Published: Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Quartet of Lake Stevens football players all sign with Central
Vikings QB Jake Nelson, LB Korey Young and WRs Brady Pahukoa and Christian Gasca will play together for one more season
-
Courtesy photo
Lake Stevens football players (from left) linebacker Korey Young, quarterback Jake Nelson, and wide receivers Brady Pahukoa and Christian Gasca pose for a photo recently. All four signed letters of intent to play for Central Washington University.
LAKE STEVENS -- They started out as childhood friends in Lake Stevens. As Christian Gasca recalls, he first met Korey Young in kindergarten, and then came to know Jake Nelson and Brady Pahukoa in the next year or two.
And now their lives will intersect for at least another few years.
Gasca, Young, Nelson and Pahukoa, four captains on the Lake Stevens High School football team that reached the Class 4A state semifinals last fall, have committed to play at Central Washington University. With their families, school officials and other acquaintances looking on, the four young men sat at adjoining tables in the high school library and signed national letters-of-intent to CWU.
Such ceremonies are always special for high school athletes, but to share the event with each other was "an amazing feeling," Young said.
For a complete list of the players who signed National Letters of Intent on Wednesday, click here
"Words can't even describe it," he added. "It really is a dream come true, and I'm just happy to share it with three of my best friends."
"I grew up with these three guys," Gasca said. "I've known them forever, and now it's crazy that we're all going to the same school. … I know we're going to hang out (in college). We get on each other's nerves sometimes, but at the end of the day we love each other."
The four players were the core of a Lake Stevens team that went undefeated through the season's first 12 games before losing in the semis to Skyview, 38-14, at the Tacoma Dome. Nelson is a 6-foot-2, 195-pound quarterback, Pahukoa (6-4, 205) and Gasca (5-10, 180) are wide receivers, and Young (6-1, 225) is an inside linebacker.
"It's very unique to have four guys who are good enough to play at the next level all from one high school," said CWU head coach Blaine Bennett. "It's certainly a first for us, and it's something we're very excited about."
The four players will all receive partial scholarships. All are likely to redshirt their first seasons.
Of the four, Nelson was the first to commit to the Wildcats. After passing for approximately 6,600 yards and 59 touchdowns in three seasons as a Lake Stevens starter, he had recruiting nibbles from schools like Idaho and Montana, but CWU was the first to offer a scholarship.
"Jake is a great quarterback and I think he'll fit well into our system," said Bennett, who coaches the team's quarterbacks. "And he helped us (recruit) the other three. He came in first and was very excited to work in our system."
Bennett also has ties to Korey Young's father, Daryn Young, because the two men were teammates at Idaho in the early 1980s.
Among the beaming onlookers Wednesday was longtime Lake Stevens football coach Tom Tri.
"I'm just super proud of each one of these guys for individual reasons and for everything they did for Viking football," Tri said. "The legacy they're leaving behind will last for years to come.
"I'm sad to see them go, but I'm really excited about what's ahead for them," he said.
No one knows what the coming years will bring, of course, but the four players expect their college careers to tighten the already existing bonds between them.
"We're pretty much together for life now," Gasca said. "A lot of people say that you lose friends after high school and that you make your best friends in college. But there's no way we're going to part ways after college. We're going to be friends our whole lives."
"We have a strong relationship now," Young agreed, "and I can't even imagine how much stronger it'll be in these next couple of years."
And now their lives will intersect for at least another few years.
Gasca, Young, Nelson and Pahukoa, four captains on the Lake Stevens High School football team that reached the Class 4A state semifinals last fall, have committed to play at Central Washington University. With their families, school officials and other acquaintances looking on, the four young men sat at adjoining tables in the high school library and signed national letters-of-intent to CWU.
Such ceremonies are always special for high school athletes, but to share the event with each other was "an amazing feeling," Young said.
For a complete list of the players who signed National Letters of Intent on Wednesday, click here
"Words can't even describe it," he added. "It really is a dream come true, and I'm just happy to share it with three of my best friends."
"I grew up with these three guys," Gasca said. "I've known them forever, and now it's crazy that we're all going to the same school. … I know we're going to hang out (in college). We get on each other's nerves sometimes, but at the end of the day we love each other."
The four players were the core of a Lake Stevens team that went undefeated through the season's first 12 games before losing in the semis to Skyview, 38-14, at the Tacoma Dome. Nelson is a 6-foot-2, 195-pound quarterback, Pahukoa (6-4, 205) and Gasca (5-10, 180) are wide receivers, and Young (6-1, 225) is an inside linebacker.
"It's very unique to have four guys who are good enough to play at the next level all from one high school," said CWU head coach Blaine Bennett. "It's certainly a first for us, and it's something we're very excited about."
The four players will all receive partial scholarships. All are likely to redshirt their first seasons.
Of the four, Nelson was the first to commit to the Wildcats. After passing for approximately 6,600 yards and 59 touchdowns in three seasons as a Lake Stevens starter, he had recruiting nibbles from schools like Idaho and Montana, but CWU was the first to offer a scholarship.
"Jake is a great quarterback and I think he'll fit well into our system," said Bennett, who coaches the team's quarterbacks. "And he helped us (recruit) the other three. He came in first and was very excited to work in our system."
Bennett also has ties to Korey Young's father, Daryn Young, because the two men were teammates at Idaho in the early 1980s.
Among the beaming onlookers Wednesday was longtime Lake Stevens football coach Tom Tri.
"I'm just super proud of each one of these guys for individual reasons and for everything they did for Viking football," Tri said. "The legacy they're leaving behind will last for years to come.
"I'm sad to see them go, but I'm really excited about what's ahead for them," he said.
No one knows what the coming years will bring, of course, but the four players expect their college careers to tighten the already existing bonds between them.
"We're pretty much together for life now," Gasca said. "A lot of people say that you lose friends after high school and that you make your best friends in college. But there's no way we're going to part ways after college. We're going to be friends our whole lives."
"We have a strong relationship now," Young agreed, "and I can't even imagine how much stronger it'll be in these next couple of years."
Story tags »
• Lake Stevens High School • High School FootballRelated
- Lakewood's Stanton, Jones sign to Oregon State, Eastern Washington 2/1/12
- Russell makes it official: He's an Irish 2/1/12
- Lakewood lineman earns scholarship after just one year of play 2/1/12
- Washington State's Leach signs 28 players in his first recruiting class 2/1/12
- Ohio State, Michigan among schools giving recruits four-year scholarships 2/1/12
- National signing day: Alabama's Saban has good day 2/1/12
- Arlington's McPherson commits to play with Army 2/1/12
- List of National Letter of Intent signees 1/30/12
Photo galleries» More galleries
Comments
(
