SD Prep Sports

SD Prep Sports: Football

SDSU's Conerly takes it down to Earth

By Phillip Brents

SAN DIEGO, Aug. 31, 2003 -- Santee’s Kyle Conerly would someday like to work for NASA but for the moment he is focusing his sights not on diffuse gas nebulae or exotic planet-building dust clouds thousands of light years away but on opposing tacklers as a punt return specialist for the San Diego State University football team.

At right: Kyle Conerly might have his head in the stars but his football cleats are firmly attached to the Earth

Conerly, a junior, had three punt returns for 47 yards, including one for 22 yards, in SDSU’s season-opening 19-9 victory against Eastern Washington Aug. 30 at Qualcomm Stadium.
Like many high school players making the transition to college football, the West Hills High School graduate is now playing a position for which he was not primarily groomed.

“The coaching staff gave me the opportunity last year and I took advantage of that opportunity as a punt returner,” the SDSU astronomy major said.

One of several walk-on success stories with the Aztecs, Conerly earned honorable mention All-Mountain West Conference honors last season. He made a splash in his first game as a punt returner by taking a punt back 87 yards for a touchdown in SDSU’s 31-21 win against UNLV. The return ranked second longest in the conference last year and fourth all-time in Aztec history.

He ended the season with a 15.7-yard average on 11 returns.

He expects to see more action this year.

“(Aztec head coach Tom) Craft told me he wanted me to play a big role on special teams. If that’s where he wants me to play, that’s fine with me,” Conerly said.

At 5-foot-11 and 190 pounds, the Santee product is built like a tank and can absorb punishment as well as dish it out.

A two-time All-CIF and All-Grossmont North League selection and the team’s Most Valuable Player both as a junior and senior while at West Hills, Conerly saw action primarily as a receiver on offense and safety on defense but also served as the team’s punter and punt returner on occasion.

The Wolf Pack standout was originally recruited as a safety at SDSU by then Aztec head coach Ted Tollner but Tollner later suggested Conerly instead walk on as a receiver. Conerly obliged but found himself down on the depth chart behind First Team All-MWC selections J.R. Tolver and Kassim Osgood, who combined to set an NCAA record in 2002 by collecting 236 catches and 3,337 receiving yards. Tolver set single-season SDSU records with 128 catches and 1,785 yards.

“J.R. Tolver was one of the most prolific receivers ever in Aztec history. I learned a lot but knew I wasn’t going to get a lot of plays,” said Conerly, who red-shirted his first year on campus in 2000.

Conerly saw action in seven games in 2001 before being sidelined with mononucleosis. He recorded a 16-yard catch against Eastern Illinois for his lone reception of the season while credited with making six tackles on special teams.

After succeeding Tollner, Craft has earned a reputation for drawing up explosive offensive game plans. Conerly felt well suited to be a part of the Aztecs offense, especially after playing four years at West Hills “where I was used to airing it out,” he said.

Ironically, Conerly was thinking about attending Palomar College to play under Craft before deciding to pursue a college career with the Aztecs.

When the chance to play on a more regular basis on special teams presented itself, Conerly seized the opportunity. Being a multi-faceted player in high school helped in making the position switch.

Being around familiar faces has also helped.

Conerly was reunited at SDSU with former West Hills signal-caller Lon Sheriff, who finished his career with the Aztecs last season. Conerly now has a chance to reminisce about old times with former Helix standout Jason Van, who is also a junior at SDSU. The pair of East County prep standouts met each other both on the gridiron and also on the track oval where Conerly competed in the hurdles event.

“We talk about those days a lot and needle each other about them,” Conerly said with a smile.
Besides Conerly and Van, who is returning to the Aztecs after sitting out last year, former Grossmont College quarterback Tanner Engstrand completes SDSU’s East County connection.

Van ran back two kickoffs, totaling 37 yards, including one for 22 yards, while Engstrand did not see any snaps.

With a year left in his college career, it might be too early to start pondering about pursuing a professional career but Conerly is open to the possibility. After all, an uncle, Charlie Conerly, played quarterback for the NFL New York Giants.

“It would be nice if it happens. But I want to make sure I have something to fall back on in case that doesn’t happen, so I want to take care of academics first. But if there is ever an opportunity to play football for a living, that would be hard to pass up,” he said.

The Aztecs next play at defending national champion Ohio State on Sept. 6 and at the University of Texas at El Paso on Sept. 13 before returning to Qualcomm Stadium on Sept. 20 to host Samford University (Birmingham, Ala.).

Aztec notepad
Freshman Lynell Hamilton scored two touchdowns to lead SDSU to its season opening victory, completing his first collegiate game with 117 yards on 23 carries. His one-yard run in the third quarter boosted the Aztecs’ lead to 13-3 against the Eagles. He took the ball in from 15 yards in the opening stages of the final period to stake SDSU’s lead to 19-3 before a late touchdown by Eastern Washington (a 13-yard pass from Skyler Allen to Eric Kimble) closed the final scoring margin to 10 points.

Kicker J.C. Mejia supplied the first points of the season on a 35-yard field goal with 3:53 elapsed on the game clock. After the Eagles tied the game on a 27-yard field goal by Rich Heintz with 2:28 left in the opening quarter, Mejia booted a 22-yarder with 1:37 gone in the second quarter to put the hosts ahead for good.

Air Craft was grounded for much of the game following a first-half ankle injury to quarterback Adam Hall, who completed just six of 14 attempts for 54 yards. Backup Matt Dlugolekci passed for 97 yards, hitting 11 of 19 passes with one interception. Jeff Webb led the Aztec receivers corps with 71 yards on 10 catches.

Defensively, SDSU held Eastern Washington to 217 total offensive yards; the Aztecs totaled 318 yards in offense.

The season opener attracted 21,145 fans for an Aztec floppy hat promotional giveaway.