A year ago, Douglas County in Castle Rock surprisingly had two football recruits give verbal commitments to the Division I-A level prior to preseason practice.
Tight end Steve Fendry and defensive lineman Eric Lawson pledged to the University of Colorado, then the Huskies, who were futile for more than a century, went on to win the Class 5A championship, one of the state’s most storied runs.
As the defending titlist entering 2006, similar karma appears in the offing – Douglas County had two recruits pledge to local schools over the past week. Linebacker Luke Diehl has committed to Colorado State, and offensive lineman Ethan Adkins has selected CU.
“They wanted to get it out of the way,” Douglas County coach Jeff Ketron said Tuesday. “They saw the way it went last year and you can take a pounding in recruiting, stuff like that … here’s two kids who made their decisions and want to concentrate on winning another championship.”
Diehl (6-foot-2, 210 pounds) was 5A all-state honorable mention by The Denver Post in 2005 and a key member of the defense that helped the Huskies reel off 13 consecutive wins after dropping the opener.
Adkins (6-4, 280) was prominent in the seven-player rotation up front on offense a year ago, a group that led the way to more than 5,000 yards of offense.
To date, Diehl joins Loveland lineman Steve Collins as CSU’s early in-state pledges. Adkins, Mullen lineman Shawn Daniels and Northglenn athlete Anthony Perkins are CU’s initial local recruits.
