Philomath High School juniors Rocco De La Rosa and CD Nuño have both received Division I-level college football offers, according to social media posts by the two players.
De La Rosa last month received an offer to play at the Air Force Academy, which is based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and competes in the Mountain West Conference. Air Force wide receivers coach Taylor Stubblefield appears to be handling De Rosa’s recruitment. De La Rosa posted news of the offer online on May 12.
De La Rosa had 41 catches for 853 yards and 12 touchdowns receiving and 23 carries for 111 yards and two touchdowns last season with the Warriors. De La Rosa posted that he plans to participate in upcoming camps on June 17 at Western Oregon and June 22 at Washington State.
Nuño, wide receiver, posted on social media accounts this week that after a great conversation with head coach Spencer Danielson, he received an offer from Boise State. Nuño participated in a Boise State camp earlier this month.
Nuño finished last season with 73 receptions for 1,087 yards and scored 13 touchdowns. Boise State, currently a member of the Mountain West Conference, will join the Pac-12 for the 2026 season.
PHS coach Alex Firth said both players expected to be busy this summer on the camp circuit, As such, more offers could be coming down the road. Both have also taken several campus visits in addition to Air Force and Boise State — for example, schools like Oregon State and Nevada.
It’s uncertain with the high school having a long history on the gridiron but it seems possible that De La Rosa and Nuño could represent the first players on the same Philomath team ever to receive D1 scholarship offers. Within the past few years, former player Ty May walked on with Oregon State’s football program and worked his way into suiting up for a game. May had bypassed an opportunity to play at Boise State.
De La Rosa and Nuño will be major weapons for Firth and the Warriors in their final season. Practice begins in mid-August and Philomath will open the season Aug. 29 at Stayton.
Saathoff’s spectacular softball career
Philomath High graduate Kaili Saathoff ended her softball career at Linfield earlier this month at the NCAA Division III Championships and leaves as one of that university’s best-ever players.
This past season, Saathoff, first baseman, started all 52 games and earned first-team all-Northwest Conference recognition. She finished with a .392 batting average with 63 runs, a career-best 47 RBIs and 15 stolen bases. She ranks among the best all-time at the school with a career on-base percentage of .511 and batting average of .424.
Saathoff hit .583 in eight playoff games as the Wildcats advanced through the Northwest Conference Tournament, McMinnville Regional and McMinnville Super Regional to reach the NCAA Division III Championships. Linfield went 2-2 in the tournament.
During her four years, Saathoff helped Linfield to a record of 179-25, four Northwest Conference titles, three regional titles, three super regional trophies and two top-three finishes in the Division III finals.
Late last month, she was awarded a third consecutive Division III Softball Elite 90 Award, making her just the second softball player to have received the honor three successive years. The Elite 90 award honors the exceptional achievements of student-athletes and is given to those who have not only excelled at a national championship level in their sport but have also achieved the highest academic standards among their peers.
Saathoff was recently named to a College Sports Communicators All-District X team and is considered to be a strong candidate to be named to the CSC Academic All-America team for a third straight year when those honors are announced June 17.
Saathoff, daughter of Bob and Kris Saathoff, graduated with Philomath High’s Class of 2021, and majored in mathematics and physics at Linfield. She maintained a 4.0 grade point average through college.
Philomath summer baseball begins
Philomath High’s summer baseball program started playing a schedule of more than 20 games this week with a 14-11 win Monday over West Albany and losses of 12-11 and 16-8 Tuesday to Junction City. The Fightin’ Jays are scheduled to play at home Wednesday against Lebanon.
The summer team features a roster of players that were underclassmen this past season. In the first three games, 19 different players saw time on the field, including varsity starters Rocco De La Rosa, Wylie Griffith and Jacob Hernandez.
In the win on Monday, Camaron Kvidt went 2 for 3 and drove in four runs. Sammy Hernandez and Colvin Henley had three RBIs.
The remaining schedule:
- June 11 vs. Lebanon, 6 p.m.
- June 16 vs. Sweet Home, 6 p.m.; June 17 at Dallas, 6 p.m.; June 18 vs. Corvallis, 7 p.m.; June 20 at Columbia Gorge Hustlers 17U (DH), 4 p.m.
- June 24 at Junction City, 5:30 p.m.; June 25 at South Albany RedHawks Legion A, 6 p.m.; June 27-29 vs. TBD (Les & Bob’s Invitational)
- July 1 vs. Sheldon, 6 p.m.; July 2 at Lebanon, 6 p.m.; July 3 at Sweet Home, 6 p.m.
- July 7 vs. South Albany RedHawks Legion A, 6 p.m.; July 10 vs. Marist Catholic, 6 p.m.; July 11 at Creswell, 4 p.m.; July 12 at Corvallis, 10:30 a.m.; July 12 vs. West Albany Bulldogs Legion A, 1:30 p.m.; July 13 vs. TBD, 1 p.m.
(Brad Fuqua is publisher/editor of the Philomath News. He can be reached at News@PhilomathNews.com).
