Program on the rise: Heritage Patriots

By Derrell Warren

Jamal Morrow and Darius Allensworth this past National Signing Day (February 6th, 2013)





For the past two decades prep football in Southern California football has been ruled by powers such as Long Beach Poly, Mission Viejo, Mater Dei, Bishop Amat, Dorsey, and Crenshaw. These programs have left an indelible mark on both the regional and national high school sports landscape. Not only have they established themselves as annual favorites for league and CIF championships, but they have also proven themselves to be constant sources of elite-level talent for college programs. 

  

Now, even though the football program at Menifee, California’s Heritage high school has only competed at the varsity level for seven years, it has established as a burgeoning resource of college-level gridiron talent. This past February defensive back Darius Allensworth (Cal) and 2,000 yard rusher; Jamal Morrow (Washington State) signed on to play at Pac-12 programs (teammates Julio Calix and Marvin Hifo both signed on to continue their careers at division II Western New Mexico, respectively). 


2013 however, is the season that Heritage stands poised to kick down the door and produce an even greater number of football signees as an impressive 37 total colleges visited the Patriots to observe spring practice. 

This past weekend, the Patriots ventured to San Diego to compete in the annual 7 on 7 competition hosted by San Diego State University. After going 3-0 in pool play on Friday, the Patriots went 4-1 in Saturday's tournament competition. Good enough for a quarterfinal appearance.

Before the tournament we caught with defensive back McKinley Grant, tight end Evan Rodriquez, and athlete Matthew Palmer. We discussed not only the tournament, but also recruiting, and how they've used the off-season to improve their individual games. Enjoy!