Shakerin set for big 2007

SANDY— He is the only junior to ever win the Deseret Morning News Mr. Football award. He ran for 2,246 yards on only 245 carries and scored 30 touchdowns. He was the Region 2 MVP and helped propel his team to the state championship game. With all that in his past, what does Alta's Sausan Shakerin do for an encore?

"I am not trying to think that way," Shakerin said. "Whatever happened last year doesn't matter now. I am just trying to go out every day and work my hardest and take care of my business. As long as I take care of what is in front of me each day, everything else is going to take care of itself."

One thing that Shakerin is having to work out is all of the college recruiting. After his magical season, all of the big football schools have taken notice. Ranked as the No. 6 running back prospect in the country by Scout.com, the offers have come pouring in.

"Yeah, it gets a little bit old getting calls and texts and letters all the time," Shakerin said. "I mostly don't think about it and just focus on the task at hand, but it is those days when I have almost got it out of my head when I get a couple of calls . . . "

The 6-foot-3, 215-pound running back said he has not made up his mind yet which offer he will accept, but has written offers from the likes of LSU, Colorado, BYU, Utah, Boise St., Stanford and UCLA, and that was just at the beginning of the summer. Since that time plenty more schools have put their names in the hat, hoping Shakerin will bolster their program.

It is easy to see why college coaches are drooling over the senior-to-be. Besides being a big back, he is one of the strongest players on Alta. He squats 475 pounds and can power clean 275 pounds. He has a 35-inch vertical leap. But perhaps more than any of the other attributes, it is his speed that sets him apart. He runs a 4.5-second 40-yard dash. An impressive time, but it his acceleration through holes and then breakaway speed that is unmatched in the state.

"It is nice to block for him. You don't need to do too much to give him a hole," said Hawks lineman Parker Erickson. "If you can even just get in front of your guy, block him even just a little bit, Shak (nickname) is gone. Once he is through that hole and going full speed, no one is going to catch him, believe me."

Alta coach Les Hamilton said before last season even began he felt Shakerin was going to be a special player. Perhaps that is because he saw all of the skills every day in practice.