Chabot Football Sends Big Cast To Next Level

Most of the hype around a football team centers on the marquee talent, the guys with great size and the big arms, but head coaches like Eric Fanene at Chabot College know they’d be lost without all those tweeners in the ranks.

The guys who step up are often key to the season.

On Thursday, Chabot defensive coordinator Jerome Manos, also a college counselor, proudly announced a group of 17 hard-working Gladiators who earned scholarships with four-year programs.
“We always talk at Chabot about placing everybody and it shows,” Fanene said. “A lot of those guys didn’t get a whole lot of playing time for us and they still were able to continue their playing careers and get it paid for, so that’s really big for us. We really hang our hat on that.”
Fanene says it’s the smaller, 5-foot-11 and 215-pound center “that we place that we’re really proud of, especially when they’re local. Nothing against our out-of-state guys, obviously, because that’s awesome too when you bring a guy from out of state and place him.”
Fanene feels fortunate to have Manos on board on the academic side because he puts in “just as much time” helping place people.
In a post about the signings, Manos wrote, “The Chabot College Football team is very proud of the number of young men who have transferred this year from our program!”
Manos thanked all the people in the athletics department who played a part in the process, including Athletic Department Dean Kevin Kramer and Athletic Director Jeff Drouin, training staff, faculty and administrators.
Here are the 17 Chabot football players moving on so far (college on parenthesis):
Traveon Auzenne, E.E Worthing High School, Houston (Kentucky Christian).
Chris Bacos, H.P. Baldwin High, Wailuku HI (SW Assemblies of God)
Chris Bustos, Mt. Eden High (Avila College)
Kupono Durate, Kamehameha High School, Makawao HI (Eastern New Mexico)
Jeremiah Famor, San Leandro High (Simon Fraser)
Khyri Harris, Oakland High (Kentucky Christian)
Hali'i Iaea, Kailua High, Kailua HI (SW Assemblies of God)
Andre Johnson, Skyline High (Briar Cliff Christian U)
Aloali'i Laga, Baldwin High, Wailuku HI (SW Assemblies of God)
Roberto Lopez, Mt. Eden High (Avila College)
Neami Politoni, Oakland High (US Marine Corps)
Ernesto Ponce, Washington High (Sterling College)
Najee Rushing, Skyline High (Mid-America Nazarene)
Eric Tafeamalii, Arroyo High (Redlands)
Marlon Torrence, Oakland High (Bethany College)
Chris Washington, J Frank Dobie High, Houston (Kentucky Christian)
Darriell Wells, Ponchatoula High, Ponchatoula La. (Western Illinois)