Football: College player news / CIF rankings

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D.J. Welch

If you didn’t see my story Sunday, I wrote about two former prep football stars from the desert who are starting as sophomores for their respective collegiate teams – San Diego State defensive end Dontrell Onuoha (La Quinta High School) and Oregon State linebacker D.J. Welch (Palm Desert).

Check the Prep Sports blog every Tuesday during the college football season to get updates on not only Onuoha and Welch, but also other college players from the desert. Here’s some more news about college players:

  • Former College of the Desert defensive end and Palm Desert graduate Greg Latta is listed a backup defensive end on Purdue’s depth chart. The 6-foot-6, 265-pound junior didn’t play football until he enrolled at COD. He was a basketball player in high school. The Boilermakers host Eastern Kentucky on Saturday.
  • Colorado State linebacker Nu’uvali Fa’apito (La Quinta) is the No. 2 weakside linebacker. The 6-foot, 221-pound freshman is backing up sophomore Aaron Davis.

    Dontrell Onuoha

  • Palm Desert graduate Lars Hanson is starting at right tackle for Sacramento State, a Football Championship Subdivision program. The 6-foot-7, 270-pound sophomore and his teammates will face two Football Bowl Subdivision teams to open the season — New Mexico State and Colorado.
  • I failed to include one person in my list of area college players. Freshman Justin Sonico (Cathedral City) is a kicker for the the University of Puget Sound, a Division III program in Tacoma, Wash.

The CIF released its latest rankings yesterday. Here are the highlights:

  • Palm Springs remained at No. 5 in the Central Division after its 21-0 victory at home over Palm Desert.
  • La Quinta dropped out of the Central Division rankings after losing to Los Osos 46-23. The Blackhawks were ranked No. 10 in the preseason poll.
  • Despite its upset victory over No. 8 Aquinas, Desert Hot Springs is still unranked. Aquinas dropped to No. 10. The Golden Eagles will have to pull off another upset this week to earn respect. They face No. 8 Big Bear on the road Saturday. The Golden Eagles will face two other ranked teams in its non-league schedule — No. 2 Rubidoux and No. 6 Rim of the World.

Check back Wednesday for my first installment of the desert’s power rankings as well as my thoughts on Friday’s Mercury Bowl.