Two of the top BC High School football players - Taylor Loffler and Christian Covington - officially announced on Wednesday at the BC Lions Training Facility where they will be playing college football in the 2011 season.
Loffler, a 6'3", 195 lbs. linebacker/quarterback from Kelowna Secondary School and the 2010 BC High School Football AAA Player of the Year in 2010, revealed he will be joining the Boise State Broncos. He had already verbally committed to the program in the summer after an impressive performance at their camp in June.
"I didn't want the pressure of finding out where I wanted to go to college during my senior season," said Loffler when asked why he made the decision to join Boise State so early on in the process. "When they offered me [a scholarship] I basically took it right away."
Loffler, who became the first ever player from the Kelowna program to earn an NCAA Div I scholarship, is expected to play safety with Boise State meaning he will have to adjust to primarily playing on the defensive side of the game despite the fact last season, he was involved in a staggering 41 total TDs with Kelowna (20 passing, 16 rushing, 5 returns).
"It's good scoring touchdowns but you can score touchdowns on defence too," said Loffler. "It'll be different not scoring so many touchdowns but it's college, it's a step up so I'm not too worried about it."
Covington, a 6'3", 270 lbs. defensive end from Vancouver College who won the 2010 AAA Defensive Player of the Year award, will be joining the Rice Owls after drawing interest from several other programs.
"Officially I only had two offers - from Rice and Eastern Washington University," revealed Covington. "I had a lot of interest from other Pac-12 schools [and] a lot of Canadian [schools] and I'd just like to say thank you to all of them. I know they've been recruiting me and without them I know I probably wouldn't be in this situation right now."
Covington, who is the ninth Irish player since 2002 to receive an NCAA Div I scholarship, will be one of seven Canadians on the Owls roster including fellow BC-product DL Hosam Shahin of Hugh Boyd Secondary. The number of fellow Canadians, he admits, did have an impact on his ultimate decision to join the Owls.
"It wasn't the total factor but it did play a good part," said Covington. "I know talking with some of the international players and Canadian players they feel welcome, they feel at home. They say it was the right choice for them."
Christian is the son of Grover Covington, the CFL's all-time sack leader and member of the CFL Hall of Fame.
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