Last Saturday’s highlight reel San Diego State-Stanford Cardinal college football game at San Diego Stadium featured a slew of San Diego County high school products on both teams — 19 on SDSU and eight on Stanford.
Highlighting the matchup between area players was a battle of Saintsmen: Frank Buncom IV for Stanford and Tariq Thompson for SDSU. Both are recent graduates of St. Augustine High School — Buncom in 2015 and Thompson in 2017.
Buncom won two CIF San Diego Section championships with the Saints. He was among a half dozen South County Saintsmen in a 49-0 win over Mission Bay in 2013 at then Qualcomm Stadium. He also was involved in a dramatic 49-42 come-from-behind win over Madison at Southwestern College in 2014.
Buncom racked up 795 total yards during his three-year varsity career, including 783 receiving yards.
Thompson played three varsity seasons (2014-16), amassing 1,167 receiving yards.
Buncom, listed second on the Stanford depth chart at safety, entered last Saturday’s game with six tackles. He added one to that total in the loss to SDSU.
Thompson had seven tackles, including one for a loss, and one interception in SDSU’s opening two games. He was credited with two tackles, including one unassisted tackle, in the Aztecs’ statement win over Stanford.
Thompson and the Aztecs got the better of Buncom and the 19th-ranked Cardinal in a 20-17 upset win.
Both players are representing St. Augustine with pride and honor at the next level.
“Frank and Tariq are both amazing players, leaders on the field and in the community,” Saints assistant coach Gary Osberg said. “Also, both possess extremely high football intelligence that allows them to innately process the variety of variables that are happening during a game.
“Frank has an amazing sense of anticipation that allows him to put himself between the receiver and the ball and to come out of coverage for crucial hits.
“Tariq has a tactical mind that allows him to understand how the whole coverage works in reining in the offensive assault and how to communicate the formation changes to make sure everyone in the secondary is on the same page.”
Another battle of Saintsmen will occur this Saturday when Stanford (Buncom) hosts UCLA (Michael Alves) in a Pac-12 contest.
Buncom’s name should be familiar; he is the grandson of former Chargers Ring of Honor inductee Frank Buncom Jr. who played from 1962-67 during the team’s days in the American Football League and was a three-time AFL All-Star selection.
San Diego Stadium opened during Buncom’s final season with the Chargers, thus creating some family history with Buncom the grandson also playing on the same field as Buncom the grandfather both as a high school and now college player.
Senior linebacker/tight end Ike Hall is a current Saintsman who remains inspired by his former teammates.
“I went to school with both of them, we were on the same team,” said Hall who played in Friday’s 19-14 come-from-behind non-league win at Otay Ranch High School. “As a freshman and sophomore, I looked up to them. Now seeing them play at this level has helped influence me in deciding where to commit.”
Through four games, Hall, who has yet to make a formal commitment to play at the next level, has made 15 tackles and recorded two sacks. The Saints improved to 2-2 following the win over the Mustangs (2-2).
Senior J.R. Justice had a big night in the win over Otay Ranch with six catches for 142 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winner. He has caught four touchdown passes to date this season.
St. Augustine’s head coach is Richard Sanchez, an alumnus of Sweetwater High School in National City.
The Saints host third-ranked Helix (2-1) in their next game on Friday, Sept. 22
Gold stars
Besides the two Saintsmen, also highlighting the matchup between area players was a battle of twin brothers: Mikah Holder (SDSU) and Alijah Holder (Stanford). Both attended Oceanside High School.
Mikah Holder had seven catches for 85 yards to lead SDSU receivers while Alijaj Holder was credited with four tackles.
Among Stanford’s stable of San Diego County players, junior punter Jake Bailey (Santa Fe Christian) punted six times for a 38.7 average, with a longest punt of 52 yards, while also recording four touchbacks on four kick-offs (65.0 average).
Junior cornerback Quenton Meeks (Del Norte) recorded seven tackles on defense for the Cardinal while Jordan Perez (Carlsbad) made four stops and junior outside linebacker Casey Toohill (Cathedral Catholic) was credited with one tackle.
Among SDSU’s local players, senior safety Trey Lomax (Mira Mesa) had five tackles and one pass break-up while sophomore linebacker Troy Cassidy (Carlsbad) had one tackle. Lomax entered the Stanford game leading the Aztecs with 11 tackles on the season.
Red and Black
SDSU’s victory against Stanford was one of the most meaningful wins in program history. The win allowed SDSU (3-0) to jump into the No. 22 position in the latest Associated Press poll.
Prior to defeating Stanford, SDSU recorded an equally mesmerizing 30-20 win at Arizona State on Sept. 9.
Aztec head coach Rocky Long remained predictably modest after the ground-breaking win over the Cardinal. “All I do is facilitate letting players play, try to point them in the right direction, give them a scheme that gives them a chance to win,” he said. “Players win games, coaches do not. So I’m proud of them. I’m happy for them.
“In fact, one long run was my fault because I called a lousy defense. If I’d have called the right defense, they might not have scored as many points as they did.”
At game’s end, hundreds of students swarmed the field, which Long admitted was “a little scary.”
“All those college kids running out there, I didn’t know what to think,” the SDSU head coach said. “But, no, I thought it was really neat. I thought it was cool.”
The Aztecs, who are 24-3 in their last 27 games, are ranked for the first time this season after finishing 25th in the 2016 final poll.
SDSU is stationed between No. 21 South Florida and No. 23 Utah, both with 3-0 records. Alabama and Clemson, both 3-0, top the latest AP poll. Following them are Oklahoma (third), Penn State (fourth) and USC (fifth), also 3-0.
Stanford dropped out of the latest poll.
Aztec players are understandably stoked about the Top 25 ranking this early in the season.
“No one gave us a chance but the guys in our room, our coaches, the guys on our floor,” junior quarterback Christian Chapman said. “The people around us believed in us. That was the expectation … we don’t care who you are, we’re going to play smash-mouth football and compete with you. I think that shows the nation we’re 3-0.”
Players of the week
San Diego State senior captains Rashaad Penny (Offensive Player of the Week) and Kameron Kelly (Defensive Player of the Week) each were named Mountain West Players of the Week following the latest Aztec victory.
It is the third consecutive player of the week award for Penny, who earned honors as the Walter Camp National FBS Offensive Player of the Week after collecting a career-high 216 rushing yards and a touchdown while also scoring on a 99-yard kick return and adding 38 receiving yards and a touchdown in the win over Arizona State.
Penny amassed 353 all-purpose yards in the win over the Sun Devils — the most this season in a FBS game.
Penny rushed a career-high 32 times for 175 yards against Stanford while adding a career-high five receptions for 31 yards. He scored on a four-yard run with 43 seconds left in the first half to put the hosts in front 10-7.
Kelly recorded six tackles, including five unassisted tackles, with a career-high two sacks, career-best two tackles for loss, his first career forced fumble and an interception.
The interception stopped Stanford’s final drive to preserve the win for the Aztecs as they went into victory formation.
Penny leads the nation in rushing yards (588), rushing yards per game (196.0) and all-purpose yards (774). He is second in overall touchdowns with six.
Kelly ranks third on the team with 15 tackles, including 14 solo stops (tied for the team lead). He has also three tackles for loss, two sacks, two pass breakups, an interception and a forced fumble.
It was a complete victory by the Aztecs, playing in front of an announced crowd of 43,040.
SDSU’s defense limited Stanford to six three-and-outs, forced three turnovers — the Cardinal had not turned the ball over in six straight games and had just two turnovers combined in its last eight games. The Aztecs dominated the time of possession: 41:14 to 18:46.
The 18:46 time of possession was the fewest time of possession for a Stanford team since at least 1996.
The Aztecs out-gained Stanford 358 to 238 in total yards.
Offensively, the Aztecs received field goals of 43 and 36 yards from John Baron, Penny’s short TD run and a eight-yard scoring pass from Chapman to David Wells with 54 seconds to play to stand up as the game-winning touchdown.
SDSU led, 3-0, after Baron connected on the 43-yard field goal with 6:28 to play in the first quarter.
The visitors went ahead, 7-3, on a 51-yard breakaway run by Stanford’s Bryce Love with 1:20 left in the quarter.
After Penny’s second quarter touchdown put the hosts in front, Baron added to the Aztec lead with the 36-yard field goal midway through the third quarter to make the score 13-10.
However, the visitors came back with a 20-yard field goal by Jet Toner and a 53-yard breakaway run by Love to close out the third quarter and, in the process, move in front 17-13.
Baron missed a 50-yard field goal attempt early in the fourth quarter.
The game had an exciting conclusion, Chapman’s game-winning TD pass notwithstanding.
The stadium went dark with 3:58 to play with SDSU in possession of the football near midfield. It took about 20 minutes for power to be restored and the stadium lights to come back on.
The Aztecs continued to mark down field to electrify the crowd with Wells’ TD catch.
Chapman, despite being sacked six times by the Stanford defense, completed 21 of 29 passing attempts for 187 yards and one touchdown.
Ron Smith had an interception return for 22 yards while Damon Moore had a fumble recovery to help key the SDSU defensive effort. Smith led the team with seven tackles in the game, followed by Kelly with six.
Love led the Cardinal with 184 net rushing yards and two touchdowns. Stanford quarterback Keller Chryst completed eight of 19 passing attempts for just 56 yards. He was sacked four times.
The Aztecs now embark on a trip to Colorado Springs to play the Air Force Academy in their first conference game. The Falcons enter the Sept. 23 game with a 1-1 record on the season.
SDSU, which is 3-0 for the second straight season and for just the third time over the last 36 years, is bidding to win its third consecutive Mountain West championship.
Aztecs in the NFL
Two weeks into the NFL regular season, former Aztecs are helping their teams in the league.
San Diego State has 11 former players on rosters throughout the National Football League, with two on practice squads and three on injured reserve.
For the Arizona Cardinals, starting long snapper Aaron Brewer snapped the ball for kicker Phil Dawson four times for field goal attempts and five times for punter Andy Lee in Arizona’s 16-13 overtime win against the host Indianapolis Colts on Sept. 17.
Brewer was a long snapper for the Aztecs from 2008-11 on both punts and field goals, and was three-time Mountain West all-academic pick and scholar athlete.
Backing up starting wide receiver Dez Bryant for the Dallas Cowboys, Brice Butler had a fourth-quarter 18-yard catch in the Cowboys’ 42-17 loss to the host Denver Broncos.
In his lone season with San Diego State in 2012 following a three-year career at USC, Butler played in all 13 games with eight starts, recording 24 catches for 347 yards and four touchdowns. He was a seventh-round pick of the Oakland Raiders in the 2013 NFL Draft.
Starting in his first career NFL game at linebacker, Calvin Munson of the New York Giants recorded seven solo tackles with one assisted tackle and one sack in the Monday Night Football game against the Detroit Lions, a 24-10 Lions victory.
Munson, who started all 41 games at outside linebacker from 2014-16 for SDSU, finished his collegiate career ranked sixth in tackles (301) and ninth in sacks (18.0). He was a three-time all-Mountain West pick, including a first-team selection each of his final two seasons. Munson signed with the Giants as an undrafted free agent following the 2017 NFL Draft.
Munson’s New York Giants teammate, safety Nat Berhe, assisted on one tackle against the Lions. Berhe was a three-year starter from 2010-13 and was the first Aztec safety in the MW era (since 1999) to earn all-conference honors in three consecutive seasons.
Munson and Berhe played against defensive end Alex Barrett on the Lions. On two snaps, Barrett did not record any statistics. An undrafted free agent signing by the Lions, Barrett was the first Aztec defensive lineman to earn first-team all-MW honors multiple times. He finished his SDSU career tied for fourth in sacks (19.0) and tied for seventh in tackles for loss (40.0).
Atlanta Falcons safety Damontae Kazee lined up for five snaps against the Green Bay Packers in the teams’ nationally-telecast Sunday Night Football matchup on Sept. 17. The Falcons won 34-23.
A cornerback in college, Kazee was selected by the Falcons in the fifth round of the 2017 NFL Draft. Kazee finished his final year with 65 tackles (45 solo), seven interceptions for 156 yards, eight pass breakups, three tackles for loss and a quarterback hurry en route to being named the MW Defensive Player of the Year for a second straight season.
Kazee, a three-time all-MW selection over his career (first team in 2015-16, second team in 2014), finished with a school-record 17 interceptions, 30 pass breakups (sixth at SDSU) and 214 interception yards (seventh at SDSU).
Baltimore Ravens offensive lineman Nico Siragusa, Philadelphia Eagles running back Donnel Pumphrey and Dallas Cowboys cornerback Leon McFadden are on their teams’ respective injured lists.
Offensive linemen Daniel Brunskill (Atlanta Falcons) and Darrell Greene (Green Bay Packers) are both practice squad players.
— SDSU media release
St. Augustine Alumni
Playing at the Next Level
Stanford: Frank Buncom IV (2015)
SDSU: Tariq Thompson (2017)
USD: Aidan Valencia (2016), K.J. Mahoney (2014)
NAU: Rodney Thompson (2017), Cole Habib (2014)
San Jose State: Francoise Sims (2016)
Pomona-Pitzer: Andew Hefler (2016)
UCLA: Michael Alves (2016)
Harding University: Jonathan Lewis (2017)
Naval Academy: Christ Gesell (2015)
UDLAP (Mexico): Jordan Brooks (2016)
Chapman: Jacob Baker (2016)
