Colony standout to play football at City College of San Francisco

PALMER — Colony senior Antonio Bush has aspirations of playing wide receiver at the Division I level. Not many Valley players have become Division I receivers. But the Valley hasn’t seen many players like Antonio Bush.

Bush, Colony’s 6-foot-6 record-setting receiver, has taken a step toward reaching the top level of college football. Bush, who will graduate with Colony’s class of 2104, has committed to City College of San Francisco and will play football for the Rams in the fall.

“He’s hoping to make a move on to Division I,” Colony head coach Brian McIntosh said recently. “This kid has the potential to be very good.”

Hundreds of CCSF players have made the move to Division I since 1997, according to the team’s website. Two of those players have Alaska connections, and one is a former Valley standout.

Former Palmer High all-state linebacker Jake Heun played two years at CCSF before making the move to Division I Hawaii. Former Bartlett offensive lineman David Garness was signed by USC after his stint with CCSF.

“A lot of Pac 12 schools look at this school,” Bush said recently. “It’s pretty exciting.”

Bush, who is also a basketball standout at CHS, said he was in contact with some Division I schools, but got a late start in the recruiting process. He said he hopes time at CCSF will help him garner more attention from the Division I programs.

Bush leaves Colony High School as one of the most prolific wide receivers in the history of a program that also produced former Knights standout Cole Magner, who would go on to star at Division I Bowling Green State and later participate in training camp with the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons in back-to-back seasons.

During his three seasons with the Knights, Bush collected 98 catches for 1,322 yards and 19 touchdowns. He set the single-season record for receiving yards, with 851 in 2012. He set the single-game record for receiving yards, with 247 against North Pole in 2012. He also shares records for most catches in a game (15 against North Pole in 2012) and touchdowns in a game (three against Juneau-Douglas in 2013).

He also managed to do all of this in only 16 career games. Bush suffered a foot injury as a senior and played only four games in 2013. He appeared in just four games as a sophomore.