CLA Sports Exclusive High School Football Story
In high school, the game reaches its peak when you spot Pete Carroll watching from the end zone. Friday night, USC Head Coach Pete Carroll was in attendance at Gardena Serra High School, and was surely pleased by the stellar performaces of recruits Robert Woods (Serra), D.J. Morgan (Taft), and George Farmer (Serra).
Carroll looked on to see two of the best student-athletes in the 2010 football recruiting class perform at an elite level. The game featured high-profile USC Trojan commits Robert Woods (Serra) and D.J. Morgan (Taft), along with standout junior wide receiver George Farmer (Serra), who holds scholarship offers from many Pac-10 schools, including USC, as well as several other top BCS programs across the country.
Gardena Serra pulled out an overtime victory against visiting Taft High School, however, the game was anything but close in the first half. Serra opened up the game to take a 17-0 lead, but it was only a matter of time before Taft's senior star player D.J. Morgan made an impact. Morgan scored early in the fourth quarter to bring Taft within eight points (20-12), and made a spectacular move on fellow USC commit Robert Woods, which left Woods with his feet planted in the grass and Morgan in the end zone.
Taft put together a consistent second half performance and put themselves in position to force the game into overtime. Senior wide receiver and defensive back Robert Woods registered two interceptions, giving him five interceptions for far this season. After the game, Robert Woods told College Level Athletes that, "As soon as I heard the USC coaches were coming, I had to put on a show. It's fun playing against D.J. Morgan, future teammates, future coaches." When asked whether or not he plans on playing wide receiver or defensive back at the next level, Woods said, "I'm an offensive player, I want to play offense, but maybe in the future I would like to do something like Charles Woodson (Michigan), he was a defensive player that played a little bit of offense, and I want to be the opposite." If Robert Woods could ever contribute to the Trojans on both sides of the ball in the future, I'm sure it would be a wonderful thing to witness.
Serra put the game away in overtime on a run by junior running back Shaquille Richard. After the game, College Level Athletes caught up with one of the top wide receiver recruits in the class of 2011, George Farmer (Serra). Farmer confirmed multiple scholarship offers from across the country, but when asked about his top choice for 2011, Farmer showed no hesitation in revealing the USC Trojans as his top choice. Farmer told College Level Athletes after the game that he has received scholarship offers from "the Pac-10, Florida, Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, and Minnesota." When asked who was at the top of his list of schools for 2011, Farmer stated, "Probably SC." Farmer, only a junior, has great hands, size, speed, and strength. These are all assets of most quality wide receivers at any level, however, his intentions to use his talents on the field are clear. In regards to his future as a Trojan, Farmer said, "I like playing hard, fast, and nasty. You're always competing with the best (at USC), and I can play at that level of competition, it's something I could look forward to, and the academics are great there too."
Look for Robert Woods and George Farmer to continue to fill up the stat sheets, and if all goes according to their plan, we will see Woods and Farmer lining up next to each other at Southern California within the next few seasons.
