Houston proves to be top 2012 recruit

Bart Houston continues to mature as a quarterback and last weekend was a perfect learning experience for the 2012 prospect from Concord (Calif.) De La Salle.

His team trailed Las Vegas (Nev.) Bishop Gorman by a touchdown at halftime and things weren't looking too good but Houston calmed down, took control and led De La Salle to a 28-14 victory.

Houston threw a touchdown pass in the second half and more importantly commanded his team in the huddle and showed why many believe he's one of the top junior quarterbacks in California.

"It was a very big challenge," Houston said. "In the first half we didn't do very well and in the second half we just started to pick it up and stopped making simple mistakes and started to play our game.

"I took a lot over. In the first half, I'm not going to lie, I wasn't scared, not anything, I was just like in awe of how big they were. The coaches told me not to do that and look what happened - we were down 14-7 in the first half. In the second half we picked it up. We calmed down. We knew this was a big game and we just played our ball."

The De La Salle quarterback attended camps at USC, UCLA and Stanford this summer along with stops at the Berkeley Elite 11 and Palo Alto NIKE Camp but said recruiting is on the back burner at this point.

Many Pac-10 schools are expected to be involved in Houston's recruitment. UCLA is expected to watch De La Salle's game against Oct. 8 against Pleasanton Amador Valley when the Bruins head north for their game against Cal.

More than anything, Houston is focused on continuing a strong junior season, leading one of the most-storied high school programs and feels recruiting will be fine as long as he keeps playing well.

"Recruiting is not on my mind right now," Houston said. "There isn't much, just a couple letters but I'm really focused on winning on this field. The rest will take care of itself."