Still, people are talking about All-Americans already. And when they do, Idaho State junior Jared Allen is one of the players being mentioned for the honor.

Allen, who started his prep career at Live Oak, was a standout performer for Los Gatos during his senior year and went on to play in the 2000 Silicon Valley Youth Classic Charlie Wedemeyer High School All-Star Football Game before winning a full scholarship to Idaho State.

It was Allen's brilliant sophomore season as a Bengal that helped him catch the eye of the college football forecasters, and he's been tabbed a pre-season Division 1-AA All-American by The Sports Network. What's more, the National Football League has already noticed the big 6-foot-6, 275-pound defensive end.

"I have a letter on my desk from the Oakland Raiders," said Butch Cattolico, Allen's high school football coach at Los Gatos. "They want to draft him."

And Cattolico thinks the former Wildcat is a sure bet to make it in the NFL.

"He's going to get to the pros as a long snapper for sure," said the Gatos coach of Allen, who long snaps and plays defensive end at Idaho. "But he's big and fast enough to give any team some time at defensive end. I think he's a can't miss."

Allen burst onto the scene at Los Gatos High School for his senior season and raised the bar for the Wildcats.

"He was probably the most physical player we've had at the school," said Cattolico. "He picked up the whole level of practice for us. He would go 100 percent every day in practice."

"He really was a spark to the program, coming in like that," he added. "He was a hard-working kid, and he'd have some hits that would turn games around."

Allen was certainly a factor in the 26th annual summer all-star game at Spartan Stadium when he led the North squad with nine tackles, including three for losses.

"He was bigger, stronger and faster than anyone else out there," said Cattolico, "and he had a little bit of a nasty attitude. If there was a difference between hitting someone and not hitting 'em, he would hit someone."

Allen went on to continue his defensive dominance at Idaho State. He led the Bengals with 16 tackles for losses last year, and he also recorded 6.5 quarterback sacks. He was named to the All-Big Sky Conference first team and was a third-team All-American.

"Idaho State was the only place that offered him a full scholarship," said Cattolico. "I told him he could wait, but he said he thought he'd enjoy playing there."

The plan was to redshirt Allen his first year at Idaho, but the Bengals couldn't wait either. The big defensive end was raring to play, and saw action in eight games in his first season at Idaho.

Allen earned a starting role as a sophomore, and he will be back at defensive end for the Bengals this fall, with his sights set on winning a spot on the All-American team and eventually playing in the National Football League.

The way Cattolico sees it, he's a "can't miss."

Van Hoesen at Cal

Greg Van Hoesen of Saratoga, last year's outstanding linebacker in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League, will now be making his tackles for the Golden Bears. Van Hoesen accepted a full ride to UC-Berkeley.

Jackson in Denver

Nathan Jackson has been around since graduating from Pioneer High School in 1997.

A star receiver for the Mustangs, he starred in the Charlie Wedemeyer summer classic, but he didn't get much attention when he walked on at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

Determined that he could still play, Jackson transferred to Menlo College to play for former Dallas Cowboys star Doug Cosbie. It was at Menlo that Jackson stepped back into the spotlight, starring again as a receiver and earning a place in the East-West Shrine Game. He caught 261 passes for 3,976 yards and 43 touchdowns for Menlo to earn All-American honors at the Division III school.

Jackson caught the eye of Bill Walsh and was signed by the San Francisco 49ers, but once again struggled. A nagging shoulder injury kept him from earning a spot on the club, and he was traded to the Denver Broncos earlier this summer.

It turned out to be a good deal for the Broncos and Jackson. He played well enough in the exhibition season to earn a place on the Denver practice squad. And with Jackson's history, don't be surprised to see him on the field for the Broncos before the season's end.

Edwards a Card

Los Gatos has had a string of outstanding quarterbacks through the years, but none was better than 2002 graduate Trent Edwards.

Edwards won every award conceivable after leading the Wildcats to a 13-0 season that included De Anza Division and Central Coast Section championships. He was the named the league's most valuable player and he was selected the CCS player of the year. And then he was selected by the Stanford Cardinal.

Edwards earned a full ride to Stanford and is now a redshirt freshman battling a senior for the starting job at quarterback.

The Wildcat caught Stanford's eye as a junior when he set a state record for completion percentage at 78.1 (completing 125 of 160 passes for 2,550 yards and 29 TDs). He didn't match that mark as a senior, but he came close with an impressive 72.3 completion mark (154 of 213 for 2,535 yards and 29 TDs).

Simontacchi a Card

When Fremont's Jason Simontacchi was named the De Anza Athletic League's most valuable player in 1991, he appeared to have a bright future in football.

Well, he did have a bright future—just not in football. Simontacchi chose to pursue his baseball career, and he's done so successfully. He's now a pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Mustangs play on

Two former Pioneer football players have continued their careers at the four-year college level. Nick DaValle is playing at the University of Puget Sound in Washington and James Dunne is in the line at St. Mary's College in Moraga.

Cats continue

Edwards and Allen top a list of many Los Gatos Wildcats who are currently playing football at the four-year college level.

Ryan Sorahan, a 1999 Los Gatos grad, is playing quarterback at Arkansas, and others include: Scott Cohn, University of San Diego; Brent Edwards, Harvard; Nick Crafford, College of the Redlands; Scott Soucy and Derek Smith, Columbia; Adam Toeniskoetter, Central Florida; Ryan O'Gorman, University of Nevada-Reno; Joey Warren, Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo; Derek Tam, University of San Diego; Dennis Freeman, Humboldt; and Austin Neale, Whitworth College.

Dons still playing

De Anza College currently has a number of former players now competing at the four-year college level. Among them are: David Ashkinoz (Oak Grove) and Toeniskoetter (Los Gatos), Central Florida; Jaye Reinman (Homestead), Southwest State University; Jay Mai (Turlock), Virginia Union; Eddie Eyo (Milpitas), Eastern Oregon; Gordon Hawley (Lynbrook), Montana State; Ben Gamble (Santa Teresa), Langston University; Rob Amjad (Oak Grove), Stonybrook; Jason Tomlinson (Westmont), Concordia; Mitch Andrade (Cupertino), Rod Banks (Santa Teresa) and Steve Adams (Milpitas), Mayville State University; and Scott Junk (Hawaii), Southwest Oklahoma.