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Stumbleprep football:
Julio Mora is ‘tough as hell,’ highlights Sun’s preseason team
Eight from defending state champion Gorman, 12 other schools represented in elite group
Durango High School running back Julio Mora is shown during practice at the school Thursday, August 19, 2010.
Friday, Aug. 20, 2010 | 2 a.m.
Julio Mora
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AT A GLANCE
JULIO MORA
Senior running back, Durango High School
5-foot-7, 165-pounds
•Durango High School went 1-10 in 2008 and finished seventh out of eight teams in the Southwest Division. They only scored 161 points.
• In 2009, they scored 405 points and finished 8-3 to take second in the Southwest behind state champion Bishop Gorman. Against Gorman, which is nationally respected, Mora rushed for 115 yards. He is one of a few who went over 100 yards against Gorman.
• Mora rushed for a state-best 1,651 yards and scored 25 rushing touchdowns. He averaged 7.83 yards per carry.
• Mora scored three or more touchdowns in six of Durango’s 11 games. He rushed for 180 or more yards in six games.
• He rushed for 279 yards and five touchdowns against Pahrump, and 234 yards and four touchdowns against Sierra Vista.
• He is also the state power-clean weight lifting champion for his weight classification with a clean of 280 pounds. He bench presses 265 pounds and squats 425 pounds eight times.
Prep Sports Now
Previewing the new football season
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Las Vegas Sun reporters Case Keefer and Ray Brewer discuss the upcoming high school football season. They will let you know whether or not anyone can dethrone defending state champion Bishop Gorman, release their state title sleepers teams and give a quick breakdown of the area's 30-plus schools.
Expanded coverage
One look at Durango High running back Julio Mora is all it takes to question his talents on the football field.
At 5-foot-7 and 165 pounds, the senior doesn’t have the prototypical build of an elite high school football player.
That all changes, however, when the elusive runner gets the ball in his hands.
“The little guy is tough as hell,” Durango coach Gary Maki said. “Pound for pound, I will match him against anyone in the valley. He’s not going to quit or back down from anyone.”
Mora led the state with 1,651 rushing yards and 25 touchdowns last year, helping Durango to a seven-win improvement from 2008 and second place finish in the Southwest Division. Mora is one of 25 players from across the Las Vegas Valley on the All-Sun preseason team. It has eight from defending state champion Bishop Gorman, which opens its season Saturday against Hamilton High of Arizona in the Sollenberger Classic at Northern Arizona University. Most of the area’s other schools open the season Aug. 27.
For Mora, each game will be an opportunity to prove observers wrong. Despite the robust numbers he posted last year, he doesn’t have any scholarship offers. And, because of his size, he will probably not play for a Division I school.
Just don’t tell Mora he is supposed to settle for anything less than the best. After all, his size isn’t the biggest obstacle he’s overcome.
Mora is Type 1 diabetic and has to monitor his insulin level throughout the day — between classes, at lunch and during football practices and games. He was diagnosed seven years ago, and just like his perceived size disadvantage, said it’s a nonfactor.
“I’ve never considered myself being too small,” Mora said. “When you are out there playing, you don’t realize who is short, tall or big.”
Quarterback Chase Roberts said having someone like Mora, who attracts more than his share of attention from opposing defenses, helps open other players on the offense.
“He’s a hard worker,” Roberts said. “You know he is always going to give it his all.”
Durango won only one game in 2008, but with Mora having his breakout season, it finished 8-3 last year. Now, Mora is eyeing the same prize as everyone else in town: a state title.
“I don’t care about my personal stats,” Mora said. “My goal is to take the team to the playoffs again and this time win a state ring.”
It’s that type of attitude that makes him the unquestioned leader of his team and one of the valley’s top players.
“I wouldn’t trade him for anybody,” Maki said. “He only knows two words ... ‘Yes Sir.’ ”
ALL-TEAM OFFENSE
Anu Solomon, sophomore quarterback, Bishop Gorman
Solomon passed for 2,026 yards and 19 touchdowns last fall as a freshman to lead Gorman to the state title. He threw only five interceptions while completing 58 percent of his passes.
Brandon Wright, senior running back, Palo Verde
Wright, who rushed for 1,140 yards and 12 touchdowns last year, has 10 Division I scholarship offers.
Julio Mora, senior running back, Durango
Mora, one of the most dynamic players in the area, will play defense as well as offense for the Trailblazers and is dangerous in the open field. Last year, he rushed for a state-best 1,651 yards and 25 touchdowns.
Marquan Major, senior wide receiver, Las Vegas
Major is healed after missing most of last year with a collarbone injury. In three games last year, he caught 12 passes for 190 yards and two touchdowns. He had 59 receptions for 742 yards and six touchdowns in 2008 as a sophomore.
Don Pearson, senior wide receiver, Faith Lutheran
Pearson, who has a scholarship offer from Stanford, played quarterback for part of last year after Faith Lutheran’s starting signal caller was injured. Late in the season against perennial power Palo Verde, Pearson caught nine passes for 161 yards and two touchdowns. He finished with 41 receptions for 616 yards and six touchdowns.
Brett Lubbe, senior tight end, Faith Lutheran
Lubbe caught seven passes for 107 yards and one touchdown in the initial two games last year before suffering a season-ending injury.
Nick Strehlow, junior offensive line, Bishop Gorman
Strehlow , a 6-foot-1, 278-pound guard, is one of Gorman’s team captains — not bad for a junior. He’s one of four returning offensive line starters who helped pave the way for the Gaels’ tailbacks to rush for more than 4,000 yards last year.
Senituli Fakauho, senior offensive line, Liberty
Fakauho was a first-team, All-Southeast Division selection last year. The 6-foot-1, 330-pound Fakauho is one of several big bodies expected to lead Liberty back to the postseason.
AC Patterson, senior offensive line, Bishop Gorman
Patterson, a senior who has started at center every game since his sophomore year, verbally committed to UTEP this summer.
Eric Noone, senior offensive line, Silverado
Eric Noone, a first-team All-Southeast Division tackle in 2009, is the leader of a Silverado offensive line that averages 280 pounds per lineman. His brother, sophomore Chris Noone, started on the line last year as a freshman.
Sy Hansell-Peko, senior offensive line, Del Sol
Hansell's blocking in Del Sol’s run-first offense last year helped the Dragons win the Sunrise Regional title and advance to the state title game. His brother, Otto Hansell, who starred at Del Sol from 2004 to 2007, is part of the Sun’s all-decade team.
Colin Ditsworth, senior kicker, Bishop Gorman
Ditsworth, who made 106 extra points and six field goals last year, is a four-year varsity performer. Of his 98 kickoffs last year, 59 went from touchbacks.
Shaquille Powell, junior kick returner, Bishop Gorman
Powell rushed for 1,555 yards and 29 touchdowns last fall as a sophomore while sharing carries. He will be the Gaels’ feature tailback this fall and handle most of their return duties.
ALL-TEAM DEFENSE
Jalen Grimble
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Bishop Gorman High defensive lineman Jalen Grimble talks about the 2010 season prior to his senior year with the Gaels. Grimble is one of the nation's top college recruits.
Jalen Grimble, senior defensive line, Bishop Gorman
Grimble, one of the nation’s top defensive end prospects, committed to Southern California in May. He was part of the Sun’s preseason team last year and is rated a four-star prospect by recruiting website Rivals.com in its evaluating system of four stars. He is ranked the nation’s 11th best strongside defensive end.
Jaylon Jackson, senior defensive line, Bishop Gorman
Jackson had 25 tackles and four sacks last year, earning plenty of reps on a defensive line with three seniors who eventually signed with Division I schools.
Sam Tai, senior defensive line, Liberty
Tai, a defensive end, has scholarship offers from Arkansas, Colorado and UNLV. He didn’t see much action on defense last year because he played quarterback, leading the Patriots to the first playoff victory in school history.
James Price, senior defensive line, Legacy
Price was a first-team All-Northwest Division defense tackle last year for a Longhorns defense that was arguably one of the state’s best. Legacy had three shutouts and surrendered less than 10 points in six other contests.
Eddie Smith IV, senior linebacker, Canyon Springs
Smith was an All-Northeast Division selection last year and one of several returners for a Canyon Springs team expected to challenge for the league title. The 5-foot-11, 205-pound Smith led the Pioneers last year with 65 tackles.
Ron Lyles, senior linebacker, Bishop Gorman
Lyles’ 71 tackles ranked first last year on a Gorman team where six defenders received Division-I scholarships.
Kyle Henry, junior linebacker, Desert Oasis
Henry, at 6-foot-2, 190 pounds, will move to linebacker this fall after starting every game last year at defensive end. He recorded 37 tackles last year for a Diamondbacks team that made the playoff in the second year of existence.
DaSean Martin
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DeSean Martin, senior defensive back, Bonanza
Martin is one of the area’s most physical players and has scholarship offers from UNLV, Utah State, Colorado State and three other schools. He doubles at tailback, where he rushed for 1,306 yards and 17 touchdowns last year.
Ladale Jackson, senior defensive back, Silverado
Jackson, who has eight football scholarship offers, is arguably the fastest player in the Las Vegas Valley. A state track champion in the 400 meters, Jackson ran a 4.39-second 40-yard dash last spring at a recruiting event.
Evan Zeger, senior safety, Bishop Gorman
Zeger, who verbally committed to Washington in the spring, returns to Gorman after playing at Skyline High in Sammamish, Wash., last year. Zeger played varsity at Gorman in 2008 and is a three-star prospect by Rivals.
Connor Afoa, senior safety, Foothill
Afoa, 6-foot-1 and 210 pounds, does a little of everything for Foothill, including being the last line of defense. He had two interceptions last year and shined offensively with nine touchdowns. He added 19 receptions for 167 yards, and rushed for 703 yards on 136 carries.
Colin Ditsworth, senior punter, Bishop Gorman
Ditsworth averaged 34.65 yards per punt last year in 17 attempts with a long of 55 yards.
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No Ronnie Stanley are you kidding me?
Two Faith Lutheran players???? What did they win, one game last year???
Congratulations to all the awesome young men out there working hard and playing hard. It doesn't matter the size of your school or your record your efforts are being recognized. You should all be very proud. Make it a great season!
Faith Lutheran always has good players, just never a good team.
the fix is in!!!!!!
Some of these picks are very questionable. OL Hansell-Peko,Del Sol was dominated yesterday in scrimmage by #88 DE from Shadow Ridge for 6 solo tackles and 2 sacks. After he threw a cheap shot late hit on #88, he got slammed to the ground!The same SRHS#88DE was SNFCA All-Combine Team DE-now that makes sense.
Oh yea, Ray. How do you select the preseason picks? You got RB Wright ahead of RB Powell and gave Powell the token kick returner spot? Check the rushing stats again on that one. TE Lubbe played in two games and he's now preseason pick how?? Where's QB Portaro-Faith Lutheran?(WR Pearson is scratching his head) TE Colon-Shadow Ridge? Have you seen what these guys are doing on the combine & camp circuit nationally?
Hey Ray-ease up on RB Mora. Recruiting takes a lot of work on the player's part but no offers has nothing to do with size of player.With his stats and strength in the weight room, size won't matter-just ask every NFL RB that was once told the same thing coming out of high school by sports writers, i.e., from Barry Sanders to Darren Sproles & more
Hey Papa: Thanks for reading and commenting on all of the stories. I appreciate the feedback. Mora is the state power clean champion, and also bench presses 265 pounds. So he is strong. It's his size that recruiters can't look past. I obviously stand by all of my selections. Ultimately, the results on Friday night this fall will dictate if I was correct. It does make for good debate :)
Ray: You're right-Friday night will confirm your picks. All I'm saying is that some deserving players are not on the list and can't show recruiters the honor of being on someone's "list." If you look at 2009 end of year All-Conference lists(1st&2nd teams)...that's a good barometer to pick your preseason team, right?
Perfect example:LB-Michael Tootle of Shadow Ridge wreaked havoc on Northwest Div. teams last year recording 100 tackles(76 solo)in 9 games and made 2nd team All-Northwest Conference on Offense(FB)AND Defense(LB). Anybody else do that? Oh yeah..he's back and ready to plow through the division again on both sides of the ball and he's not on your radar?
Went to the Palo v. Sierra Vista scrimmage Sat. night...Both teams flat (YAWN). SV forced 5 turnovers(3 fumbles, 2 INT) and got'em all. Palo struggled to look good though...Rost was screamin'-guess he didn't recruit hard enough-ask Mr. Wooten...
Ok,one last thing-nothing to do with you but who picks postseason All-Conference honors? 1st Team 2009 All-Northwest LBs White & Anderson were #349(40)& 453(31) on state most tackles list. In a world of "top lists" judged by productivity, I guess they made other contributions 'cause tackling wasn't one of them.
Ronnie Stanley not good enough?! What a joke.
Wow, no Arbor View players on this list? Guess they haven't done anything to wow people. There are several players with tons of talent who are on the sidelines (not starting) because they missed the SUU camp to take care of their grades. Sad, but I guess that's the politics of the sport here in NV. If given the chance, keep an eye out on junior safety/linebacker #30 Mac Smith and senior linebacker #47 Brandon Baker. Baker is a tackling machine and a prototypical inside/middle linebacker. In a more conventional system, he'd be a force. #30 is an athlete. Tall, long, fast, and a freak in the weightroom. Raw, but again, in a conventional system would make an incredible outside linebacker. Let's hope the coaching staff at Arbor recognize what they have. They haven't been the greatest at developing talent for the next level.
It's a long season... I don't know why everyone is so concerned about the first game. The real scheme of things will be told by the fouth or fifth game. Who is really tough, good or even worth mentioning anymore. The game is played on the field not on the newspaper or any other form of press. Just play the game and shut up! Besides, schools don't recruit teams, they recruit individuals. Play the damn game!
papa- we can all see how "fascinated" you are about shadow. The truth is, no one is on the preseason team because they didn't perform last year, and you really shouldn't questions picks from LAST year's All-Conference Team. 1. It's over with. 2. You have no idea how hard those players have worked to earn that title. Ray, another year of HS football in the valley, and I'm looking forward to the great stories you always provide! Keep up the good work LV Sun staff!!
I have one name for you! JAY MATTOX, 15 years old plays for las vegas high school, made all five of his field goal attempts Friday against Cimmaron, kicked one 29 yards and the other 51 yards and still went 30 feet beyond the uprights. Lets see if Gorman tries to (steal) recruit this player. The way he is going he will go straight to the pros. Remember you heard it here first!!!
no kevin bayes
ucekaboose-when you have a senior loaded team in the valley esp. Northwest Div, it's hard not to notice how they rip thru Del Sol in scrimmage on both sides of the ball and dominated SV 31-0 allowing them 25 yds O in 1st half. I'm just saying Centennial got torn apart by them too at Utah State. Keep an eye out for the sleeper of the Northwest-Shadow Ridge Mustangs.
sarcastic1: Gorman may not be the one to try and recruit-ask Coach Rost at Palo how it went with Wooten from Arbor. Maybe his wife can rubber stamp Jay Mattox too...oops, Palo busted-Wooten had to move to Colorado to play his senior year
ucekaboose: I'm not saying those players didn't work hard but making the All-Conference team POSTSEASON should be based on productivity especially if you're a linebacker who's expected to make tackles or at least assist. You have to scratch your head and wonder how you earn that honor with only 30-40 tackles the whole season(9-10 games)! Coming fron Cali,LV valley high school football smells political.
papa- Political? If you didn't already know, the postseason All-Conference team is selected by the coaches in that very division and conference. ALL of them choose the players who made the team. If you have a problem with any choices, you should be asking the coaches who chose the team, who also spent up to 3 years watching film on that player. I'm sure the coaches knew what they were doing when they selected the players. Now for your Shadow kids, it looks like they've started off the year well. Maybe this year the coaches from the NW Division will recognize some players from your team.
ucekaboose:Since we moved here from Cali,there's some rules I don't get-1.If a family moves to a new zone, player transfers&sits out for 1 season BUT 2.If he gets kicked out of school, he can go to another school of choice&play right away??!!Strange NIAA rules. I get the coaches selection process..Cali bases picks on production/stats. Shadow had two Juniors selected to 2nd Team All-Conference based on stats,i.e. 100+ tackles at LB should get you in,right??
Well I guess all states can't be like Cali right. As much as that may not make sense, you're going to have to deal with it. But, once again, the coaches chose the team. They looked at both production and that player's impact on his team that year. Obviously, Shadow didn't have too hot of a year. Is that the reason why no one was selected to 1st team? I couldn't tell you that. What I can tell you is that those players selected over your Shadow LB's were probably picked because they played as impact players on their team, as well as producing decent stats (obviously not as comparable to your Shadow LB's). But decent stats nontheless. Both White (Legacy) and Anderson (Arbor) contributed to each of their team's successful seasons. Which i'm sure the coaches look at as well. I'm sure schools such as Mojave and Centennial and Faith are arguing the same point you are. It's a tough division, arguably the toughest in the entire state. So there's alot more to look at, past the stats. But you may have a valid point to argue, so we will just have to see how the selection for the 1st and 2nd conference/divisions team come out.
ucekaboose: Thanks for the angle on my points. I see what you mean and yes the "Black & Blue" division is the toughest in the state! Shadow is senior loaded and will be the sleeper in the NW-probably underestimated by both Palo and Legacy. Last game of last season, Shadow had the great Legacy team in a 0-0 tie in the fourth quarter...that game was Shadow's turning point for this year..let's keep the blog going.
papa- true indeed! Shadow did sneak up on Legacy last year and displayed just how much of a threat they could be. The only objection I have about that game is that it also shows that Shadow couldn't play in the 4th quarter. Legacy put up 31 points in a single quarter, which argubaly counteracts the fact that Shadow shut them out for 3 quarters. But, indeed that game did show their potential, and im sure summer workouts and practices have conditioned the Shadow team into finishing games in the 4th quarter, hence their Victory 2 weeks ago against Sierra Vista. Tell your team to keep up the good work in representing the NW Division.
ucekaboose: Thanks for the props...Mustangs took apart Chap 39-6 and sit at 2-0 with a true test against Legacy Thurs in a short rest week.No one scored on them in 8 qtrs but bench gave up 1 TD tonight. Mustangs like the role of sleeper in the NW & FYI-Shadow loves the 4th qtr now! Swarming D & potent O finally.
They will have their first big test. Legacy may not be the same team as last year, but they are still talented on the depth chart. Their duo of running backs LJ McMorris (questionable to play due to injury) and Jordan Ireland are a handful. Somewhat resembling the Desahe Edwards and Martell Crockett of their team last year. Their sleeper fullback, DeAndre Hughes, can double as a tailback as well, with great speed, vision, and power. And quarterback Jordan Pinkney should not be overlooked, he can use both his arm and legs. Legacy will be hungry for this win, especially because they haven't lost to Shadow in the 3 years they've been in the NW division. Let's see if Shadow can snap that. I will for sure be at this game. Best of luck to the Mustangs and the Longhorns.
Palo Verde Class of 2001 and we are still kicking butt!!!!!! Go Panthers!!!