When Courtland Thompson initially was being courted to play
football for Lewis
&
amp; Clark University, and specifically by the school’s
offensive line coach Ian Falconer, he probably didn’t even know
about nearby Pacific University.
After all, the Division III school in Forest Grove, Ore., hadn’t
had a football program in 19 years, and only recently announced a
return to the gridiron in May 2009.
HOLLISTER
When Courtland Thompson initially was being courted to play football for Lewis & Clark University, and specifically by the school’s offensive line coach Ian Falconer, he probably didn’t even know about nearby Pacific University.
After all, the Division III school in Forest Grove, Ore., hadn’t had a football program in 19 years, and only recently announced a return to the gridiron in May 2009.
But when Falconer called Thompson one day to notify him of his new coaching position at Pacific, the San Benito right tackle suddenly was in the mix with an upstart program that will not only celebrate its first season of football since 1991, but also its 100th year of play in Forest Grove.
“He called me and said, ‘News flash, we’re still interested in you,'” Thompson said of Falconer, who will take over the offensive line duties at Pacific under head coach Keith Buckley, a Milpitas native who recently spent the last four seasons at UC Davis, including the last two seasons as assistant coach.
Thompson, meanwhile, jumped at the chance to play for the Boxers in the fall. Although the program has 99 years of football in the books, the chance to start a new chapter at the school intrigued the 6-foot-3, 295-pound tackle.
“I think it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be starting for a new football program, starting traditions instead of following traditions that have been set before,” said Thompson, who started for the Balers’ offensive line last fall, and who just recently graduated from San Benito High.
Thompson was also looking at Butte Community College in Oroville, nearby Menlo College in Atherton, as well as Lewis & Clark in Portland, Ore., which was the initial front-runner before Falconer switched allegiances to Pacific.
“I’m able to go to a football program that’s starting from the ground up,” Thompson said.
“I do think we’ll have a rough start. But we’ll work through it. We’ve just got to find ourselves and find our rhythm.”
As will the program itself, which scrapped operations in February 1992 after a lack of funds, among other reasons, prevented the sport from moving forward.
The Boxers will play in the Northwest Conference against other member schools like Willamette, Puget Sound, Lewis & Clark and Menlo, where fullback Nick Acosta, a first-team selection for the Balers last season, is expected to attend.
Linfield is considered the powerhouse of the bunch, though, having won four national titles and boasting 54 consecutive winning seasons — the most at any level in the NCAA.
“We just need to be the strongest and fittest we’ve ever been to compete with these guys,” said Thompson, who, having played on the varsity team since he was a sophomore, is used to going up against players bigger and more experienced.
“The players we’ll be up against will probably be three or four years older, but I’m looking forward to it,” he added. “Ever since I was a sophomore on varsity, I’ve been playing against players older than me. But a lot of it has to do with mindset and work ethic.”
Thompson only played O-line at San Benito, but he may have the chance to line up on the opposite side of the ball at Pacific, which certainly intrigued the right tackle.
Of course, a spot on the defensive line would allow Thompson to line up opposite his former teammate in Nick Acosta; Menlo and Pacific will meet up in the regular-season finale on Nov. 13 in Atherton.
Said Thompson, “That will be fun hitting him.”
