Washington state’s 2021 football class was stacked with talent, including 4 All-American Bowl picks
Four of the most prolific high school football players in Washington state history took the field at Sammamish High School in late December.
As the sun set on a chilly evening, the four — Eastside Catholic defensive end J.T. Tuimoloau, Steilacoom wide receiver Emeka Egbuka, Kennedy Catholic quarterback Sam Huard and Lincoln linebacker Julien Simon — suited up at their lockers positioned several feet apart on the sideline.
They chatted and laughed as they put on put on matching sky blue uniforms, laced up their white and gold Adidas cleats, applied generous amounts of eye black and strapped on sleek helmets.
They looked like they were preparing for another Friday night game under the lights. But, they weren’t.
The four friends — sometimes teammates in youth football over the years, and sometimes rivals on the high school field — had come together to celebrate their selection to a game they won’t get to play.
The state’s top players in a historic 2021 class, Tuimoloau, Egbuka, Huard and Simon were all selected to compete for the West in this year’s All-American Bowl.
The annual game, and the most prestigious of the high school All-American events, was scheduled to be held in the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas in January and aired live on NBC Sports.
This was the first time in history Washington state had four players selected. Tuimoloau, Egbuka, Huard and Simon, ranked Nos. 1-4 in the state, respectively, planned to showcase their talent with rest of the nation’s best before making their way to Power Five programs for college.
But, the game, like so many other sporting events wiped out by the COVID-19 pandemic, was canceled in October. The 100 players across the country selected to play in the game still had their All-American lockers — stocked with their uniforms, helmets, cleats and other apparel — delivered to their homes around Christmas.
The four from Washington decided to group up, head to Sammamish and enjoy the moment together.
“It was definitely awesome to put the unis on with these guys,” Huard said. “When we got them in the mail, I knew we had to put them on and go do something special. They all wanted to do it as well, so we just kind of picked a day, made it happen and it was great.
“Even though we couldn’t go down and play the game, it was still pretty cool to do this.”
The idea was to suit up, take some photos to commemorate the achievement together and toss the football around one more time.
“This is what we dreamed of as kids,” Simon said. “Obviously participating in FBU and everything, we see these All-Americans and we’re like, ‘Oh, we want to be that. That’s what we want to be when we grow up.’ It’s a surreal moment. I’m glad I got to kind of experience what it would feel like to be on the field.”
Tuimoloau, who played youth football with Egbuka, Huard and Simon over the years, said even the little moments — putting on the gear and helping Huard tape his wrist — brought memories back.
“Just to be able to look back at those times, and see how far we’ve come was a true blessing, because I know we’ve been talking about it since a young age,” he said. “Now that we’re actually living it, and still working toward our end goals is pretty awesome.”
The four All-Americans, who are among The News Tribune’s 2021 class of Northwest Nuggets, and headline a Washington state class that is widely considered the best in history, are all expected to continue their impressive careers at the next level.
Their December celebration was the last time the four will ever appear on the same field as high school players.
With the fall season pushed back — and still somewhat in question — due to the pandemic, two have already moved on to college.
Simon, a four-star recruit who guided Lincoln to the Class 3A state semifinals in 2019 as an impact player on both sides of the ball, has already enrolled at USC, where he is projected to play linebacker.
Simon said while he’s happy and excited to begin his next chapter with the Trojans, it hurt to miss out on his final season with the Abes.
“It’s a bittersweet feeling,” he said.
Egbuka, who committed to Ohio State in December, practiced with Steilacoom this winter, but with so much uncertainty surrounding the high school season, opted to enroll early and head to Columbus.
The five-star recruit was closing in on several of the state’s all-time receiving records with 199 catches, 3,890 yards and 61 touchdowns through the end of his junior season. He also led Steilacoom to the 2A state championship game in 2019 for the first time in the school’s history.
Egbuka has often spoken about what Steilacoom’s program has meant to his success, and said at a practice this winter he wants to represent his community moving forward.
“I want everyone to know where I came from,” he said. “Normally Washington is known as a basketball state, but you see, especially with our class, Sam Huard, J.T., me, Julien, Will (Latu) — all of these guys — we’re coming up in the football end, too.
“I think just having that platform that Ohio State brings being ranked in the top five teams every year is huge, and I’m able to represent my state and my city in that way.”
Huard, a Washington signee who committed to the Huskies following the footsteps of his father Damon and uncle Brock the morning of the Apple Cup in 2018, has opted to try to play out his senior season with Kennedy this spring.
The 4A North Puget Sound League is set to begin fall sports on March 1, with its seasons running through April 17.
“I miss going out there with my guys every Friday or every Saturday and playing with them,” he said in December. “If I got an opportunity to go do that again, then there’s no way I want to skip that.
“To go play for Coach (Sheldon) Cross and with my teammates and to go finish what we started just means so much to me.”
The five-star passer, who paced the Lancers to the 4A state tournament last season, was on pace to shatter all of the state’s career passing records in a standard season.
Huard completed 746 of 1,218 attempts, passing for 11,745 yards and 132 touchdowns in 32 career games his first three seasons.
He could still break Brett Rypien’s passing yards record (13,044) even if Kennedy plays a shortened schedule. Rypien’s completions record (1,006) and Kellen Moore’s touchdowns record (173) would be tougher to reach.
Tuimoloau, the state’s top recruit, remains undecided on where he will play at the next level — he’s narrowed his choices to Alabama, Ohio State, Oregon, USC and Washington — but said in December he does want to play out his senior season.
“All I wanted was just to make more memories with my brothers on the field and just go for another ring,” said Tuimoloau, who has led Eastside Catholic to back-to-back 3A state titles.
Though their senior season didn’t play out as planned, the four All-Americans and the rest of the 2021 class is still regarded as the best the state has produced.
“It’s a testimony to how hard we worked, and just the type of people we are, because not only are we good football players on the field, we’re great men,” Simon said. “If anybody, we deserve this. We deserve to be considered one of the best in history.
“ … You don’t see too many guys like J.T., Emeka and Sam just around, in the country, period. I think we’re just a different kind of group. We’re a special group.”
Never before have there been three players from the state ranked No. 1 in the country at their respective positions. Tuimoloau is considered the top defensive end — and top overall recruit — in the nation by 247Sports. Egbuka is the No. 1 wide receiver and Huard the top pro-style quarterback.
Simon is also considered one of the top 250 players in the country by the recruiting site, as are O’Dea offensive guard Owen Prentice (Washington signee), Mount Si quarterback Clay Millen (uncommitted) and Kennedy receiver Junior Alexander (Arizona State signee).
Kennedy receiver Jabez Tinae (Washington signee), Bethel athlete Will Latu (Washington signee) and Tumwater defensive tackle Jacob Schuster (Minnesota signee) round out the state’s top 10 recruits per 247Sports’ rankings.
There is even more talent beyond that, including more than a dozen more FBS commits.
As for the four All-American Bowl selections, Huard said while many see them as talented players on the field, he thinks they pride themselves on “being good people and doing a lot for our schools and our communities.”
“These guys are great people as well,” he said. “We have a great relationship and I just couldn’t be more happy for these guys — wherever they want to go to college — and can’t wait to support them and cheer them on. I know they’ll do the same for me.”
