Sitting in the bleachers at a Pierce College football game it becomes apparent to fans and spectators alike that this is a team united, their chemistry is strong and their bond is clear.
However, what some don’t recognize is a lot of these players are from all over the states and taking first place for most dominated out of state players is none other than the boys from New Jersey.
Deemed Jersey boys for short they have taken over the out of state rosters, with 36 out of state players in total the Jersey boys take up 18 of those spaces according to the Brahmas football roster on Pierce College’s athletics website.
One of our coaches Ty Greenwood has a connection in Jersey according to Efrain Martinez, head football coach, they are from the same area and some even played against each other.
“We offered them an opportunity to move to the next level,” Martinez said.
With high expectations in mind a few have set some goals they wish to reach by coming to Pierce.
“I came out here to earn a scholarship and earn all American,” Josh Johnson one of the Jersey boys said, “I set my goals high.”
The same thing goes for Ty Harris another Jersey boy.
“I want to get my AA and get more scholarships,” Harris said.
Harris also has his team of choice he would like to play for one day.
“I hate the Philadelphia Eagles but I would do it so my family could see me play, or I’d like to play for the Oakland Raiders,” Harris said.
Even though they are over 2,000 miles from home they have adapted well.
“I love it out here,” Harris said, “Pierce is good, you just got to do everything for yourself, you can’t rely on people to do stuff for you.”
While West coast style is a little different it took others a little longer to warm up.
“Playing out here honestly sorry to say our football on the East coast is harder, they like to pass the ball a lot out here but we like to run it a lot,” Johnson said, “I adapted and throughout the season I progressed more and more.”
Even though these boys all hail from the same area there are no rivalries on the team but the boys still share some memories of their high school days.
“One of our wide receivers I played against, they were one of the top rated teams and we beat them,” Johnson said, “They had Greg Wanamaker, so we always joked about that.”
And just to set the record straight “people always ask me if I fist pump, no, that’s far from where we live at,” Johnson said.
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