Big day for the Vikings

From local reports and news services

Five members of Coeur d'Alene High's state 5A championship football team finalized their college destinations Wednesday, and two others may be doing so soon.

Quarterback Gunnar Amos signed with Idaho; offensive lineman Matt James signed with Washington; tight end Chase Blakley, previously a Husky commit, signed with Boise State; center Austin Chadderdon accepted a preferred walkon offer from Montana; and right tackle Devin Ward signed with NAIA Montana Tech in Butte.

"That's a lot of kids getting rewarded for a lot of work put in," Coeur d'Alene High coach Shawn Amos said.

Amos said speedy wide receiver Addison Johnson has an offer to walk on at Stanford, and is waiting to see if he gets admitted. If not, he also has an offer from NAIA power Carroll College of Helena, Mont.

And linebacker Graham Thompson is deciding between Eastern Oregon in La Grande, Carroll and Montana Western in Dillon.

Chadderdon played receiver as a freshman at Coeur d'Alene, but was moved to the offensive line to fill a need. The Grizzlies recruited him as a fullback.

As for his son, Gunnar, who overcame a concussion and a broken ankle and missed the end of his senior season, "he has a chance to fulfill his dream," Shawn Amos said. "He's worked as hard as any kid I've ever known."

A look at area recruiting classes:

Washington: The 6-foot-5, 270-pound James, who wants to get into nanotechnology in the medical field, remained committed to the Huskies after coach Steve Sarkisian left for USC and Chris Petersen was hired from Boise State.

"We had him in our camp (at Boise State)," Petersen said. "And you want to talk about another OKG (Petersen's term for 'our kinda guy'), I was dying to get him over there, and he was very interested in the education here at Washington. Fabulous student; an O-lineman with a lot of upside. A wrestler; tough. I wish they were all wrestlers."

Petersen landed a gem to cap his first recruiting class at Washington.

Five-star defensive back Budda Baker, Washington state player of the year, was the top recruit to commit to Petersen and the Huskies. Baker announced his commitment on local television on Tuesday night and then confirmed it on Wednesday morning by sending his national letter of intent.

Petersen's first class of 24 players went in waves. He saw some players follow him from Boise State to Washington but also lost a few recruits who chose to follow former coach Steve Sarkisian to USC.

Baker was the top of the class, but Washington also was able to sign quarterback K.J. Carta-Samuels, cornerback Naijiel Hale and defensive lineman Kaleb McGary.

Boise State: The 6-4, 235-pound Blakley was one of two tight ends signed by the Broncos; the other being David Lucero.

"Those guys are both large men and they're going to get big and they can run," first-year BSU coach Bryan Harsin said. "You watch their tape and they're both physical. ... (tight end) has been very valuable for us. It has done a lot of things."

Blakley, a key receiving target down the stretch in Coeur d'Alene's title run last fall, remained committed to Washington through the coaching change until last week, when he flipped to Boise State.

"That's where he felt the most comfortable," Amos said. "I tell kids, you've got to go where you feel comfortable. It's a long process, a lot of competition. I think he's going to have an opportunity to play early."

Washington State: Washington State football coach Mike Leach announced a recruiting class of 22 players, led by quarterback Peyton Bender of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Leach said all the new recruits had other scholarship offers and that the Cougars did not have to settle for any players with questionable abilities.

Leach said this was the best class in his three recruiting seasons at Washington State.

"The thing that was important to us was to not settle on any of these guys," Leach said. "We were inclined to keep the scholarship than settle on a guy."

The class had more than a dozen three-star recruits. There were no four- or five-star recruits.

Of the new recruits, a dozen are from California, three are from Washington and two are from Florida.

The Cougars signed five defensive backs, four receivers, four linebackers and three defensive linemen.

Bender, 6-foot-1 and 185 pounds, is the 25th-rated pro-style quarterback in the nation. He played for Cardinal Gibbons High School, where he threw for 2,184 yards and 28 touchdowns in 10 games before breaking his collarbone.

Among the recruits is 190-pound running back Squally Canada of Milpitas, Calif., who rushed for 1,916 yards and 24 touchdowns last season. "He's very explosive," Leach said.

Offensive lineman Andre Dillard is the son of former WSU offensive lineman Mitch Dillard, Leach said.

"He's tall with huge hands and huge feet," Leach said. "He'll not do anything but get bigger."

Brandon Evers is a 290-pound offensive lineman from Redding, Calif., whom Leach described as "a big wall of offensive lineman."

"I thought we did a good job of getting a combination of size and speed," Leach said. "This is a more polished group than we've had the past two years."

Eastern Washington: Eagles coach Beau Baldwin announced a signing class of 26, including 22 from the state of Washington. One of the out-of-staters is Nick Ellison, a 6-foot-7, 245-pound offensive lineman from Moscow High.

Baldwin said Ellison's background reminds Baldwin of former Eagle and Tennessee Titan All-Pro offensive tackle Michael Roos when he was a high schooler. Like Roos, Ellison played only one year of high school football, but is an outstanding basketball player with exceptional height, development potential and quickness on his feet, Baldwin said.

Among the other area players signed include Mead defensive end Jonah Jordan, Ferris safety Cole Karstetter, North Central linebacker/defensive end Marcus Saugen and Mt. Spokane wide receiver/defensive back Stu Stiles.

Idaho State: Bengals coach Mike Kramer announced a list of 16 signees. Signings of note to North Idaho fans include tight end Nate Page from Highland High in Pocatello, and wide receiver Hagen Graves from Skyview High in Nampa. Graves transfered to Skyview for his senior season from Fruitland.

Montana: The Grizzlies announced nine signees, including running back Josh Buss from Mountain View High in Meridian, the All-Idaho 5A Player of the Year.