L.A. County quarterback Jesse Diaz from Roosevelt High School looks for a receiver during the Southern California Fiesta Bowl. Inland Empire won, 35-27. (Photo by www.marinmedia.org.)
By RON GUILD, Sports Editor
Story Published: Jul 15, 2009 at 1:23 PM PDT
For many of the participants, the Southern California Fiesta Bowl was a springboard to their college football careers.
But for Roosevelt High School’s Jesse Diaz, one of three quarterbacks for the L.A. County all-stars, Saturday’s game at Whittier College was likely his final game, period.
One of the most talented players in Rough Rider history, Diaz will be attending Long Beach State, which doesn’t have a football program, in the fall.
It’s a decision the academically-oriented Diaz is comfortable with.
“I’m looking forward to being a full-time student,” he said after throwing for 65 yards and a touchdown in L.A.’s 35-27 loss to the Inland Empire. “I’ve always balanced athletics and academics before. Now it’s purely academics.”
He wants to major in psychology, with a special interest in sports psychology.
“My big thing is helping out others where I can,” he said. “That’s always come naturally for me.”
Javier Cid, his coach at Roosevelt and in the Fiesta Bowl, said he is happy with the decision of Diaz, who was accepted to a number of schools academically.
“Education is what we emphasize to our kids,” he said.
“Maybe he’ll get the itch (to play again), but if he doesn’t, he can come back here (to Roosevelt) and run the offense (as a coach). He knows it better than anybody.”
Because it would be the last time he would put on the pads, Diaz wanted to make the most of it.
“I wanted to have as much fun as I could since it was my last game,” he said.
The outcome took some of that fun away.
“In my opinion we should have won,” he said. “We made too many mistakes.”
Source: WaveNewspapers.com
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