Football: Where are they now?

Barry Faulkner

For the first time in his eight-season NFL career, Corona del Mar

High product Jeff Thomason was a sure thing last season as a tight end

for the Philadelphia Eagles.

In his first season with the Eagles, after stops in Cincinnati and

Green Bay, where he played in two Super Bowls and collected a

championship ring, the former University of Oregon standout literally

produced positive results every time he touched the ball.

Though he made just 10 regular-season receptions, five produced

touchdowns. Furthermore, the Eagles were 8-0 in games Thomason caught a

pass, 6-0 in games he scored a touchdown, including a wild-card playoff

victory over Tampa Bay.

The 6-foot-5, 255-pound Thomason, who wears No. 83, played all 18

games for the Eagles, including five starts. Only All-Pro Tony Gonzalez

caught more touchdown passes among NFL tight ends last season.

Thomason brings 52 career receptions into Sunday’s season opener

against visiting St. Louis.

Meanwhile, in the collegiate ranks, several players are representing

Newport-Mesa high schools, including a pair of former Newport Harbor High

teammates who will reunite Saturday.

The reunion between Pete Hogan and Brant Hill, defensive ends for

Colorado State and Nevada, respectively, will occur when the Rams host

the Wolf Pack in Fort Collins.

Hogan (6-3, 255), opened his junior season Saturday, falling to

Colorado, 41-14. The returning second-team All-Mountain West selection,

however, made eight tackles against the Buffs and is expected to

contribute heavily for CSU. He wears No. 46.

Hill, a 6-4, 246-pound redshirt sophomore, is still stinging from his

team’s 52-7 season-opening loss to BYU. Hill started five games last

season, when he recorded 17 tackles, nine of which were solo. He owns

jersey No. 92.

Another former Sailor, Brett Baker, has already picked up as a senior

where he left off as a junior strong safety for Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

Baker, who set the school single-season record with 115 tackles last fall, made 13 tackles in the Division I-AA Mustangs’ 31-7 home loss to No. 2-ranked Montana, where 2001 Harbor graduate Alan Saenz is a freshman

defensive lineman.

Baker, who came into the season ranked seventh on the school’s

all-time tackles list, moved up to sixth with his strong performance

against the Grizzlies. With 235 career tackles, he is within striking

distance of Gary Swanson, who set the standard at 326 from 1981-84.

Baker was honorable mention All-American by one publication last year,

when he procured half of his career six interceptions. He also returns

punts for the Mustangs. Baker wears No. 32.

Cal Poly is also the home of former CdM standout Mike Hayes, who has

earned a starting job at outside linebacker as a sophomore. A 6-2,

210-pounder whose prep career was hampered by injuries, Hayes made five

tackles and returned an interception 28 yards against Montana. Hayes, who

wears No. 38, also had two pass deflections in the opener.

Former CdM star Ryan Cooper, a senior at Georgetown, started at safety

for the Hoyas in their 41-14 season-opening loss Saturday to Lehigh.

Cooper, who wears No. 1 and also returns punts, entered his swan song

campaign with 26 tackles and two career interceptions in 32 games. He

will return to Southern California Nov. 3, when the Hoyas visit the

University of San Diego for a 7 p.m. contest.

Most of the other Newport-Mesa products still playing are in the early

stages of their stays at their respective schools.

Former Newport Harbor and Orange Coast College punter Eddie Johnson is

a junior at Idaho State, while other former Tars still competing include

sophomore offensive lineman Robert Cole (Brown) and freshman outside

linebacker Andy Larkin (Dartmouth).

In addition to the aforementioned Saenz, the Newport-Mesa Defensive

Player of the Year the last two seasons as a middle linebacker, two

standouts from last year’s CIF Division VI runner-up have begun

collegiate careers as walk-ons.

Chris Manderino, last year’s Newport-Mesa MVP as a tailback and

outside linebacker, is attempting to garner the notice of coaches at UC

Berkeley.

Scott Lopez, a starting offensive tackle at Harbor, is a freshman

walk-on at Colorado.

Blair Jones, a star offensive tackle on the Sailors’ unbeaten 1999

Division VI champions, had a promising career at USC end, the victim of a

degenerative hip condition. The Trojans, however, will continue to honor

Jones’ scholarship.

The walk-on route is also being pursued by former CdM teammates Mike

Bergey and Grant Estabrook, who are waging the depth-chart battle at

Arizona State. Bergey is a safety and Estabrook a running back.

Former Sea King linemen Alex and Jay Bottom are walk-ons at USC, while

Eric Snell and Dave Richardson, who graduated last spring, have walked on

at Cal and UCLA, respectively.

Sean Fenton, a standout offensive tackle as a senior in 1999, is a

6-4, 265-pound sophomore lineman at Yale.

Justin Shea, a former walk-on at Colorado State, has returned to

Orange County to play at Saddleback Community College, where former CdM

linebacker Mark Hatfield is preparing for his second season as a Gaucho,

after electing not to attend the University of Utah, with which he signed

out of high school.

Former Sea Kings Tim Thurman and Seth Richardson, who had eligibility

remaining, have elected not to continue playing at Cal Poly SLO and

Dartmouth, respectively.

Costa Mesa High sent recent graduates Charlie Amburgey (Puget Sound)

and Scott Schepens (Chapman) into the Division III ranks and has a

handful of players at community colleges.

Jimmy Herzog, a former Mustang who completed his career at Santa

Margarita, has landed at Golden West College, where he is projected to

start as a freshman tailback.

Former all-district kicker Luis Avalos, as well as former Mesa

linebacker-receiver Shaun Ferryman, are listed as freshmen at OCC, where

recent Mesa graduate Alvin Nguyen is a greyshirt (the JC equivalent of a

redshirt).

James Dawkins, a former standout running back for Estancia who helped

OCC reach a bowl game last fall, was to continue at Florida A&M;, but is

not on the roster provided by the Rattlers’ Web site.

Former Eagles Kyle Westman, a defensive lineman, and Kenny Valbuena, a

quarterback, are freshmen at Orange Coast, where Danny Valbuena, Kenny’s

twin brother, is a greyshirt.

The OCC roster also includes recent Newport Harbor graduates Travis

Trimble, Nick Moghaddam and Mitch Gray, all of whom are freshmen hopefuls

for the Pirates. Trimble is projected to see plenty of time at fullback

and may start.