ONE FINAL CHANCE FOR PAIR OF PIRATES
The Black Knights of the Hudson were all dressed up, but had nowhere to go.
At 9-2 and winner of the Commander-in-Chief ’s Trophy with victories over Navy and Air Force, the Army football team was ticketed to play in the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La.
But with dozens of teams — including USC, Stanford and San Diego State — opting out of bowl games because of COVID-19 concerns, the Black Knights were left with no one to play.
That seemingly meant the end of glorious careers for former Oceanside High standouts Amadeo West and JB Hunter.
Then Tennessee pulled out of the Liberty Bowl, and Army was quickly plugged in to play West Virginia (5-4) on Thursday (1 p.m., ESPN).
“We had guys in tears,” Army coach Jeff Monken told the Army Football Network when he informed the team of the Independence Bowl being scrubbed. “We pulled off the biggest wins of these seniors’ career, they just won the Commanderin-Chief ’s Trophy that’s going to be their legacy, and they’re looking forward to playing in a bowl game before they go off in the United States Army, and we’re sitting here telling them, ‘Sorry, guys, you can’t play.’
“The bottom line is there were enough people who kept saying, ‘ No, we don’t want to play Army, we don’t want to play Army. And I’m sure they don’t want to have one week to get ready for the option offense or whatever, but our players, we’ve got guys on our team that wouldn’t be invited as walkons to the teams we’re getting ready to play.”
Now West, a team captain, and Hunter will get one more start.
West, a defensive end, has 28 tackles, six tackles for a loss, two sacks and a pass breakup. He was in the spotlight in the Army-Navy game when he had a key stop on third down late in the game as Army made a goal-line stand.
He’s a semifinalist for the
Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year, a Senior CLASS Award Candidate and was on the Lott Trophy Watch List.
Hunter, who starts at right tackle, was a Phil Steele All-Independent second-team selection this season.
JT Penick, a sophomore linebacker from St. Augustine, has played in six games for Army and has three tackles.
Freshman quarterback Delshawn Traylor (Helix) did not play in a game.
Senior defensive back Scottie Young (Helix) is redshirting at West Virginia after transferring from Arizona, where he was a threeyear starter and had 157 tackles and five interceptions.
Bowls to watch
With the bowl season re
duced this season, there are only a handful of local players in the postseason.
Rose Bowl: Alabama vs. Notre Dame, 1 p.m. Friday, ESPN
Senior quarterback J.D. Carney (Cathedral Catholic) has played in two games for the Irish — vs. Syracuse and South Florida.
Sugar Bowl: Clemson vs. Ohio State, 5 p.m. Friday, ESPN
Junior receiver Chris Olave (Mission Hills) has 36 catches for 528 yards and five TDs for Ohio State. He didn’t play against Northwestern in the Big Ten championship game as a number of Buckeyes were held out over COVID-19 concerns. It’s hopeful he’ll play against Clemson in the second CFP semifinal.
Outback Bowl: Indiana vs. Mississippi, 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Ch. 10
Sophomore Jack Tuttle (Mission Hills) will start at quarterback for Indiana. After transferring from Oregon, Tuttle was backing up Michael Penix. But Penix was hurt and Tuttle stepped in and led the Hoosiers to a Big Ten win over Wisconsin. Indiana had a game against Purdue canceled twice, so Tuttle enters the Outback Bowl having completed 18 of 27 passes for 161 yards with no interceptions and a pair of TDs.
Fiesta Bowl: Oregon vs. Iowa State, 1 p.m. Saturday, ESPN
Junior running back CJ Verdell (Mater Dei Catholic) is a big part of Oregon’s offense with 65 rushes for 285 yards and three TDs. He also has nine receptions for 96 yards. Linebacker Sampson Niu (Helix) is on the Oregon roster, but sat out this season for personal reasons.
Orange Bowl: Texas A&M vs. North Carolina, 5 p.m. Saturday, ESPN
Defensive back Donald Chapman (Lincoln) has had a big year for North Carolina. Playing in 10 games for the Tar Heels, he has 47 tackles, a pair of sacks, two pass breakups and an interception.
Wrapping it up
BYU senior defensive back Troy Warner (Mission Hills), who had 29 tackles and two interceptions this season, had four tackles last week in a 49-23 win over UCF in the Boca Raton Bowl. Junior defensive back Keenan Ellis (Bonita Vista) had 13 tackles and five pass breakups, including a pair of tackles. Junior defensive back D’Angelo Mandell (Del Norte) had six tackles in six games for the Cougars. Junior defensive back Malik Moore (Point Loma) played in four games and had six tackles. Sam Lee (San Pasqual), a senior linebacker, and freshman running back Javelle Brown (Mira Mesa) also were on BYU’s team.
Kicker Matthew Killam (Scripps Ranch) and receiver Marquese Allen Patmon (Lincoln) are on the Nevada roster. Neither played in the Wolf Pack’s win over Tulane in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, but Killam kicked off in three games during the regular season. Allen Patmon did not see action.
Thursday’s Texas Bowl was canceled, costing TCU receiver Mikel Barkley (Palomar College) a chance to play in one more game. Barkley appeared in 10 games with four starts and made seven catches for 33 yards. Quarterback Jake Neufeld (La Costa Canyon), a transfer from Azusa Pacific, is also on the Horned Frogs roster.
Linebacker Charles Hicks (Lincoln) had 27 tackles, 31⁄ tackles for a loss, two
2 sacks, two fumble recoveries and an interception for Wyoming. Cornerback Azizi Hearn (Oceanside) had 13 tackles and four pass breakups.
•
Zeke Noa (Helix) finished the season with 40 tackles and 41⁄ tackles for a
2 loss for Boise State. JL Skinner (Point Loma) had 37 tackles and an interception. Demitri Washington (Santa Fe Christian) played two games before he suffered a knee injury and had nine tackles.
• UCLA receiver Kyle Philips (San Marcos) had seven catches for 61 yards and a TD in the final game of the season against Stanford. That gave him 38 catches for 370 yards and two scores for the year and 104 receptions for 1,082 yards and seven TDs for his career. And he has three seasons left to play.
• Ryan Sanborn (Francis Parker) averaged 39.0 yards on 23 punts for Cal. He dropped seven inside the 20, forced seven fair catches and had three boots of 50-plus yards.
• Utah linebacker Devin Lloyd (Otay Ranch) finished the season with a team-leading 48 tackles, 10 tackles for a loss, and a pair of sacks. In the season finale against Washington State, Lloyd had 10 tackles, four tackles for a loss and a sack. Moroni Anae (Cathedral Catholic) had four tackles for the Utes, Andrew Mata’afa (Mt. Carmel) had three tackles and receiver Devaughn Vele (Rancho Bernardo) caught a pair of passes.
• Washington DB Asa Turner (Carlsbad) finished a four-game sophomore season with 17 tackles and an interception.
• Washing ton State linebacker Jahad Woods (Helix) had 31 tackles, 41⁄ tackles for
2 a loss, a sack and an interception. A senior, Woods has played 43 games with 319 tackles, 30 tackles for a loss, 91⁄ 2 sacks, four interceptions, 10 pass breakups and eight forced fumbles. He has a choice to play another year for the Cougars or declare for the NFL Draft.
• Houston Baptist receiver Ben Ratzlaff (Westview) had 29 catches for 399 yards and three TDs in four games. That gives him 116 receptions for 1,538 yards and 15 TDs with a season to play.