Salinas’ Sebastian Gomez earns Cowboys’ first Division I football scholarship in 15 years
This story originally appeared on The Salinas Californian’s Sports page.
Rigoberto Gomez remembers waking up at 5:30 a.m. on cool, misty mornings to hop the fence at a football field with his son Sebastian to work on football drills.
“Two hours later I’m like, ‘Sebastian, let’s go home,’” he recalled. “He’d say ‘no, we have one more drill to do.’”
Those early mornings were a grind that led to joy Wednesday afternoon as the Salinas High gymnasium was packed with parents, faculty and scores of students to honor Sebastian on National Signing Day.
The PCAL-Gabilan Defensive Player of the Year had reason for celebration. He penned his name to a National Letter of Intent to play football with the Eastern Washington University Eagles in Cheney, Wash.
He’s the first Salinas High football player to sign a National Letter of Intent since current Tampa Bay Buccaneers center Evan Smith did so in 2004 when he signed with Idaho State University.
The Eagles announced the signing on Twitter early Wednesday morning as Sebastian is part of their 18-player class of 2019, but the ceremony began later at 12:30 p.m. so students could stop by during the lunch break.
With the assembly full of people clad in red shirts, hats, sweatshirts and jackets sporting the Eagles’ logo and red, white and black balloons adorning a table, Sebastian made it official and became a first-generation college student.
“I remember coaching his brother at North (Salinas) High,” Salinas head coach Steve Zenk said. “Him and Josh (Gomez), I remember they had a dream at 8 years old they wanted to play in college.”
That dream led to fruitful returns starting last summer. He went to multiple camps at different colleges and took MVP honors at the University of Idaho and Eastern Washington University, a sign of what was to come during his senior season.
Sebastian often demanded double- or triple-teams during games due to his strength and burst off the line. His 78 tackles and six sacks reflected the impact the 6-foot-1, 260-pound lineman had in multiple parts of the game.
That ability put the Eagles’ coaching staff on notice.
“He’s going to be much like the interior defensive tackles we’ve had — they put their hand in the ground and just work at making life miserable for guards and centers,” head coach Aaron Best said. “He has a bright future ahead of him and will do everything we ask of him.”
He’ll be joining a winning program, too. The Eagles finished runners-up in the Football Conference Subdivision (FCS) national championship tournament and five alumni currently play in the NFL.
The Eagles play two teams in California every season in the Big Sky conference — Sacramento State and Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo — and Sebastian’s mother, Michelle, is happy she’ll be able to see him play in person just a couple hours away.
Sebastian was last to speak in the ceremony. He thanked those in attendance, his previous coaches for their help and highlighted what his family did to help him achieve the goal he’d formulated as a third-grader.
“Thank you for sacrificing these past five summers to take me to football camps in and out of state,” he said. “Without those sacrifices, I wouldn’t be where I am today. Thank you for standing by my side and supporting my decision to become an Eagle.”
He’ll likely make a mark in Cheney starting this fall just as he did on Friday nights at the Pit. Until then, celebrating the school’s first Division I football scholarship this decade will be more than enough.
