Class of 2014: The Legacies, Part Two
The Beautiful Baylor School Campus
Continuing now with a look at the "legacies" in the incoming class of 2014...
Remember, you can check the ever-growing list of all the feeder high schools on my bit feeder list here.
LB Eddie Hitchcock: Cretin-Derham Hall (St. Paul, MN)
Hitchcock has a good tradition to uphold as the second documented Cretin-Hall alum to come to Morningside Heights. The first was Brandon Bowser '06, a spectacular deep threat wide receiver who stood out during some lean times for the CU football program. Bowser always seemed to get open on deep patterns and as QB Craig Hormann '08 matured, Bowser was the top beneficiary. Bowser caught 51 passes in 2004 for 583 yards and 4 TD's. In 2005, he grabbed 44 passes for 684 yards and 7 TD's.
DL Brad Losee: Eastview HS (Apple Valley, MN)
Losee comes to Columbia from Eastview just after the only other Eastview grad to play here, Evan Sanford '10, graduated last month. Sanford was a fantastic center, especially his last two years on the varsity.
RB Griffin Lowry: St. Louis University HS (St. Louis, MO)
Lowry and current Lion Ben Evans '12, are the only SLU HS grads to play football for the Lions so far. Evans hasn't seen real playing time with the varsity yet, but he is a very good sized offensive lineman. We'll see if he breaks into the lineup this year.
DB Jeremy Mingo: Firestone HS (Akron, OH)
It's been a long time since Columbia brought in its only other player from Firestone, 31 years to be exact. That player was Ed Melian '83, an offensive tackle who didn't stick with the team after his sophomore year.
QB Chris Rapka: Cardinal Gibbons HS (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
Only one other Gibbons grad has played for CU, Nick Leone '88. Leone made a nice contribution to the '85 varsity with 21 pass receptions and 11 kickoff returns. But he left the team after the '86 season.
RB Sam Williams: Baylor School (Chattanooga, TN)
Williams is the second Baylor grad to come to the Lions. The first was kicker Sam Warren '02 who played all four years at Columbia and was 6 of 8 in field goal tries in his senior year of 2001.
OL Jimmy Yukevich: Palos Verders HS (Palos Verdes Estates, CA)
Not only is Yukevich the second Palos Verdes alum to come to Columbia, he's the second offensive lineman as well. His predecessor was Greg Pollowitz '92, a hard working tackle who gave his all for four years with the program.
posted by Jake @ 11:53:00 PM
5 comments
5 Comments:
Jake, any predictions on immediate impact type players? O does it do a disservice to these young men to "hype" a few of them up?
All three of our very talented incoming kickers have a chance of making an immediate impact. Paul Delaney of Loyola Academy was the first team All-State punter in Illinois and reportedly turned down preferred walk-on offers from Illinois, Purdue and Miami. He averaged 41 yards a kick in high school. Luke Eddy of Worcester Academy and Tyler Feely are also coming in with terrific credientials of their own. At least two of the incoming kickers have pro football connections. Tyler Feely is Jay's brother and Delaney was tutored by Chicago Bears' kicker Bob Parsons. Of course, the Lions have four returning kickers who started to come on strong towards the end of last season, so there should be some healthy competition for the top spots.
Who can put kick-offs into the end zone? It is a huge advantage is we can start playing defense from the 20 rather than the 40. If you look at last season, givng our opponents a short field was the largest contributing factor in those games which we lost.
Hopefully one of those kickers is a skilled field goal / extra point kicker. That area was still ugly at the spring game.
Was there a problem just with the kicking, or with the snapping, too? I think I remember that some of those snaps were impossible to catch then get a good kick. Maybe I'm thinking punting.
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