EARLY SIGNING PERIOD: Snap decisions ... Area football players sign to continue playing careers at Division I level

By JASON ELLIOTT

Sports writer

Coeur d’Alene High senior football player Jace Eastlick likes to go unnoticed.

And maybe, he will eventually.

But Washington noticed.

Now, it’s up to the 6-foot-2, 210 pound long snapper to make sure that stays that way.

Eastlick was one of three Vikings to sign during the early signing period for football on Wednesday.

“It’s nothing that I thought I’d be playing college football for at all,” Eastlick said. “We used to own a business and one of our workers, Joe Dyer, his son Kellen Dyer was a long snapper for Post Falls High. In third grade, I’d watch Kellen and we got back in contact with Joe a few years ago and he got me going on the long snapping thing.”

Eastlick has been traveling to meet with instructor Chris Rubio in Lewiston, who has helped a number of athletes land at college programs.”

“Not a lot of people know who I am on the field as the snapper,” said Eastlick, who started the season at left tackle and moved to right tackle for the playoffs. “It’s kind of special. The only way that someone will know who I am is if I mess up. I really kind of like having that low profile.”

Eastlick added he’s learned from Cody Clements, who snapped at Eastern.

“He’s one of my role models and I’ve based a lot of my game off him,” said Eastlick of Clements, another of Rubio’s students. “He’s helped me quite a bit in this.”

Shea Robertson, a 6-1, 215-pound linebacker, also had interest from Montana, Idaho and Weber State, as well as a handful of NAIA schools in Montana before committing to Eastern Washington over the summer.

“Eastern Washington was the first Division I program to offer me and just kept in touch with me,” Robertson said. “They seemed to care about me a lot and I liked the coaches and atmosphere there. There’s really no doubt in my mind that’s where I wanted to be. They were first and that’s where I wanted to be.”

Robertson had 173 tackles this fall.

At Eastern, Robertson will play alongside Post Falls’ Asher Bowie, who signed to play tight end on Wednesday.

“We’ll still be going at each other in practice, but it’s cool to have someone that I’ve been playing three years against on the same team as me,” Robertson said. “To get to watch him and be excited when he makes a good play instead of ticked off will be nice.”

As Camden McGraw describes, wherever the Washington State football program plays its game is perfectly fine with him.

“Washington State has been my school for quite a while,” said DeGraw, a 6-5, 230 pound defensive end. “I was more worried about what kind of coaches they were and getting the best opportunity to be as good as I can be. Even if those guys were somewhere else, that coaching staff felt like home to me. It’s the people that made it feel like home. It’s the place — but it’s both for me.”

DeGraw finished with 25 tackles, five for loss for Coeur d’Alene.

Bowie had 36 receptions for 453 yards and three touchdowns for Post Falls.

“Eastern has a lot of returning starters coming back,” Bowie said. “I really like that it’s close to home and all the coaching staff is really involved. They use the tight end a bunch and run a lot of the same routes we did in high school.”

Bowie also talked with Idaho and Montana before committing to Eastern Washington.

“I’m super excited to get going,” Bowie said. “I feel like it’s a great fit for me.”

Lakeland senior kicker Owen Forsman is so bought into what Idaho Vandal coach Jason Eck has been doing in Moscow that he couldn’t wait to get to Moscow.

No, really.

Forsman intends to graduate early, with his final day of high school today before starting the spring semester at Idaho on Jan. 7.

“I’m a little excited for sure,” Forsman said. “My teachers have been great at helping me get everything sorted out. I’ll still be able to come back for prom and graduation. Coach Eck said I could come home, even if we’ve got practice, so that’s nice.”

At Idaho, Forsman (5-11, 172 pounds) will be a placekicker, in line to replace Ricardo Chavez, who declared for the NFL Draft last week.

“I got to talk to him quite a bit and it was really special getting to know him,” Forsman said. “It’s a huge opportunity and he told me to make the most of it. It’s a great opportunity to play there with the direction the program is headed. I’m excited for it.”

Cade Coffey, a former Lakeland High kicker, kicked and punted at Idaho from 2016 to 2021.

“I’m pretty stoked to follow in his footsteps,” Forsman said. “It’s really cool to be able to do that. Knowing them both is really sweet.”

Idaho: The Vandals signed 28 high school players to national letters of intent (some as walk-ons, most on scholarship) on Wednesday, the first day of the early signing period.

Kicker Owen Forsman of Lakeland was the lone North Idaho player to sign, but Idaho also inked two from the Spokane area — Aaron Kinsey, a wide receiver from Rogers, and Jayden “Diezel” Wilkinson, a safety from East Valley.

“Forsman was probably our best guy on kickoffs in camp (last summer),” Idaho coach Jason Eck said. “And I thought Kinsey and Diezel were the two best guys in Spokane.”

Wilkinson, like Forsman, plans to enroll at Idaho in January.

Idaho also signed four from the Boise area, including Eagle tight end Cal Huish, who plans to take a two-year LDS Church mission before becoming a Vandal.

The quarterback in the class is Holden Bea of Washougal (Wash.) High, brother of Idaho women's basketball player Jaiden and former Vandal Beyonce Bea, now at Washington State. Bea passed for 8,561 yards and 106 touchdowns at Washougal.

The Vandals signed six offensive linemen, including three-star tackle Nathan Knapik, brother of honorable mention All-Big Sky honoree Ayden Knapik. Nathan Knapik was also recruited by Washington State. Idaho also signed four tight ends and five wide receivers. The Vandals lost their top three receivers from this season — two opted for the NFL draft, and one entered the transfer portal.

On defense, Idaho added three edge rushers and three safeties out of nine total defensive players.

Among the signees were twins Wiley (edge) and Gus Donnerberg (tight end).

Seventeen of the 28 players signed Wednesday attended Idaho football camps. 

“Still a big commitment to offensive line, tight end and defensive line,” Eck said. “I think those are the keys to victory in FCS football. Follow the recipe that North Dakota State started and South Dakota State has taken over. We’re going to continue to recruit those positions until we’re really good.”

The late signing period begins Feb. 7, where Idaho could potentially add junior college or four-year school transfers in the coming weeks.

Washington State: DeGraw was part of a signing class of 23, including 21 high school players.

The quarterback in the class is Evans Chuba of Montreal, who attended Clearwater Academy International in Florida.

As for the only two schools that didn't leave the Pac-12, Washington State signed more than twice as many players as Oregon State did Wednesday. Neither signed any players regarded as four-star recruits by the 247Sports Composite.

Eastern Washington: The Eagles signed 23 players — 15 on offense and eight on defense. Ten of the 23 recruits came from the state of California, eight from Washington, two from Idaho and one each from Arizona, British Columbia and Nevada.

Of linebacker Shea Robertson of Coeur d’Alene, EWU coaches said: "Shea paved his own path by coming to camp. You will hear him hitting people from the stands. A linebacker's linebacker."

Of tight end Asher Bowie of Post Falls, Eagle coaches said: "Asher is a multiple sport athlete that was on our short list since the beginning of the recruiting process. He excelled at our team camp as an individual, during the camp circuit and throughout his senior season. He is a great athlete at 6-foot-5 and has the length to play the ‘Y’ in our offense. Asher is an excellent student in the classroom and has an extremely high ceiling on the field."

The early signing period opened at 7 a.m. on Wednesday and will run through 11:59 p.m. on Friday. Outside of transfers, recruiting will then go quiet until Feb. 7, when the regular period opens until the beginning of April. 

The quarterback in the class is Jake Schakel, from Emerald Ridge High in Puyallup, Wash., who chose the Eags over reported offers from Colorado State, Florida Atlantic and Nevada.

Boise State: The Broncos signed 16 players.

The QB in the class is Kaleb Annett, from Corona del Mar High in Newport Beach, Calif.

Montana: The Griz signed 16 players, including quarterback Luke Flowers of Rigby High.

Information from wire and news services was also used in this story.

    JASON ELLIOTT/Press From left: Coeur d'Alene seniors Shea Robertson, Camden DeGraw and Jace Eastlick signed letters of intent to play football at the Division I level on Thursday. Robertson signed with Eastern Washington, McGraw at Washington State and Eastlick at Washington.
  

    Courtesy photo Lakeland senior Owen Forsman signed his letter of intent to play football at Idaho on Wednesday. In the back row, from left are Lakeland head football coach Mike Schroeder, Lakeland athletic director Matt Neff and kicking coach Seth Harrison. In the front are Travis Forsman (father), Katie Forsman (mother), Owen Forsman and Addi Forsman (sister).