Vista Murrieta's Sanchez also headed to SDSU

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."

Sanchez visited the campus in May, about the time when he was also fielding offers from Arizona and Colorado State. The interest in Sanchez ---- the Broncos' weakside defensive end ---- comes on the heals of a season in which he collected 83 tackles and five sacks for a Vista Murrieta team that rode its defense to the CIF Southern Section Inland Division championship game, where it lost a 13-7 decision to Chaparral.

The Broncos' linebackers and defensive backs ---- Ryan Hofmeister, Hayden Clegg, Eddie Lackey and John Hardy ---- got a lot of the credit during that run. A stout defensive line, however, freed those units up, with Sanchez leading the way.

"He was huge," said Eric Peterson, Vista Murrieta's former defensive coordinator. "If you ran at him and Hofmeister was on his side, you weren't going anywhere. (Sanchez) is a very technical player and he's really explosive."

Sanchez is the first Bronco to sign from a class that's expected to draw heavy interest. Already, quarterback Derrick Brown is sitting on three offers (Colorado State, San Diego State and Arizona), while running back/track star Jovonte Slater and wide receiver Michael Mazur are drawing heavy interest.

Sanchez, though, is happy to have the process behind him and the upcoming season all that's left on his plate, as far as football is concerned.

"That's why I committed so early ---- to focus on the season ahead," Sanchez said. "We got so close last year. To lose to Chaparral, that was pretty hard. ... Hopefully we can win the whole thing this year."