The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Gift of grab: Yale teammates Klubnik, Shohfi on verge of history
WEST HAVEN — Watching Reed Klubnik and JP Shohfi work in unison for the past four seasons, it seems inconceivable that there was a time Yale’s recordsetting receivers were complete strangers.
Klubnik, the former quarterback from Austin, Texas who finished his high school career by catching passes from current University of Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger, and Shohfi, the recordbreaking Californian, had no interactions until they arrived on the Yale campus on the same day as freshmen. They committed two days apart back in January 2016, but this was no package deal.
“I didn’t have a chance to meet Reed or talk to Reed in the recruiting process,” Shohfi said. “We both committed pretty late in the process.”
Yale quarterback Kurt Rawlings said the two receivers, who are on the verge of breaking Yale’s record for career receiving yards, played hardtoget in the recruiting process. Klubnik grew up in the shadow of the University of Texas; Shohfi’s hometown is less than 10 miles from the Rose Bowl. Bulldogs head coach Tony Reno knew that he had to be persistent, hopeful and yes, perhaps a little bit lucky that a Power 5 program didn’t scoop one or both of them up.
Shohfi was the first of Yale’s current receiving dynamic duo to join the Bulldogs’ talentrich recruiting class, pulling the trigger on Jan. 9. There had to be some celebrating in the Yale football offices when Klubnik’s commitment came two days later.
They will take the field to face Princeton on Saturday at 1 p.m. in the final road game of their collegiate career with history on the line. Klubnik needs 21 yards to break Ralph Plumb’s program record of 2,396 yards while Shohfi is just 140 yards from moving into the top spot.
“We are not competing with each other for it, we are competing against ourselves trying to be the best we can be on every play,” Klubnik said. “We are here to win games, that is what it is about, neither of us is really concerned about the record. Personally, I don’t know how far either of us is from it so it is not something that is in our minds but it is definitely cool.
“Neither of us would be the same without each other. Having each other on the field makes all the difference. Every day, it comes from practice, it comes from grinding and putting in all the work.”
When Klubnik made his way to New Haven to embark in what has been a historic odyssey, all he knew about his fellow incoming freshman receiver was Shohfi’s gaudy statistics as a senior at San Marino High School. Shohfi had 122 catches for 2,464 yards and 29 touchdowns. No, those are not his career numbers but his statistics for his final season. The yardage mark set the national high school record. He also had five touchdown runs, three interception returns for scores, and scored on two punt returns in that unforgettable 2015 season.
“I was worried at first, a guy coming in having set a national record 2,500 yards his senior year was obviously pretty intimidating,” Klubnik said.
Klubnik was no slouch in high school. He had 77 catches as a junior and 75 more during his senior season when he finished with 1,228 receiving yards and 12 TD grabs to help Westlake High School to the 2015 Texas 6A Division 1 championship game.
Both players have run a variety of routes in their time at Yale. They are willing to pay the price that comes with catching the ball over the middle on 3rdandlong, but have also gotten behind defenses for long touchdown receptions.
There are plenty of similarities on the field, but what about away from it?
“I guess relatively different, California and Texas are two different places but outside of football that we both enjoy, we are both competitive guys and we love doing anything competitive both on and off the field, it is just fun for us,” said Shohfi, Yale’s team captain. “We like to spend time together, it doesn’t really matter what we do, I think we all like hanging out with each other, we come from different backgrounds, we come from different areas but feel like we enjoy spending time with each other.”
Regardless of what happens on Saturday, both are already record setters. Klubnik’s 1,143 receiving yards during the 2018 season is a Yale record. Shohfi’s four touchdown catches in last week’s win at Brown are the most in program history. While offensive lineman Dieter Eiselen is the Yale senior drawing the most interest from the pro scouts, Reno believes both Klubnik and Shohfi are on the radar of NFL teams.
It’s not unusual to see a player break a career record. Rawlings had been keeping Yale’s record keepers rather busy in recent weeks setting program records for touchdown passes, passing yards and total offense. But to have two fouryear teammates on the verge of breaking the same record on the same week, that is rather unique.
“They are so much fun to watch, I think both guys, they prepare incredibly hard and they play at that level because of how they prepare,” Reno said. “If you go to practice, you will see Shohfi and Reed make those same plays. For guys like Kurt, JP and Reed, who have had some nice accomplishments over the last two or three weeks, there are three guys that don’t even register with them, what registers is the success of the team, it is something that later in life they will be able to look back at.”
What will register is the importance of Saturday’s game. Yale and Princeton are tied for second place in the Ivy League standings a game behind undefeated Dartmouth, the team responsible for each of their losses this season.
A win would keep Yale’s championship hopes alive going into next week’s Harvard game, a contest that will mark the end of the college careers of both Klubnik and Shohfi.
“It’s definitely bittersweet,” Klubnik said.
Ivy League defensive coordinators and cornerbacks might have a different reaction to seeing Klubnik and Shohfi slip off their helmet, uniform and shoulder pads one last time.