Five San Juan Hills Athletes Sign National Letters of Intent

Last fall brought many firsts for the San Juan Hills High football team. It was the first time the Stallions had seniors leading the way on the field, which helped to produce the school's first winning season, as well as its first postseason experience.

Wednesday afternoon in the Athletic Conference Room on the campus of San Juan Hills, the Stallions football program introduced another first -- its inaugural class of outgoing NCAA athletes.

Three football players took part in National Letter of Intent Day: wide receivers Michael Perryman and Connor O'Modhrain, who will play for Montana State and Wingate, respectively, and Air Force-bound offensive lineman Ari Uzo-Okereke.

"It means a lot to me to have my education paid for and to get to do what I love for four more years," Perryman said. "But I think it means a lot for the teachers who are still going to be here, and the coaches who will still be here, [Principal Tom] Ressler, and the athletic director [Armando Gonzalez], to be able to say, 'You know what? We're just like all the other schools in this community, we can send kids to college too.' Which, hopefully, will bring in more athletes."

Perryman led the Stallions with 55 catches for 1,040 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2010, good for a yards-per-catch average of 18.91 and per-game average of 104. After a long and stressful recruiting process, Perryman says he's relieved to have finally made his choice and he's ecstatic to be headed to Montana State, which is one of two big-time shows in the Big Sky State, the other being the Montana Grizzlies.

"I love the fact that [Bozeman] is a real college town," Perryman said. "The whole state of Montana backs either the Grizzlies or the Bobcats, so the football community is huge. It's an intense rivalry and something they take very seriously."

Perryman says depending on how training camp goes, he could push for serious playing time right out of the gate at Montana State. Uzo-Okereke, on the other hand, already knows he won't be playing for Air Force in the fall.

Instead, the long and athletic tackle will attend an Air Force prep academy his first year away from home, which will prepare him to possibly start as soon as he suits up for the Falcons in his second season.

Uzo-Okereke said the over abundance of phone calls and e-mails were at times stressful to deal with, but that overall, he enjoyed the recruiting process.

"I'm glad I've made my decision," he said. "Air Force has a beautiful campus. I really like all of the coaches. They have great facilities and an even better education, so I'm confident I made the right choice."

Air Force is different from most universities in that it requires military service after school is over, but Uzo-Okereke is looking forward to the challenge, as well as the disciplined lifestyle at the military academy, which he says fits his personality well.

Like Uzo-Okereke with Colorado Springs, O'Modhrain fell in love with the vibe of Wingate University when he took his official visit.

In 2010, O'Madhrain rushed for 294 yards on 63 carries (4.67 ypc) and scored two touchdowns, and caught 11 passes for 98 yards in helping lead the Stallions to a 7-4 record and a third-place finish in the Sea View League.

"It was a dream of mine to play college football ever since I was little, so to realize that dream now, it's pretty cool," O'Modhrain said.

O'Modhrain said he garnered attention from a number of schools ranging from Division II to NAIA, but in the end a little prayer teamed with a touch of patience made the difference.

"At Wingate, just stepping on that campus, without even meeting any of those guys, I just knew that it was the right place for me," he said. "I like North Carolina as a state, and it's right outside of Charlotte, so that will give me an opportunity to intern there for sports broadcasting."

Academics weighed heavily into O'Modhrain's decision, and he said the combination of a chance to play football and an opportunity to receive a top-notch education was too much to pass up.

"I think I may redshirt," he said of his first season at Wingate. "But you never know, a lot depends on camp."

Joining the football players at Wednesday's signing day ceremony were twins Eric and Owen Taylor, who had previously inked with Sacramento State to play golf.

The Taylor brothers helped lead the San Juan Hills boys golf team to its first-ever playoff appearance, where Eric, who will study psychology in college, finished his season in the second round of the Southern California Championships. Owen, who plans on studying business, finished his season at the Southern Section Tournament.