Weber State football: Wildcats go heavy on ..

College football • Juco quarterback Alfonso Medina is key as Jody Sears removes interim tag.

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Weber State football coach Jody Sears was ebullient about the 2013 recruiting class, his first as the Wildcats' head coach.

"I've been so excited for this day," said Sears, who had the interim tag taken off his title following WSU's 2012 season in which the Wildcats finished 2-9. "We've been working our tails off the last four weeks."

Of the more than 20 recruits who signed letters of intent, probably the most important was junior college quarterback Alfonso Medina. The Santa Monica College product and Pacific Conference MVP led his team to a pair of conference championships while throwing for 51 touchdowns during his career.

The 6-foot, 190-pound Medina threw for 2,640 yards and 30 touchdowns in 2012. He was one of four quarterbacks — including three freshmen — recruited to Weber State, which needed to replace two-year starter Mike Hoke.

"The kid's a winner," Sears said about Medina, who already has transferred to WSU. "He was one guy ... we had targeted. We saw a lot of quarterbacks, but we kept coming back to Alfonso."

Medina needs targets to throw to, and Sears also was pleased with the speed and athleticism of the receiving corps coming to WSU. He highlighted Gabe Davis and Cameron Livingston, two of six Florida-based players coming to Weber State, as well as Mountain Crest's Eddy Hall and Hawaiian high school product Kai Gonda.

Weber State found a pipeline into Florida thanks to first-year quarterback coach and Gainesville native John Rascati.

"Our biggest thing, we wanted play-making ability at the wide receiver spot," Sears said. "We wanted toughness, character and play-making ability."

As of Wednesday afternoon, the recruiting split was weighted toward the offensive side of the football, mostly skill players. All but two of the Wildcats' new recruits are high school products.

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Weber State's 2013 signees

Player Name HS/JC Pos. Ht./Wgt.

D.J. Bush Foothill College Safety 6-0/200

Alfonso Medina Santa Monica College QB 6-0/190

Austin Chipoletti Oakleaf (Jacksonville, Fla.) QB 5-11/190

Mike Cisneros Desert Pines (Las Vegas) OT 6-4/270

A.J. Coney Oviedo (Orlando, Fla.) CB 5-8/175

Gabe Davis Bartram Trail (Jacksonville, Fla.) WR 5-11/195

Adam Lewis Rocky Mountain (Meridian, Idaho) DE 6-6/240

Cameron Livingston Ocala Vanguard (Ocala, Fla.) WR 6-2/195

Zach Smith Gateway (Kissimmee, Fla.) RB 6-0/190

Jonah Williams Rocky Mountain (Meridian, Idaho) DE 6-4/230

Felix Woods Columbia (Lake City, Fla.) LB 5-11/190

Eddy Hall Mountain Crest Ath. 5-9/185

Tre'von Johnson Hunter Saf. 6-1/190

Feleti Mulitalo Granger OL 6-3/330

Blake Barney Dixie QB 6-0/180

Kai Gonda Kaiser (Hawaii Kai, Hawaii) Ath. 5-11/185

Dallin Hatch Pleasant Grove TE 6-3/210

Chad Leckington Shelley (Shelley, Idaho) QB 6-2/220

Austin McChesney Lone Peak WR 6-2/195

Skyler Munson Pleasant Grove WR 5-11/170

Mene Perese Mililani (Mililani, Hawaii) DL 6-2/250

Ryan Tuiasoa Punahou (Kailua, Hawaii) RB 5-11/210

Weber State football: Wildcats go heavy on skill players