High School Football -- Big One On The Line

FEDERAL WAY - Marcus Mosby preened at the mirror, puffed up by the imposing image he cut in his football pads and jersey.

Until Victor Rogers sauntered up.

"You could just see his shadow," Mosby said. "It was like, `Wow, Victor, where'd you get all this?' "

All this is 6 feet 7, 311 pounds of athleticism, packed into a Decatur High School uniform. Mosby, a chiseled 5-11, 184, melts into the background next to the mammoth childhood friend he calls his brother. Even Rogers' mother, Cynthia Goins, who reaches 6-5 in spiked heels, is taken aback.

"Have you seen him in his pads and helmet?" she asked. "He's an absolute monster."

And absolutely the state's top line prospect in 1996. Rogers, an offensive and defensive tackle, has had contact from nearly every Division I football program in the country. Sports Illustrated lists him among the nation's top 25 recruits. He has a qualifying Scholastic Assessment Test score, with a grade-point average around 3.0, and recently received scholarship offers from Georgia Tech, UCLA and Arizona State.

When the college contact period opened Aug. 15, Rogers' phone rang at 12:15 a.m. It was Mike Barry, USC line coach, telling him he wanted to be the first to call.

"I've gotten 10 to 12 calls a day about him," Decatur Coach Kent Rodseth said. "I had four different people (college scouts) come through here this spring who told me he has the most potential of any kid they've seen around here in a long time. . . . They all tell me they haven't seen a kid as big as him with his athletic ability."

Not all scouting reports are as glowing. One recruiter, talking on condition of anonymity, said Rogers "isn't as big or as good as he looks on tape," implying he was more like 6-5, 260. Rodseth said if Rogers isn't a full 6-7, he's at least 6-6 1/2, and was 311 on the scales two weeks ago.

The recruiter said that while Rogers certainly is one of the state's top recruits, he is not on the same level as the state's top line recruits last season, Travis Claridge of Fort Vancouver (now at USC) and Chad Ward of River View (UW).

Rodseth bristled at the comments.

"They're comparing Victor where he is now to where those guys were at the end of their senior season," he said. "My thing is, if somebody doesn't like him, he'll go play with somebody else and come back and beat them."

Rogers lists Michigan, Washington, USC, Colorado, UCLA, Ohio State and Georgia Tech at the top of his current list. He is more concerned with how he plays this season, and how his team does, than scouting reports or preseason accolades.

"It's cool," he said of all the hype, "but I realize if I don't have a good year this year, it's all going to go away. I'll just be an average player who didn't live up to expectations. I have to keep things in perspective. And even if I have a great year individually and we don't have a good season as a team, I'm still not going to think it was very successful."

Last year, the spotlight at Decatur was on receiver Lewis Dawson, who signed with Notre Dame, where his brother Lake played before joining Kansas City in the NFL. Dawson, too, was disappointed with the Gators' 4-5 finish, although they won four of their final five South Puget Sound League games and just missed the playoffs.

Rogers, who played football and basketball at O'Dea as a freshman, arrived at Decatur as a very soft 6-5, 280.

"I had been dominant at all my sports just because of my size," he said. "My first varsity game of football (at Decatur), I was bigger than everybody, but I got pushed around. I was slow. I didn't want to go on like that for two years."

Rogers discovered the weight room and was a more muscular 280 as a junior. Toward the end of the season, he drew double- and triple-team attention and was in good enough condition to start defensively, as well. He became a first-team pick on offense in the All-SPSL North Division voting.

Then he really got serious. He opted for more time in the weight room over basketball, a sport he once thought would be his college ticket. Since November, Rogers said he has missed only 10 to 15 days of lifting. He ran a lot and played summer basketball - yes, he has a thunderous dunk - and plans to play for Decatur this winter.

Rogers, 17, is in the best shape of his life.

"He's really been working at it," Rodseth said. "He knows he's going to be the focus of attention on the football field. Everyone's going to be gunning for him."

Auburn Coach Bob Jones agrees.

"There won't be any off days for him," he said. "Every week, somebody's going to be really excited to play against him. That's a lot of pressure. Physically, he's gifted enough to handle it."

Emotionally and mentally, he may be, too, thanks in large part to his family. His mother was just 18 and unmarried when Victor was born.

"We basically grew up together," she said.

Cynthia attended night classes at the University of Washington with Victor beside her in her baby carrier. As he got older, she kept him active in sports and credits a large extended family for helping raise him right. Cynthia met Richard Goins in 1989 and they had a daughter, Andrea, two years later. Victor admits to being a doting older brother.

"He's as gentle as a kitten with her," Cynthia said.

She and Richard married in 1993 and moved the family to Federal Way the following year.

Victor, who has maintained a relationship with his father, said he never felt he fit in at O'Dea, and elected to attend Decatur as a sophomore. His mother and stepfather urged him to take advantage of his physical gifts to help create educational opportunities.

"We told Victor that, at 6-7, it would be a travesty for him to be driving a truck or pushing a broom," Cynthia said. "He'd be a huge man in an average-sized world. Physically, he started to catch up with the potential he had between his ears. He waddled in mediocrity and laziness for a long time, but thankfully the light finally came on. . . .

"We don't care if he ever plays a down of college football. We want him to get a first-class education. You never know what can happen, such as an injury. He needs to be able to rely on his brain."

Victor feels the pressure. Sometimes, he tires of opening the mail or answering the phone. But he never tires of the game he loves.

"All I can do is have fun and do my best," he said. "I can't do anything more than my best."

----------------------------------- Times 1996 preseason all-state team ----------------------------------- Pos Offense School Ht Wt Yr ------------------------------------------------------------. QB Drew Miller Lakes 6-1 180 Sr. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . RB Justin Johnson Bellevue 5-9 194 Sr. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . RB Eddie Gayles Kennedy 5-8 180 Sr. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . RB Kyle Holman Walla Walla 5-10 210 Sr. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . WR JaWarren Hooker Ellensburg 5-10 165 Sr. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . WR Sean Marshall R.A. Long 6-3 180 Sr. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . OL Victor Rogers Decatur 6-7 309 Sr. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . OL Jason Scukanec Mountain View 6-3 285 Sr. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . OL Joe Collier Mead 6-7 250 Sr. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . OL James Venters Peninsula 6-5 245 Sr. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . OL Max Seppi Ferndale 6-5 285 Sr. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . K Jim Skurski O'Dea 6-0 180 Sr. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .

Pos Defense School Ht Wt Yr ------------------------------------------------------------. DL Kyle Benn O'Dea 6-4 293 Sr. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . DL Brian Kertson Woodinville 6-1 240 Sr. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . DL Matt Griffith Kentridge 6-7 287 Sr. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . DL Joe Majors Redmond 6-4 270 Sr. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . DL Monte Britt Eastside Catholic 6-3 255 Sr. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . LB Ty Gregorak West Valley (Spokane) 6-3 240 Sr. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . LB Mike McGee Interlake 5-10 215 Sr. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . LB Lance Gustafson Tumwater 6-1 180 Sr. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . DB Elijah Baker Curtis 5-9 178 Sr. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . DB Marques Tuiasosopo Woodinville 6-2 215 Sr. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . DB Carl Chasse Kamiakin 6-1 180 Sr. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . P David Czesak Eastmont 6-4 192 Sr. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .