Philomath High School senior CD Nuño plans to take his exceptional football skills to a Division 1 school that will soon be playing in the Pac-12. The 6-foot-2, 205-pound standout for the Warriors announced his verbal commitment to Boise State early this week.
Nuño said Boise State’s coaching staff stood out to him when he made the decision.
“I would die for those coaches, you know, they’re the best,” Nuño said. “They really care about you as a person and for life after football and that creates a great culture.”
Spencer Danielson has served as head coach since 2023.
“Those guys watched every play of my Hudl so they care and they watch you,” Nuño said. “It’s those little things that are important to me and also how they treated my family like gold when we went out there.”
Nuño took an official visit to Boise State after Philomath’s 48-21 win at The Dalles on Sept. 26.
“We went straight from there and flew out — me and my whole family and then we watched the game, took pictures and did all of that cool stuff, got to meet with the coaches,” Nuño said. “After that first day, I knew that was the place for me and I committed on that second day and announced it (on Sept. 30).”
Boise State defeated Appalachian State in the game, 47-14.
Although Nuño has been an all-state wide receiver and defensive back with Philomath, he was recruited to Boise State to play linebacker.
“That’s a little bit different but I just want to play college football,” Nuño said. “That’s what’s important to me. I love football — both sides of it so I’m willing to play wherever they want me.”
He is rated as a three-star athlete by 247Sports, which lists him as the No. 7 recruit in Oregon for the 2026 recruiting cycle.
However, Nuño actually won’t join the program until 2028 after he serves a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“It was pretty cool because I thought that was going to be a problem because I’ll be older,” Nuño said. “They’re very supportive of that and that’s another reason why I committed. They just know that I can be great there.”
Nuño’s dad, Carlos, who is an assistant coach with the high school football team, played college football at BYU in the late 1990s. His mom, Tasha, ran track and cross-country.
“It was kind of hard for me because you know, my dad and my mom went to BYU,” Nuño said. “That was my dream school since I was a little kid.”
Boise State is currently 3-1 and will play No. 21 Notre Dame on Saturday.
“As you can see, they’re winning a lot of games right now,” Nuño said. “I want to be a part of something like that.”
Nuño may get a shot at playing against Oregon State someday with Boise State becoming a member of the rebuilt Pac-12 in 2026.
2. Philomath on Fox 12
Philomath got some air time a few weeks ago as part of the Fox 12 Investigates series. Reporter Ezra Kaplan took a dive into last year’s shutdown of the Interfor sawmill followed by acquisition of the property by Portland-based Timberlab, which will become a support operation for a new cross-laminated timber facility to be constructed at Millersburg.
The segment, which includes some nice aerial shots of the town, included on-camera interviews with Mayor Christopher McMorran (while sitting on the bleachers at the rodeo grounds), local resident Chuck Stueve and log truck driver Hunter Pedder. It appears the background and interviewing took place during Philomath Frolic and Rodeo week.
The story portrays Philomath as a traditional timber town, reports on the impact of the Interfor shutdown and profiles Timberlab’s mass timber product, which included an interview with CEO Chris Evans and an explanation of the glue-laminated timber process.
Evans mentioned how the company was drawn to the legacy of the mill site.
“Once we got to know the history of the sawmill and the importance of it in Philomath, we saw the opportunity,” Evans told Fox 12. “If we can help revitalize that industry in that town, that’s a huge benefit to the local community.”
McMorran showed optimism for the impact it will have on our town.
“Even if we only get 50 jobs back, or 70 jobs back, that’s 50 to 70 more jobs than we thought we’d get back,” McMorran said.
Pedder was interviewed in front of the truck he was driving and Stueve’s comments occurred during the parade. I thought it was a nice touch to leave in Stueve’s final comment, “Hey, Tim” — which struck me as an example of this small-town life we enjoy.
If you haven’t watched it yet, you can view it here.
Oh, and by the way, Timberlab will be having a “Topping Out Celebration” on Nov. 18 at Timberlab’s Independence Hall CLT facility that’s under construction in Millersburg, so everything appears to be moving along.
3. Exceptional photography
Philomath High School student Lukas Hernandez took first place in the Benton 360 Photo Contest for his entry entitled, “Frosty Fall River.” The contest was organized by Benton County and nearly 100 entries were received in various categories.
Hernandez had an aerial shot that “captures the beauty and grace of a local river and creates interest through the use of photo editing.”
“Owl in Reprieve,” a beautiful picture by Trevor Knapp of a barred owl that “takes a rest among the trees at Willamette Park and Natural Area” was the winner in the Wildlife and Animals category. Knapp is on the Philomath Frolic and Rodeo Committee.
Among the finalists were a few other names that are familiar to me — Eric Niemann in the Plants and Flowers category for “Yellow Butterfly on a Flowering Bush” and Mark Svendsen in the Water and Reflections category for “Autumn on the Willamette.”
There might be some other locals in the list that I’m not recognizing. To see a slideshow about the photo contest, which includes images of the Hernandez and Knapp entries, click here.
(Brad Fuqua is publisher/editor of the Philomath News. He can be reached at News@PhilomathNews.com).