarship offer is for track and field, but he also noted the institution has given Jovonte the option to compete in football, as well. Dedrick Slater said Jovonte had 27 scholarship offers to run track and seven more for football.

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COACH OF THE YEAR: He takes his football team to the title game and wins the CIF Div. 1 track title.
By KEVIN PEARSON, The Press-Enterprise on Wednesday, June 30, 2010

 

To fully understand Coley Candaele, all it takes is a story about his competitive nature.

Two years ago, with his Vista Murrieta football team at an overnight camp in Claremont, Candaele walked in on his team playing a boxing video game and took over the controls. Curfew was at 11 p.m., but Candaele refused to put the game away until he finally won.

At 1 a.m., with a smile on his face, he finally came out on top and it was time for everyone to rest.

These days, the winning and the sleeping comes a little bit easier for Candaele.

After leading Vista Murrieta to the CIF Inland Division championship game and following it up with a CIF-Southern Section Division 1 track championship in the spring, Candaele has been selected the HS GameTime Boys Coach of the Year.

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The Californian | Posted: June 21, 2010 4:04 pm

Vista Murrieta defensive end Jon Sanchez has delivered a verbal commitment to San Diego State, he confirmed for The Californian on Monday afternoon. The 6-foot-4, 240-pound senior-to-be is the second Valley football player to commit in the last week ---- both to San Diego State.

"I wanted to stay in California to play college ball and San Diego is close," said Sanchez, who joins Chaparral's Darius Guillory as the second local to verbally commit to San Diego State. "My family wanted me to go there so they can see my games. The campus is great and it's a great school. I felt at home when I visited there."

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By LANDON NEGRI - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it | Posted: June 28, 2010 8:03 pm

Derrick Brown really considered playing close to home in San Diego. Then he fell in love with Salt Lake City.

Brown on Sunday verbally committed to a football scholarship offer to the University of Utah, making him the third Vista Murrieta player to dot the Utes roster.

While the lineage is nice, Brown, the Broncos senior quarterback, said it had little to do with his decision. Rather, it was more the camp he attended two weeks ago and his interaction with Utah coaches that sold him on the campus.

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