EL SOBRANTE, CA – It’s called Nike’s The Opening Regionals Oakland but the location is actually at the beautiful and fairly new football and track facility at De Anza High.
It was 21st year of the Nike Football’s The Opening Regionals and the second straight year for De Anza after it was moved from Stanford after many years there because the NCAA banned colleges and universities from holding these kinds of events, and then moved to San Leandro High, Laney College in Oakland, and then Chabot College in Hayward.
This year’s edition of 200 boys that gathered last Sunday could care less where it is or what its called because they were there vying for MVP honors at seven different positions and for invites to Nike’s The Opening Nationals in July at Nike Headquarters in Beaverton, Ore.
Despite the fact that two-thirds of the participants were from California with the majority of those boys from Northern California, only three California players were awarded as a position MVP although at the end three more Californians joined them when they got a golden envelope with an invite inside to Oregon in July.
The bottom line is with the top players from Arizona, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and even Canada and beyond joining the California boys competing for top honors, the competition was immense and intense.
The only Northern California player to garner an MVP was big Will Craig of Granite Bay. The 6-5, 265-pound Craig was named the MVP for offensive lineman.
“It was great to come in here and compete with the top offensive linemen and come out on top,” Craig said.
“The key was believing in myself and I think ‘the punch’ put me over the top,” continued Craig, who has offers from Arizona, Arizona State, Cal, Colorado, Nebraska, Oregon, Oregon State, Syracuse, UCLA, Utah and Washington State, plus others.
“The Punch” is a drill to see how an offensive lineman can defend in one-on-ones when the defensive lineman is trying to get to a blocking dummy and deliver a punch to the dummy.
He wasn’t the MVP for defensive backs because that honor went to 6-2, 180-pound Nebraska-committed 2018 class Chase Williams of Roosevelt-Eastvale (Fresno area), but because of the same hard work that earned him over 20 major college offers, including one from Oregon he accepted, 6-1, 180-pound 2018 class Jevon Holland of Bishop O’Dowd got an envelope inviting him to The Opening Nationals, and not every position MVP gets an envelope.
“Jevon is a great player for us and I had no doubt he would get an invite,” said Bishop O’Dowd Coach and former Oakland Raiders running back Napoleon Kaufman who works for The Opening as one of two running backs coaches.
Besides Holland this year’s invites from California included Williams who got one but as an “athlete,” 2018 class defensive back Steve Stephens of Edison-Fresno and 2018 class defensive back Stephen Blaylock of St. John Bosco-Bellflower.
The other four position MVPs were Dylan Morris from Graham-Kapowsin (Washington) for quarterbacks, Gunner Romney from Chandler (Arizona) for wide receivers, Ja’tai Jenkins from Verrado (Arizona) for running backs and Kukea Emmsley from Kapolei (Hawaii) for defensive line. Linebacker Brandon Kaho of Reno High (Nevada) had the top SPARQ rating of the day and also received an invite to Oregon in July.
Kaufman also had his own running back at De Anza, and while 2019 class Austin Jones didn’t get an MVP award or an invite he was impressive and made the top group of running backs when they divide the positions into skill-level groups. Jones also scored the final touchdown of the one-on-ones with the linebackers against one of the top linebackers from Hawaii who wasn’t too happy.
“I thought Austin had a really good showing,” Kaufman remarked.
When we talked to Jones before his competition began we asked him his obvious goals for the day and what it’s like playing for a former NFL running back.
“Playing for coach is great because he knows what it’s like to be a running back. My goal today is to compete and show them what I can do, and get an invite,” said Jones, who as a sophomore last season rushed for 1,967 yards and 27 TDs, and who already has offers from Oregon, Oregon State, San Jose State, UCLA, Utah and Washington, with interest from Cal and Penn State plus others.
With Holland and Jones as defensive and offensive linchpins on what is looking like a loaded O’Dowd roster, the defending CIFNCS Division III and CIF NorCal and state 5-AA Bowl Game champions are looking even better than last year.
“We’re going to be very good,” Kaufman said succinctly but in a humble tone.
For Kaufman, who also is the Oakland Raiders Team Chaplain, working at The Opening for four years including this one gives him a chance to do the same thing for other running backs that he’s done for Jones, plus more.
“For me I get a chance to travel all over the country and coach up these kids and pour into their lives a little of the expertise I have in the running back position,” said Kaufman, who before he was a Raider and University of Washington star, was the 1990 Cal-Hi Sports Mr. Football State Player of the Year as a senior at Lompoc.
“The second thing is for my own program I see what’s out there,” continued Kaufman. “I come home and can be realistic when I tell my players the things kids across the country do to improve and get to the highest level.”
Another running back that impressed Kaufman and is high on the radar screens of all the top analysts we talked with is 2020 class Kendall Milton of Buchanan-Clovis. Even with calves that looked like tree trunks he still showed explosive moves combined with smoothness. The 6-1, 200-pounder already has offers from Brigham Young, Fresno State, Oregon State, San Jose State and UCLA.
Some other Bay Area and NorCal players that looked good but that did not get recognized other than making the top group were 6-5, 300-pound class of 2018 San Ramon Valley-Danville offensive lineman Blake McDonald. The UCLA-commit was sought out by several analysts for an interview.
Marin Catholic-Kentfield class of 2018 quarterback Spencer Petras made the top group and looked much improved over last season, particularly with his foot speed and movement in the pocket. The 6-5, 207-pound pro style quarterback with a rocket for an arm has offers from Cal, Colorado State, Cornell, Fresno State, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon State, San Diego State, Syracuse and Wyoming, plus others.
“Spencer ran track and did the 330 high hurdles, the 100 and the 4 x 100. That really helped him improve his speed and footwork,” said Marin Catholic Coach Mazi Moayed. “He’s mentally tougher and showing a lot more maturity too.”
D’Marcus Ross, a 5-10, 218-pound class of 2019 running back and safety from Capital Christian-Sacramento that played well in the Cougars 24-21 loss to O’Dowd in the NorCal 5-AA Bowl Game, showed some nifty moves to go with his compact powerful frame.
A player that caught the eye of quite a few analysts is Kenneth Fitzgerald. After starting out at Casa Grande-Petaluma and then transferring to Marin Catholic and then back to Casa Grande where he sat out last season, the 6-1, 237-pound running back looks like he could be pretty tough to bring down in the Redwood Empire this season.
The CIFCCS had quite a few participants but we did not see anyone other than one player that stood out while we observed them or were raved about by analysts. That one player that showed some slick moves in the one-on-ones was class of 2018 Woodside Priory-Portola Valley running back Keyshawn Ashford.
Once the complete results of the Oakland Regional are published later this week we will have a follow up with any NorCal Boys that made some marks. The Oakland Regional is the last of 11 Regionals where players try to get invited to Oregon in July. Results of the first 10 Regionals can be found on TheOpening.com
Najee and Banks sightings
Two players that made their marks in the 2016 Oakland Regional were on hand. Former Antioch star Najee Harris, who is already enrolled at Alabama, was there with his little brother in tow. When he feigned like he wanted to get into the one-on-ones with the linebackers everyone roared.
“After spring requirements they allow us to come home for a while,” Harris said.
Aaron Banks, the 6-7, 315-pound offensive lineman from El Cerrito that is at Notre Dame now was back with a cast of his right hand after breaking right his right thumb and wrist in practice. Banks told Prep2Prep he hopes to be back in action in July. Meanwhile, he’s conditioning and studying. His little brother, 6-2, 320-pound class of 2019 two-way El Cerrito lineman Frankie Banks was there as a defensive lineman.
