GREATEST NEVADA UNION PLAYERS OF ALL-TIME

THE GREATEST PLAYERS TO EVER PUT ON A NEVADA UNION UNIFORM.

QBS: CHAD ELLIOTT (Threw 47 touchdowns & only 3 Ints as a senior at Grant...3,125 Yards with a 69 % Completion Rate...FIRST team All State and All American...ELLIOTT Also is only one of 2 qbs in the history of the state to win 2 section titles at 2 different schools!!...One as a Sophomore at NU running the wing T, and another at Grant in a pro-style passing offense...Now that's Went to two D-1 schools(Arizona State and Syracuse)...Also Was a Junior college All american at American River...Went on to throw for more than 500 tds and 25,000 yards in the indoor leagues...No QB has ever come through NU with a better arm, accuracy, arm strength or overall athleticism!! Sorry Humphers!! After Elliott, I would go with THOR LARSEN (1993)...A Lefty with good mobility and decent arm strength...Very Accurate, Great Leader, And Command of the WING T OFFENSE..LARSEN helped Bring NU FOOTBALL into the spotlight in 1993 winning its First Section Title...He's an NU legend!!...John Sheets was decent (too small and weak arm) but no where near THOR LARSEN!

RBS: AJ KUNKLE (By far the best Nevada Union Running Back of All Time!!..Matter a fact, in my opinion, he was the best football player to ever to come out of NU!! Any one who was blessed enough to have seen him play knows exactly what im talking about....Kunkle turned friday nights at Hooper stadium into something magical!! He was Big, Strong, Fast, Agile, and had great hands out of the backfield...He Was Electric!! With each touch of the ball, everyone in stands stood to their feet in anticipation of seeing #30 do something spectacular!! He was too fast to catch, and too strong to tackle!!...Someone needs to YOUTUBE his run in the 1993 section title game against Merced, where he broke 9 tackles!! KUNKLE IS A LEGEND!!! After him I gotta go with, ISAAC OSTROM #4 (small yet extremely explosive, strong, and Very Fast..He Had a nack for finding the hole, and the endzone!), JEREMY MONROE #34 (Great all around back...10 X better than any modern day NU back in recent memory), AND finally I would say TIM TROKEY...'Lil Train' as they called him, was like a missle..He could shoot threw a gap and come out the other side, or catch a toss and be up the sideline for 6 before anyone could blink an eye.
***(Side note..Ryan Mello would have been the greatest running back to ever come out of Nevada Union or the State of California!! No one has ever seen anything like him before him or since!! No exaggerations, he would have been the greatest all around athlete to ever come out of Miner Country if he hadn't died in a fatal car crash in 1995....Even better than his Idol Kunkle...Ask Humphers if you don't believe me...He was The Greatest Athlete in the history of the Grass Valley!! Hands down!!

WRS...Its Hard to think of any electrifying NU Wide Receivers who actually had an impact...The first thought that comes to my mind is JOHN LINK #81 (1995)... He wasn't very fast, but had the best hands of any WR to play at NU...After him I would go with BUTCH ELLIS, who still teaches at NU..He set the record for most catches in a season back in the 70's...ALSO PAT WILLIAMS made a great target for Thor Larsen in 93' and was pretty exciting at wideout!...Maybe other people have some insight into some other great NU receivers im leaving out...Does anyone know what Marshal Mccauly's WRs name was in 1991 or maybe 92?...He was a tall lanky kid blonde hair,wore #3..that kid was super athletic and had great hands!! Somethin Landon??Oh yea Mark Landon!! He was a Baller and has size and athleticism!! They should have used him more..But its hard to have a gamebreaker WR in a Wing T Offense.

TE'S...NATHAN ALLEN (A little light but still a Big target with soft hands and was very athletic!! He was a team guy, and could get deep in the secondary for big gains when defenses packed 8 in the box)...also COLEMAN CASSLE...This guy was a brickhouse!!...Big, Strong, and Aggressive...I remembered he looked like a Tree!! He was a dominating blocker and force in the running game.

OL...STACY LUKE, center #55 ...This one isn't even close...Stacy was as intense as they come and was also a great leader... He played with passion and desire, and to me signified what NU football was all about!! His dad was also a Great Coach!! After LUKE, would go with that 6'6 KID Who signed with NOTRE DAME in 07'. TAYLOR DEVER...He was dominate at the High school level and should make and impact at the next level.

DL....BRIAN STEGER #67 (Juiced out of his mind, but so what, he got sacks!!..And he did it with ferocity!! 'Steghammer' was super intense and had a great motor!! He Was a beast on the field, even if he did wear cowboy pants and boots to school)...Also ANDREW JACKSON from the 06' squad was a strong DL force.

LBS...MATT BECK AND SPENCER HAVNER...Beck was stronger , faster, and hit harder than Havner!!...But never the less, both were outstanding LBs... Havner couldn't mess with a young athletic Matt Beck though!!

CBS...PAT WILLIAMS (leads NU with most all time career INTs)... Can't really think of any other lockdown type corners at NU who could stop any D-1 type receivers...maybe u can help me in this catagory. I might consider JAMES BRINDLEY 06'...Any others?

KICKER...This one isn't even close!!! Its obviously ZAC MCSWEENY...don't even try to say anyone besides Mcsweeny!!! I watched him first hand...He was as accurate as they come, and had a powerful leg!! He kicked a 62 or 63 yarder during a home game at Hooper stadium, and a 58 yarder as a junior at casa robles.

KR/PR...To my knowledge there has never been a real exciting, 'game-breaking' type of KR or PR at Nevada Union...Maybe lack of speed or swagger?...I don't know, but if I had to pick, I would probably have to pick MATT MASSARI...Pretty Explosive and Elusive for being undersized...He had great vision and quickness..Not great Top End speed, but still could take it the distance If playing an inferior team. Massari was also probably one the greatest Nevada Union 'Junion Miner' Players of all time!! He was unstopable as a kid!! Maybe because his dad game him the ball everyplay...

***Post your Top NU Players of All Time and Lets see How they Stack Up.

**Honorable Mention Great players from NU Not Listed...ONLY THE BEST OF THE BEST!!!!(help me fill in the list if i leave any of your favorites off)


Justin Benicke (Terrorized Teams, and had a great motor at LB)
Bill Beede (Undersized in stature but not in heart...Signifies what NU football is About)
Jefferson Heilderberger (was a good RB but couldn't crack the Top 4)
Alec Ostrom (leading rusher for GVHS in the mid-late 1930s)
Homer "Buzz" Ostrom
Steve Vaughn
Jeese Wheeler(Great back overshadowed by Kunkle and Isaac Ostrom...Was also a Junior miner Great!!)
Rich Brooks (later went on to be the head coach of the Rams for 2 seasons, 1995 and 1996)
Wayne Brooks
Josh Roenicke (Good all around athlete..had to walk on at UCLA and then became a subpar pitcher in MLB)
Adam Galloway (Strong OL and DL presence)
Brian McCary (would have been a great back had he not gotten sick)
John Salcedo (Good OL taken away way too early...RIP!!)
Steve Gordon
Tim Seacord (Beast at FB and LB who never got to show his Full Potential)
Jason Rollins (Good Hitter at LB)
Bo Cassel (Brother of Coleman Cassel...Bo was Also a great Nevada Union TE! Optimist All Star and Norcal 1st Team)

**MORE TO BE CONT.!!

Great Coaches: Gary Musick, and the Legend Randy Blankenship, who I personally feel is responsible for Nevada Union Becoming NEVADA UNION!!

***THE GREATEST NEVADA UNION TEAM OF ALL TIME WAS THE 1993 MINERS!! Aka The Show!!! With AJ KUNKLE, THOR LARSEN, ISSAC OSTROM, MATT BECK, BRIAN STEGGER, JEESE WHEELER, ZAC MCSWEENEY,STACY LUKE, ETC. ETC...THIS TEAM WAS STACKED!! THIS IS THE OPITOMY OF WING T GREATNESS!!!!! !No other miner team comes close!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!