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Football's Pospischil picks SFU

Bobby Pospischil was delayed for an interview for this story for a very good reason Wednesday. He was working out.

Bobby Pospischil was delayed for an interview for this story for a very good reason Wednesday. He was working out.

And it's his immediate determination and dedication that has head coach Dave Johnson wearing a facemask-sized grin regarding his latest recruit on the Simon Fraser Clan university football team.

The cat-fast five-foot-nine, 175-pound Centennial secondary student recently signed a letter of intent to join the Clan on athletic scholarship. If the slotback/return man has his way, he'll be nabbing plenty of balls in his freshman season with the Great Northwest Athletic Conference unit next fall.

"I'm going in with the attitude of playing right away," said the multi-faceted Pospischil, a former Coquitlam Minor Football standout who quarterbacked the Centaurs and was elected a B.C. AAA provincial high school all-star last season at his dual defensive-back position. "I'm working out and getting stronger everyday, so I'm hoping to earn a [starting] spot right off and get better every year."

Dave Johnson said the odds of Pospischil achieving his rather lofty goal appear quite favourable, at present.

"There certainly is that opportunity," Johnson said. "Last season, we had two freshmen come in and they played eight games, eventually becoming starters for us. I can see Bobby at least taking a run at doing the same."

By committing to the Clan, Pospischil shunned an enticing similar offer from the Eastern Washington University Eagles of Cheney, Wash. Helping to sway his decision to join SFU was the presence of assistant coach Kevin Phillips, who was the Cents head coach and Pospischil's mentor until last season, when Ryk Piche took over after Phillips moved on to SFU.

"[Phillips] is like a second dad to me," Pospischil said. "[Joining SFU] just felt like home to me. It's nice that my family can come watch me play."

Johnson is also eager to watch Pospischil -- who's been clocked in the 40-yard dash in a blistering 4.4 seconds -- burn it up with the Clan.

"When we started our recruiting process with Bobby, what we liked was his athleticism and explosiveness," said Johnson, whose Clan were 9-17 his first three CIS Canada West campaigns before suffering through a 1-9 mark in their initial NCAA Div. 2 campaign last season. "As time went on, what we like now in him is his character and commitment to excel. He wants to come in and play right away and you don't see that everyday from freshmen players.

"He's a coach's dream."