"Where's my tickets?," Former South High football coach Bud Murray mused after watching Alfred Pupunu help the San Diego Chargers reach the Super Bowl last week.
After all, it isn't every day one of your former players reaches the big game.Pupunu, who caught a touchdown pass in the Chargers' 17-13 AFC Championship game victory over Pittsburgh, will become just the eighth Utah prepster to participate on Super Sunday. However, few took the route - via South High, Dixie College and Weber State - Pupunu did.
"Any kid that goes that far, yes, is a surprise," said Murray. "I'm just totally thrilled to see it."
Almost eight years after South High closed its doors, the school's football program is just seven days from perhaps its finest hour since winning the state crown in 1954 - leaving Coach Murray in a bit of a quagmire.
"I'm tremendously excited to see him go to that game," said Murray. "Being from the Bay Area it has made me change my allegiance a little bit."
Whether he and his teammates excel against the San Francisco 49ers remains to be seen, but regardless of the outcome Pupunu has come a long way.
In high school, the 6-foot-3, 250-pound tight end weighed just 175 pounds and gained more attention as a "sharp dresser" than he did as a football player.
However . . .
"The thing I remember was his ability to catch the ball and he had tremendous quickness," said Murray. "He was a top-flight kid."
Still is, just ask the Chargers or any South High alum.
SUPER PREPS: Seven other Utah high school gridders have also participated in the Super Bowl. The honor roll includes: Steve Clark (Skyline), Hal Garner (Logan), Bruce Hardy (Bingham), Rulon Jones (Weber), Jim McMahon (Roy), Mat Mendenhall (East) and Golden Richards (Granite).
ALL-AMERICAN: BYU-bound Brandon Doman of Skyline High was the lone Utah gridder included on the recent Scholastic Coach/Schutt Sports Group All-American High School Football Team. The DesNews All-State quarterback was one of 100 gridders, representing 35 states, honored.
RANKINGS WRAP: Richfield and Enterprise assume new leadership positions in the latest Deseret News high school girls basketball rankings (see page D1). The Wildcats, unranked at the start of the season, vaulted into the top spot from No. 2 after Hurricane fell to Snow Canyon. Meanwhile, the Wolves jumped from third to first after frontrunners Valley and Rich suffered setbacks. All other classification leaders - boys and girls - remained the same this week.
IN AND OUT: Teams which entered and departed the Deseret News high school basketball rankings this week.
BOYS - Lehi (4th: 3A) and Escalante (5th: 1A) replace Delta and Rich .
GIRLS - Provo (5th: 4A), Snow Canyon (4th: 3A) and Uintah (5th: 3A) replace Payson , North Sanpete and Union .
ALOHA, UTAHNS: Former Skyline High all-stater Gavin Hess has signed a national letter of intent with the University of Hawaii after two stellar years at Ricks College. The all-conference defensive end has already enrolled at the Honolulu school. Orem senior Kasey Jackson, who helped the Tigers win the 1994 5A crown, will join Hess in the program this fall. He verbally committed to the WAC school last week.
STAYING HOME: Two other Utah prep athletes - San Juan's Brad Burtenshaw and Bountiful's Candie Pitcher - have elected to continue their athletic endeavors locally.
Burtenshaw, an all-state wide receiver for the Broncos, has verbally committed to the University of Utah, while Pitcher will play basketball for Utah Valley State College in Orem. She currently averages 17 points, eight assists and four steals for Braves.
NATIONAL ATTENTION: Bingham's girls basketball team, atop the DesNews 5A poll with a 14-0 mark, is the lone Utah squad listed in this week's USA Today high school rankings. The Miners are 7th in the West region. Meanwhile, Timpview's boys fell from the regional listing after a homecourt loss to Region 8 rival Payson last week.