Calif. high school filling up Devils' line
Arizona State is bolstering its offensive line with players from Norco (Calif.) High School.
Just before camp opened this summer, redshirt freshman Adam Tello was promoted to starting right tackle after junior Richard Tuitu'u decided not to play.
Garth Gerhart, another redshirt freshman, will snap the ball to quarterback Rudy Carpenter if starting center Thomas Altieri suffers an injury.
And true freshman Kyle Johnson, the tallest Sun Devil at 6 feet 7, is a left tackle who could play if injuries mount.
The three lined up on the same side two years ago, paving the way to Norco's second consecutive California Interscholastic Federation Southern Division sectional football title.
Three years ago, Tello (6-2, 283) and Gerhart (6-1, 305) were part of the line that helped Gerhart's older brother Toby (now a junior at Stanford) end up with the third-most career rushing yards (9,662) in national high school football history.
In 2006, Tello and Garth Gerhart were named co-most valuable player of the federation's Eastern Division.
Norco, which is in southern California, is an offensive-line pipeline to ASU.
"As long as I remember, Norco had great linemen,"
said Gerhart, whose father, Todd, is the head coach of the high school's football team. "I think like three or four linemen already came here before."
SU discovered Johnson, who weighs 287 pounds, while recruiting Tello and Gerhart. They'll have to learn how to protect the passer.
"That's all we had,"
Tello said of his high school team's ground game. "We passed like two times a game."
