There are good football players all over the state of Oregon and we have made it our mission to make sure no one is left out in the cold. In doing that we have come across a small 3a private school that features two of the better players in the Northwest.
Head Coach Jim Stomps has brought life back to a Salem Academy team that went (5-5) last season, its best record since 2004. Just two seasons ago they sat at (1-9) and were losing consistently. They have improved as a team, but two kids specifically look like legit college talents. Jake Hall (6-4 210 Jr. DE), and Justin Outslay (6-5 265 Jr. OL/DL ) both are considered two of Oregon's Top 100 Football players.
The thing that separates both of these kids is the fact they have size as well as talent. There are not a lot of 3a kids on our lists, because it's hard to gage talent at the lower classification levels although we do feel its important to see everyone. Hall finished with 25 sacks, (10th overall, 4th for Junior class in the Nation- Max Preps) and was an absolute nightmare for opposing lineman. He will continue to add size on his long frame and he cares….A lot. Hall says, "coach has raised the intensity level at practice and we all have been watching film and studying our opponents carefully". He continued, "Im always looking for weaknesses of the offensive lineman, and I wrote their number on my hand and thought about what moves I was going to make to get to the quarterback".
Its things like this and his 4.0 GPA that make Jake so appealing at the next level. "Next year will be the first time in 21 years that we make the playoffs, and I have to give a lot of credit to our other starting D lineman Justin Outslay who requires a double team almost every game giving me the ability to do what I do".He added, "I have a lot to work on but I have dedicated this off season to working on my agility and bulking up".
Everyone in the community is excited and looking forward to this up coming season. They play in a tough conference and Outslay is on recruiting boards at the Pac 12 level which is basically unheard of coming out of this small private school. Outslay says, " Im very excited about next year, I gave up basketball to be in the weight room, and I am committed to doing whatever I need to do to play college football at the highest level possible".
Outslay is another kid with a 4.0 GPA, and just seems to understand what is necessary to play at the highest level.You can expect to see both of these kids on the NEI/Barton Tour this spring and summer, as it is essential that they go head to head with the big boys in the state to find out where they stand. Fair or not fair they will be judged based on the classification level that they play at, so the camp circuit will be very important.
Coach Stomps has done an outstanding job, and is very proud of his coaching staff and what they have been able to do as a group, " I'm proud of the coaches and the players that we have here, we have a former USC Trojan lineman and two guys that played on the 86/87 state runner up squad and the 88/89 state championship team".
These two athletes and Jordan Smith (6-1 185 ATH) will lead a group of Crusaders that want to make a run at a title. Its not everyday we learn of a small school with legit high profile athletes but this is the rare case. We will continue to follow Salem Academy into 2012, and will expect to see these standout lineman at our elite Barton events moving forward.