Cali Linebacker Making the Grade
Junior to Watch: Josh Stephens
School: Bakersfield (Calif.) West
Advertisement
Position: Linebacker/Fullback
Size and Speed: Stephens stands 6-foot-2, weighs 220 pounds and runs the 40 in 4.6. His bench is 275unds, squat 425 power clean 275 and he has recorded a 29-inch vertical jump. Stephens is super sized smart with a 4.3 GPA on a scale of 4.0. That means straight A’s in honors courses.
Honors: Stephens was selected Defensive Player of the Year for his league, all-state, all-area, and all-county as a junior.
Statistics: Stephens accumulated 132 tackles, eight tackles for loss, six sacks, five fumbles caused, two fumble recoveries and one interception.
Favorite Colleges: Stephens is getting recruiting attention from major schools from the likes of Stanford, USC, UCLA, Oregon, Washington State, Oklahoma, Michigan and Northwestern.
Skinny: Stephens has been a starter since he walked on campus as a freshman four years ago. What makes that statement even more impressive is Stephens goes to a school with an enrolment of over 2,000 students. For a freshman to start at West high school is a rare thing indeed.
“Josh is so smart and so aggressive,” West head coach Rich Cornford said. “That is why he is always around the ball.”
Josh causes fumbles by stripping the ball loose or by straight up hitting an opponent hard,” Cornford said. “He’s a playmaker.”
To give you an indication on how good Stephens is he was voted his team’s MVP as a sophomore when he racked up 123 tackles and was an all-league and all-county choice.
Stephens was selected team-captain as a junior, which is a rare thing at West high school. He could end up being in the 400 career tackle club if he gets 129 stops in 2003.
“Josh is a great kid on top of being an outstanding football player,” Cornford said. “He’s a real level headed kid.”
Though Stephens will be a national recruit he would probably want to stay on the West Coast.
Stanford has a real good shot at land this one.