Andres Preciado certainly has the size to be named big man on campus anywhere in America. He stands 6 feet, 6 inches tall and weighs 277 pounds.
He was hard to miss during his playing days at Mar Vista High School and will be a player to watch over the coming years for the Boise State Broncos football team.
Preciado enjoyed a triumphant homecoming over the holiday break when the Broncos defeated the Northern Illinois Huskies, 55-7, to win the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl Dec. 23 at Qualcomm Stadium. It was an early Christmas present for Preciado and his teammates.
“It’s a great feeling to have a team win,” the 2014 MVHS graduate said.
Preciado, a redshirt freshman, made his collegiate debut in a Sept. 18 non-conference game against Idaho State. He is listed second on the Boise State depth chart at left guard. He said he expects to see more playing time in the future.
“It’s a great place to play,” he said. “It’s a great feeling knowing I’ll be coming back to play next year.”
The Broncos, who set a Poinsettia Bowl record for most points scored, finished the season with a 9-4 record. Quarterback Brett Rypien (377 passing yards, three touchdown completions) was voted the game’s offensive MVP while junior end Kamelei Correa (two sacks, one forced fumble) was named defensive MVP.
The Broncos out-gained the Huskies 654 to 33 in total yards. NIU entered the game averaging 426.6 yards per game offensively.
“This was our best game of the year,” Boise State head coach Bryan Harsin proclaimed while accepting the massive Poinsettia Bowl trophy.
Preciado, a first team All-San Diego Section selection as a senior, served as Mar Vista team captain both his junior and senior seasons. He was a varsity letter-winner in three sports: football, basketball and baseball. He also was a four-year member of the school’s Associated Student Body.
Aloha
A day after the Poinsettia Bowl, Mater Dei Catholic alumnus Nico Siragusa got a chance to join in the bowl game championship celebration after the San Diego State University Aztecs trounced the University of Cincinnati Bearcats, 42-7, at the Hawaii Bowl on Christmas Eve.
A junior offensive lineman, Siragusa (6-5, 335) helped pave the way for the Aztecs (11-3) to accumulate 207 rushing yards during the blowout victory in front of a sparse crowd of 14,537 at Aloha Stadium and also set a single-season school record with 3,266 rushing yards.
Donnell Pumphrey, the Mountain West Conference offensive MVP, led SDSU with 99 rushing yards. He rushed for a one-yard touchdown and threw a 16-yard halfback option pass to teammate Dakota Gordon for another touchdown.
The Aztecs racked up the game’s first 42 points. Rashaad Penny opened the game on a roll when he returned the opening kick-off 100 yards for a touchdown. Mikah Holder caught a 14-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Christian Chapman before Gordon, the Hawaii Bowl MVP, scored the game’s next two touchdowns — one on the pass from Pumphrey and another on a one-yard run.
Alex Barrett capped the SDSU scoring on a 43-yard interception return.
Chapman, who improved to 2-0 as a starter, passed for 113 yards without an interception. Donny Hageman was good on all six extra-point attempts.
The Aztecs, who finished 8-0 in conference play, ended the season with a 10-game winning streak. The 11 wins in one season tie an SDSU school record.
The Aztecs became the first team n 29 years to open with a 1-3 record or worse and win every remaining game, including the bowl game. Boston College was the last team to accomplish that feat in 1986.
SDSU set a school bowl game record for largest margin of victory with 35 points.
Aztec head coach Rocky Long told the media that winning the game was a “big deal.”
“It doesn’t matter what the score is, but if you come out as the victor, that’s a lot of fun,” said Long, who collected his 43rd win with the Aztecs. “I didn’t anticipate this to be the way it was. I thought it was going to be a fairly high scoring game and somebody win by three or seven points.”
Also on the winning team was former Mira Mesa High School standout Trey Lomax, son of Bonita Vista High School assistant coach Phillip Lomax.
Pumphrey upped his season rushing total to 1,653 yards while scoring the 17th touchdown of the season and 45th TD of his career. SDSU recorded 32 rushing touchdowns in 2015.
The McNichols and Rypien Show: Boise State wins Poinsettia Bowl in 14th straight bowl game appearance
The 2015 San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl starred Boise State running back Jeremy McNichols and Broncos quarterback Brett Rypien.
McNichols set the tone from the start as he recorded three solo touchdowns in the first quarter.
McNichols rushed for a 29-yard score, walked-in a four-yard TD reception, and rushed for another one yard TD as Boise State (9-4) took a 21-0 lead over Northern Illinois.
By then, the game was already over after just one quarter.
A touchdown machine, McNichols currently leads the nation in rushing touchdowns this season with 20, though with more bowl games remaining, other running back leaders coukd surpass McNichols’ mark.
Rypien had a field day as well, completing 29 of 40 passes, throwing for 377 yards in the game and was named offensive player of the game.
Northern Illinois (8-6) showed some life after receiver Aregeros Turner returned a kickoff for 96 yards. But that was all the Huskies could score.
Boise State answered right back with touchdown reception by receiver Chaz Anderson to end the first half, followed by three more touchdowns and a field goal in the second half to blow out Northern Illinois 55-7.
Boise State’s 55 points established a new record for most points scored by a team in Poinsettia Bowl history.
The Huskies offense looked dismal throughout, passing for only 38 yards, recording negative five rushing yards, and only going 1-12 on third down conversions. Northern Illinois’ quarterback Ryan Graham was also sacked five times.
Qualcomm Stadium appeared empty with an announced attendance of 21,501. However, it was the fireworks show after the game that made up for the blowout margin. Coined as the “Stadium Spectacular,” the show featured new pyrotechnology that hasn’t been seen before in North America.
Thus, despite the ugly game, fans at least got to see something exciting.
— Trent Warren
2015 SDSU Team Awards
John Simcox Memorial Trophy
Most Valuable Player
Donnel Pumphrey
Byron H. Chase Memorial Trophy
Offensive Player of the Year
Donnel Pumphrey
Defensive Players of the Year
Damontae Kazee
Calvin Munson
Dr. R. Hardy/C.E. Peterson Memorial Trophy
Captain’s Awards
Jake Fely
Dakota Gordon
Pearce Slater
J.J. Whittaker
President’s Award
High Academic Achievement
Pierre Romain
Most Inspirational Players
Jake Fely
J.J. Whittaker
Most Valuable Special Teams Player
Rashaad Penny
Outstanding Freshman Award
Parker Baldwin
Offensive Lineman of the Year
Pearce Slater
Defensive Lineman of the Year
Alex Barrett
Offensive Scout Team Player of the Year
Ryan Agnew
Defensive Scout Team Player of the Year
Kyahva Tezino
Special Teams Scout Team Player of the Year
Jeff Clay
