Seniors leave their mark on the Aztecs
By: MICHAEL KLITZING - Staff Writer | ∞
SAN DIEGO -- Twelve thousand three hundred sixty five yards.
That's more than seven miles; almost far enough, as the crow flies, to span the distance from Rancho Buena Vista High to La Costa Canyon to Carlsbad.
That's the combined offensive output of three North County products making their final appearance as members of the San Diego State football team today as the Aztecs close their season against No. 19 Brigham Young at Qualcomm Stadium at 3:30 p.m.
While senior day is a time to honor all 23 members of the Aztecs departing class, few made a bigger mark than Kevin O'Connell, Brandon Bornes and Brett Swain.
O'Connell, a La Costa Canyon High alumnus, enters the game as the team's leading passer. RBV's Bornes currently leads the squad in rushing. Swain comfortably paces all Aztecs receivers.
Call it a bit of affirmation for three key members of former coach Tom Craft's 2003 recruiting class.
"I sometimes tell some of the young guys around here (that) we came in and we had been the No. 1 recruiting class in the conference," O'Connell said. "People had kind of touted it as the first real solid recruiting class for Coach Craft. We came in with a little bit of an ego I think that we were going to be the ones.
"You go through four or five years together, and I think we still have those feelings about ourselves. But they might have changed a little bit along the way as we've learned about the real world of college football."
When the three arrived at San Diego State after their respective stellar prep careers, they didn't know each other well. O'Connell and Swain were aware of each other because of the Carlsbad-LCC crosstown rivalry and had met briefly at a couple of functions. Bornes played against Swain a few times, but they had never spoken.
Yet they would each grow up together as young adults in the Aztecs' offense.
"I'm going to miss them," Swain said. "They're lifelong friends that you're always going to have."
Bornes was really the first of the three to make an impact. With classmate Lynell Hamilton shut down because of lingering leg problems in 2004, the power runner led the Aztecs on the ground with 578 yards and six touchdowns. It would turn out to be his personal high-water mark.
Carries diminished over the next two years before he got another chance to carry the load as the featured back at the start of this season. After a strong start, Bornes was slowed midway through the year with a back injury and has never really looked the same since, eventually losing carries to redshirt freshman Brandon Sullivan.
Bornes, however, the president of San Diego State's chapter of the Christian organization Athletes in Action, hasn't spent much time pondering ill fortune.
"Tough season?" said the soft-spoken Bornes. "I count my blessings, not my curses."
O'Connell and Swain rave about the example Bornes has set for younger players.
"He deserves credit for building so much here," O'Connell said. "He's been an outstanding student, he organizes community and charity stuff. If there's ever been a guy that you look at as best of the overall when it comes to personal attributes as a guy that you just want to emulate, it's him."
Said Swain: "He works through his injuries, he works through everything. He doesn't complain to any of the coaches. To me that shows great character and great toughness."
Even though he had been a solid receiver as a sophomore and junior, Swain was the late bloomer of the bunch. This year he shed his tag as a possession receiver by snagging 48 passes for 875 yards, forcing teams to start double-teaming him toward the end of the year.
His signature game came in September against Portland State, as he hooked up with O'Connell on six grabs for 224 yards and three touchdowns.
"This whole season, with (Chaz Schilens') injury, he's been the go-to guy," O'Connell said "He's really relished it, and this whole season he's been outstanding for the offense. I don't know where we would have been without him."
And where would the Aztecs have been this season without O'Connell? The tall, mobile passer had started before, cracking the lineup as a redshirt freshman and starting every game as a sophomore. Yet this year, after bouncing back from a thumb injury that cost him much of 2006, he put the pieces together as a runner, passer and leader.
In conference play, he led the Aztecs on two game-winning touchdown marches in the waning minutes. He has thrown for a career-high 2,775 yards, and if he leads the team in rushing today -- he's only a yard behind Bornes heading in -- O'Connell will become the first Aztecs quarterback ever to lead the team in rushing for a season, according to records dating back to 1947.
"You can see when he's on the field when something goes wrong, he wants to make it right; he wants to hustle," Bornes said. "He has a heart for the game. That's what I admire about him in a football sense is his passion and a heart for the game."
The real world is what these three are preparing for now. O'Connell and Swain are set to graduate at the end of the semester, while Bornes has one more class to go in the spring before he's done.
Swain has already started the process of moving his things back to his parents' Carlsbad home where he'll prepare for the next phase in his life.
After today, this chapter will be finished but for the memories.
"The friendships that have been created are lifelong," O'Connell said. "I think being local guys -- not just North County, but San Diego County guys -- we feel like we all have nothing to regret. We're all happy with our decisions, and we've all gotten the most out of this situation that we've been in as players.
"I don't see another school in the country that I could have gone to and be sitting here today the type of human being and the type of player I am."
Contact staff writer Michael Klitzing at (760) 740-6643 or mrklitzing@gmail.com.
AZTECS vs. Brigham Young
Aztecs on offense
Chaz Schilens has put together two of the finest consecutive weeks by an Aztecs wide receiver since the days of Jeff Webb. One more like that and the senior would really go out on a high note. RB Brandon Sullivan is hobbled by a case of turf toe, meaning the opportunity is there to give seniors Brandon Bornes and Lynell Hamilton one last day in the sun. The Cougars are ranked No. 9 in the nation in total defense and don't have one particular weakness to exploit. Statistically, it appears to be most vulnerable -- if you could even call it that -- against the pass, though that's probably because its opponents are always trying to play catch up.
ADVANTAGE: Brigham Young
Aztecs on defense
Star freshman RB Harvey Unga must've felt like a kid on Christmas Eve this week with the knowledge he's about to face a team that has allowed 945 yards rushing over its past two games. It will be interesting to see how long BYU sticks with QB Max Hall if he takes a shot or two. He played last week with an injured throwing shoulder, and coach Bronco Mendenhall would undoubtedly like to have him healthy for a bowl game. Aztecs S Ray Bass needs seven tackles to reach 100 for the season, while LB Luke Laolagi needs 11. LB Russell Allen already has 110 to rank second in the conference.
ADVANTAGE: Brigham Young
Special teams
On senior day, the Aztecs should be appreciative of how good they've had it for the past four years with P Michael Hughes, PK Garrett Palmer and LS Tyler Schmitt. As a unit, the team continued its late-season trend of making plays on special teams last week, forcing a key fumble on a kick return. BYU's Austin Collie and Bryce Mahuika have both been dangerous on kickoff returns, averaging more than 23 yards per attempt.
ADVANTAGE: San Diego State
What to expect
BYU has reclaimed its old perch as the cream of the crop in the Mountain West Conference and could even find itself in a Bowl Championship Series game if this most wacky of college football seasons takes another bizarre twist today. Most likely, though, the Cougars are just playing to maintain perfection and stay healthy for the Las Vegas Bowl. They haven't lost a conference game in over two years and haven't lost a conference road game since their last visit to Qualcomm Stadium in 2005. That -- as well as a crowd that could be predominantly pro-BYU -- should be enough motivation for a team that has already clinched the conference title to maintain its intensity for one more day.
PICK: Brigham Young 35, San Diego State 17
Probable starting lineups
SDSU OFFENSE
WR 1 Chaz Schilens 6-4 225 Sr.
LT 76 Will Robinson 6-6 280 Sr.
LG 62 Brandyn Dombrowski 6-6 330 Sr.
C 50 Trask Iosefa 6-0 300 Fr.
LG 77 Mike Schmidt 6-2 310 Jr.
RT 70 Mike Kravetz 6-5 300 Sr.
TE 81 Steve Schmidt 6-5 250 Sr.
WR 4 Darren Mougey 6-6 225 Jr.
WR 16 Brett Swain 6-1 200 Sr.
QB 7 Kevin O'Connell 6-6 235 Sr.
RB 37 Brandon Bornes 6-1 225 Sr.
PK 14 Garrett Palmer 6-3 190 Sr.
SDSU DEFENSE
DE 92 Siaosi Fifita 6-4 250 Jr.
DT 91 Ornan Nwansi 6-2 305 Sr.
DE 94 Nick Osborn 6-4 260 Sr.
RE 90 B.J. Williams 6-3 230 Fr.
WLB 32 Andrew Preston 6-1 220 Fr.
MLB 35 Luke Laolagi 6-1 230 So.
SLB 46 Russell Allen 6-3 235 Jr.
CB 43 Aaron Moore 6-0 190 So.
FS 40 Corey Boudreaux 6-1 220 Sr.
SS 20 Ray Bass 6-0 195 Sr.
CB 6 Vonnie Holmes 6-0 170 Jr.
P 17 Michael Hughes 6-1 195 Sr.
BYU OFFENSE
WR 9 Austin Collie 6-2 212 So.
LT 65 Dallas Reynolds 6-5 328 Jr.
LG 76 Ray Feigna 6-5 322 Jr.
C 67 Sete Aulai 6-1 297 Sr.
RG 74 Travis Bright 6-5 320 Jr.
RT 68 David Oswald 6-8 325 Jr.
TE 32 Dennis Pitta 6-5 230 So.
WR 3 Michael Reed 6-1 202 Jr.
QB 15 Max Hall 6-1 200 So.
RB 11 Manase Tonga 6-0 234 Jr.
HB 45 Harvey Unga 6-0 221 Fr.
PK 38 Mitch Payne 6-2 201 Fr.
BYU DEFENSE
DE 84 Jan Jorgensen 6-3 260 So.
DT 55 Eathyn Manumaleuna 6-2 280 Fr.
DE 77 Ian Dulan 6-1 270 So.
WLB 43 David Nixon 6-3 223 Jr.
BLB 36 Markell Staffieri 6-3 232 Sr.
MLB 46 Kelly Poppinga 6-2 240 Sr.
SLB 41 Bryan Kehl 6-3 231 Sr.
CB 21 Ben Criddle 6-0 185 Sr.
FS 16 Kellen Fowler 6-0 195 Jr.
KAT 14 Corby Hodgkiss 5-11 206 Sr.
CB 34 Kayle Buchanan 6-1 201 Sr.
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jack wrote on Dec 1, 2007 3:47 PM:congrats seniors, and to Tom C. for bringing them on board. Had Tom been allowed his contractual right, these guys might have done some real damage these past couple of years. Should have all jelled together by now.
Curtis wrote on Dec 2, 2007 6:13 PM:Jack is very correct. After what we have seen lately, it is clear that Tom Craft was one heck of a coach. Maybe we can get rid of the athletic director and bring Tom and his son back to SDSU.
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