A little more than two weeks after Benicia High senior Sam Maday signed a scholarship offer to play football for Menlo College next fall, his longtime Panther teammate decided to do the same thing.
John Lewis III, a four-sport star at Benicia High, signed a partial scholarship offer Monday afternoon to play football for Menlo College, an NAIA school that went 5-5 overall last season. Lewis will be a wide receiver for the Oaks and will face Maday in practices.
“We’re excited that John is signing with Menlo,” said Benicia head football coach and athletic director Craig Holden. “Now we have two boys from this year’s team going down to Menlo and I think they’re going to do some great things there. Hopefully they’ll put Benicia on the map.”
Lewis caught 18 passes for 328 yards and three touchdowns his senior year at Benicia, and at 6-foot-4, he’ll be one of the tallest receivers on the Oaks’ 2014 roster.
“We didn’t have a receiver over six-foot last year so I like that he’s 6-foot-4,” said Menlo head coach Mark Grieb. “I like his toughness. When you watch film of him, he’s going downfield and blocking and hitting guys. And I like the way he bursts off the line and runs routes. He’s the whole package. I think people are going to have a hard time covering him at this level.”
Lewis had no interest in Menlo College until Maday sold him on their football program.
“Sam said I’d love it there so I went on a visit,” Lewis said. “I started talking to their players and I was ready to sign right then and there. They have the best team chemistry I’ve ever seen. There’s no drama and they all love each other. They made me feel welcome.”
Lewis was also considering offers from Southern Utah, Pacific University in Oregon, University of La Verne, and Rocky Mountain College in Montana. But he was sold on Menlo, where he’ll study Sports Management and minor in business.
“I like that it’s a small school with small class sizes,” Lewis said. “I didn’t want to go too far from home. I’d get homesick pretty easily.”
Lewis has played key roles on Benicia’s varsity football, baseball, basketball, and track and field teams during his high school career. Coach Grieb saw enough athletic talent to go after Lewis and reunite him with Maday and football at Menlo.
“John has all the potential in the world and now it’s up to him what he makes of that,” Grieb said. “It’s exciting for me as a coach to think about what he’ll be able to do.”
Lewis is just glad he knows where home will be next fall.
“I was praying for this day to come,” Lewis said of his scholarship signing. “I was getting a little jealous seeing my teammates get scholarship offers. Now I’m going to the next level and I’ll have to train every day to get ready.”
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