SoCal LB sets visit No. 1

Redlands East Valley (Calif.) kicked off their season last weekend against one of the top teams in Hawaii, Kamehameha, Honolulu. The Wildcats lost a heartbreaker 9-7 but linebacker Andre Ferguson played well in defeat.

Opening your season on the road in beautiful Hawaii is never a bad thing. Despite the narrow loss, the trip was still worth it for Ferguson.

"It was a pretty tough loss, no doubt about that," Ferguson said. "We were shutting them out until the middle of the fourth quarter. They kicked a field goal and then scored the go ahead touchdown with a little over a minute left in the game. We got the ball back and drove down the field but they picked us off at the six yard line with 20 seconds left and that was the game.

"It was still a good time and I was happy with how I played. It was our first game of the season and their fourth game so we were still kind of getting the rust off. I like our team a lot and still feel we have a chance to go far this season."

On the recruiting front, Ferguson, 6-3, 200 pounds recently set up his first official visit.

"I'm going to Arizona State (Sept. 29)," Ferguson said. "I like ASU a lot and it will be cool to see them on a game weekend. They're playing Oregon so it should be a pretty cool atmosphere. One of our players from last year, Lance Evbuomwan, signed with ASU last year so I'm pretty familiar with them already.

"ASU was one of the first schools to offer me. Utah, Wyoming, San Diego State, Colorado State, Kansas and UTEP have also offered and I really don't have a leader among that group right now. I'm just going to stay open, take all my trips and then see where the best fit for me is. Location doesn't really matter, I'm just looking for where I'll fit in the best and where I'm most comfortable with the coaches and players on the team."

Ferguson worked out at the NIKE Camp at USC with the linebackers but has the frame to bulk up in to a defensive end in college. He's a good athlete who jumped 34 inches in the vertical at the camp and had close to 100 tackles last season.