East’s loyalty to Agoura is paying off on Fridays
Jake East and his teammates were huddled just outside Frank Greminger Stadium, awaiting the goahead to run onto the field for Agoura football’s Week 0 home opener against Ventura on a Friday night.
The adrenaline-filled run is nothing new to East, a four-year varsity starter. But this run was much different.
“I couldn’t believe what I was looking at,” East explained. “Our stadium was full. There was a huge line going up the hill to get in. There wasn’t one empty seat. There had to be 20 football alumni on the sideline. It never used to be like that.”
That experience alone assured East he made the right decision when he decided to enroll at Agoura four years ago. It also solidified his decision to honor that commitment when he contemplated transferring after his sophomore season when the Chargers went 1-9.
“That year was brutal,” East said. “It was hard. No one came to the games, and there was no excitement around campus. We were expected to lose.”
In an era that sees student-athletes transfer on a whim — at the high school and collegiate level — East did what most don’t. He stayed.
“I played football and lacrosse for the youth programs here in Agoura, it’s all I know,” East said. “I wanted to stay in this community. I also felt like I could help make Agoura football and lacrosse good.”
It wasn’t an easy choice. His childhood best friends, Travis Throckmorton and Cooper Wallace, transferred to Simi Valley (3-0) to play football. When East said he was thinking about transferring the winter of his sophomore year, that’s when new coach Dustin Croick was hired.
“I met coach Croick and that’s all it took,” said East. “He got all of us to buy in. There was a new energy.”
Not only did Croick bring a new energy and culture, but he spearheaded the project for a new football locker room.
“It was an easy place to start,” Croick, an Agoura alum (2003), said. “The team had just gone 1-9, I felt like I needed to build something that players were excited to be a part of.”
East and his teammates were happy about the new locker room, to say the least.
“We used to get dressed in our cars,” East said laughing. “Now, we have a real locker room. We all want to be in there.”
So much change on the football field, but that’s not all. There’s been a change of heart, too. East is a highlytouted lacrosse player with a verbal commitment to Brown University. He led the Chargers to a 14-4 record in the spring, which included CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoff victory.
Despite the talent and the praise with the lacrosse stick, East says he wants to go all-in on football.
“I think I can play (NCAA)
Division I football,” he said confidently. “I want to play safety.”
He’s got just one D-I offer from Bryant University in Rhode Island, but is confident more will come with a standout senior season. If stats count for anything, East’s confidence is not misplaced.
The past two years — including the abbreviated spring season — he’s scored 12 total touchdowns and tallied a team-high 145 tackles. In three games this fall, he’s racked up 476 yards receiving, seven touchdown receptions, and for a third year in row, a team high in tackles (43). “He’s a stud,” Croick said. The change is happening. A new head coach, new locker room, and maybe most notably, more wins.
The Chargers had a bye this week and are 2-1 heading into Sept. 16’s home game against winless Moorpark. Agoura is currently ranked the No. 10 team in the area, according to the most recent Daily News Top 10 rankings.
Croick believes the energy that surrounds the resurgence of the program has a lot to do with East, who isn’t just a great leader on the field, but in the classroom with a 4.1 grade-point average. On Friday nights, East’s name frequently echoes through the loudspeakers of high school stadiums.
The same community he grew up in, attending Agoura football games with his father as a youngster, is now cheering for him.
“I felt like if things were going to change, I needed to stay,” East said. “I grew up watching Agoura football as a kid. I remember thinking the guys on the team were giants, like heroes. I knew all the big names on the team... it’s awesome for me to be that guy for the younger kids now.”