(KGTV) Getting a scholarship to play college football isn't easy. Getting one to play for a perennial top 25 team like Stanford or Wisconsin is even tougher.
Despite the long odds, Francis Parker School will send a player to each school next fall.
The Lancers are getting the 10News Pro Treatment this week, as they get ready to host Crawford on Friday night.
Senior Ryan Sanborn will spend most of the game on the field as Parker's quarterback on offense and starting safety on defense. But neither of those will be the position he plays at Stanford.
"I started kicking and punting when I was about 7 or 8," Sanborn told 10News. Over the past decade, he's developed into one of the top place kicking and punting prospects in the country, ranked in the top two in both categories.
Teammate Peter Bowden is heading to Wisconsin to pursue his college football dreams. He's a starting lineman for the Lancers on both offense and defense, but his ticket to the Big Ten comes from his ability as a long snapper. It's Bowden's job to get the ball back to Sanborn for those booming kicks.
"I was never really sure how far I could go," Bowden said as he thought back to his first snap as a freshman, "but I just kept working at it, and ended up (heading) to Wisconsin."
Before they head off to play big-time college football, Sanborn and Bowden are hoping to lead Francis Parker to a CIF Division V title.
After that...who knows? Maybe they'll meet again in the Rose Bowl in a couple of years.
