One of the main goals of Gavilan’s football program is to help its athletes achieve athletic scholarships to play at the next level. Seeing as nine out of the 13 sophomore Rams have done this, it’s safe to say that Gavilan is on the right track.
“It’s always a goal to teach our new student athletes how to become college student athletes and prepare them for moving on to the next level,” Rams coach Spencer Gilford said. “It’s always going to be a goal every year to get all of our guys moved on.”
The Rams players will attend schools across the country across a multitude of divisions and conferences.
Quarterback Omar Kharroub is one such player. He will attend Northeastern State University, a Division II school in Oklahoma.
“It’s a good school, it’s just different from here,” Kharroub said. “I just love football. I don’t care where I go to play, I just have to change my lifestyle a little bit. I’m just preparing the same way though, working hard, keeping in shape and getting ready to win a championship with the team I’m going to be with. That’s basically what I’m doing, just preparing and working hard.”
Jeff Smith will also head out to Oklahoma to play D-II football at Southeastern Oklahoma State University. Also playing in D-II programs are Armond Henderson, who will play at Lindenwood University in Missouri, and Ricky Jones who will attend Concordia University in West Virginia.
Ed Bernard will take the field for Louisiana College — a D-III school — while Terrence Keys and Shawn Paul will play at Belhaven University, a NAIA school in Mississippi.
Two Rams will play for NAIA schools this fall in the Midwest. Danny Miranda will attend Trinity International University in Illinois, while Joel Rueda will head to Iowa to play at Waldorf College.
Rueda said that Waldorf seemed like the perfect fit — especially after his experiences at Sobrato and Gavilan.
“It’s a rebuilding program and that’s kind of one of the things that appealed to me,” the defensive lineman said. “In high school and junior high I was part of a rebuilding program. I went high school at Sobrato and they just won a championship last year, went deep in the playoffs. We won the games (at Gavilan) that we did in a long time and beat one of our rivals, San Jose City, and I’m hoping I can have the same kind of effect over there. Hopefully I can go in right away and compete for a spot.”
