CHS senior running to college level

May 10, 2005

JEREMIAH BARTZ/Frontiersman sports editor

PALMER - Shawn Olivera made a career, at Colony High School, out of darting through holes and running away from tacklers.

Now Olivera aims to do the same at the college level.

Olivera, an all-state running back, has signed a National Letter of Intent to play for Yuba College.

Yuba, a two-year school located just outside of Sacramento, Calif., has a football program that focuses on the run, Olivera said.

"They switch running backs. They play three on the field at the same time and just rotate," Olivera said.

Olivera said after meeting with coaches on the Yuba staff, he saw an opportunity to work into the running back rotation immediately.

Randy Magner, who coached Olivera for two season at CHS, said speed and quickness are Olivera's two strongest attributes.

"Shawn has an innate ability to find a seam and get through it quick. He sets up his blocks and has the ability to cut very fast," Magner said.

Magner said a multiple-back formation could be ideal for Olivera.

"If he's running behind a bigger back or a good offensive line, that's when he's at his best," Magner said.

Magner said just because of his size - Olivera is only 5-foot-7 and 155 pounds - he often needs that initial block to help him get through. But when he gets by that first contact, Olivera can bury teams with his breakaway speed.

Olivera said he will also have ample chance to play on special teams.

"I think he can be a very good punt returner," Magner said.

Olivera considered several schools, such as Eastern Arizona and Western Arizona, before making his final decision, but academics became a tie-breaker. He was searching for a school with both a fire science program and a football team.

"There was only one four-year school with fire science and football, and that was on the east coast," Olivera said. "I wanted to stay on the west coast."

Olivera said he still would like to play for a four-year program if possible. Magner said if Olivera is able to put on some size, he certainly has the potential to move on after a two-year career with Yuba.

"Who knows what he'll look like in two years. He could be one of those guys who's not close to being finished (growing) at the end of high school," Magner said. "All those community colleges in California are like farm teams for those other California (four-year) programs."