Joe Kawulok, from Boulder’s Monarch High School (CSU photo)
Of the 23 players Colorado State lists as position starters (including co-starters at wide receiver), six are from Colorado high schools. A seventh key player, placekicker Jared Roberts, walked on as a sophomore in 2012, and he’s from Littleton and Mullen High.
The six starters from Colorado high schools:
— Center Jake Bennett, a redshirt freshman from Lakewood and Bear Creek High.
— Tackle Sam Carlson, a redshirt junior from Wellington who attended Poudre High in Fort Collins.
— H back/tight end Kivon Cartwright, a redshirt senior from Pueblo and Pueblo South High. (He is considered “questionable” because of an ankle injury.)
— Wide receiver Joe Hansley, a junior from Highlands Ranch High.
— Middle linebacker Max Morgan, a senior from Greeley West.
— Defensive end Joe Kawulok, a redshirt junior from Boulder and Monarch High. Yes … Boulder.
Kawulok is the third member of his family to play for the Rams, following brothers Chris (a tight end) and Mike (linebacker).
“I grew up in Boulder and always was a CU fan,” Kawulok said this week. “Then Chris committed here as a tight end and since then, my family’s all been CSU fans.
In addition, CSU senior tackle Ty Sambrailo, though a Californian, has Colorado connections. His father, Mark, and brother, Erik, both are CU graduates, and his mother, Karen, is a graduate of the University of Denver. Ty has said his dad, who was a pole vaulter for the Buffaloes, roots for CU all but one day of the year, and the Sambrailo clan will be at the game Friday.
“He’s got a nice Sambrailo 51 Rams jersey he’ll probably be wearing,” Ty said of his dad. “I think we have four of those and my brother’s coming and he’ll be wearing one of those as well. I think the Sambrailo family is full Rams now.”
Terry Frei: tfrei@denverpost.com or twitter.com/TFrei
