Submitted photo

By Ray Hamill — Former St. Bernard’s quarterback Jack Rice has found a new home for himself at Azusa Pacific.

The two-time Little 4 Offensive MVP put a difficult two years at Sac State behind him this summer by heading south to join the Cougars just two weeks before their season opener.

It was a move he felt was forced upon him, but one that appears to be working out.

“I feel like I belong here,” he said. “There are a lot of similar minded people here. It’s very family oriented.”

Sacramento State Athletics

Family is a big part of football for Rice, who was a member of the 2015 St. Bernard’s state championship team, and it is so in more ways than one.

It’s something that was impressed upon him during his four years with the Crusaders.

“At St. Bernard’s I learned to play more as a family,” he said. “St. Bernard’s was heavily into the idea of family, and because the school was small it had that family feel.”

That’s something he says he sees at Azusa, a D-II program he considered joining right out of high school in 2017 before opting instead for Sac State.

And after younger brother Maximus Rice, a senior at Arcata, told him he was going to play for Azusa next year, Jack jumped at the opportunity to reunite with his sibling on the field.

“I’m excited to see what we can do together at Azusa, and excited to see how far he can go,” Jack said.

Earlier this season Arcata head coach Jamal Jones described Maximus as the best lineman in the county, and the senior has not disappointed.

The two brothers have played together before at St. Bernard’s, when Jack was a senior and Maximus a freshman, before the latter transferred to Arcata.

“It was a lot of fun playing with him,” Jack recalled. “It was just fun playing with someone you grow up with.”

Photo by Sharon Falk-Carlsen – Jack Rice during his St. Bernard’s days.

Fresh start

Jack switched to Azusa after a difficult two seasons at Sac State.

He redshirted each year, with injuries and circumstance taking their toll, but it was the lies, he says, that forced him to opt out.

Earlier this year, he asked the coaches if he could see some time at receiver, because, he says, he just wanted to play.

“They said ‘no, you’ll be competing for starting quarterback, you could be starting at quarterback in the fall,’” Rice said.

He was never given that chance, however, and says he got no reps at the position during training camp.

“It was the complete opposite of what they had been telling me,” Rice said. “Like a complete 360 from what they had been telling me before.”

Azusa’s gain

Sac State’s loss, however, has been Azusa’s gain, and Rice has wasted little time settling into his new environment, both in the classroom and on the field.

“It’s a lot more challenging school wise,” the kinesiology major said. “I like that part of it. The academic aspect pushing me to think, and just getting out to play again, and making football fun again.”

Rice has yet to see any time at quarterback this season for the 1-5 Cougars, behind a pair of starters who have gotten all the reps, but he’s patiently waiting for his opportunity and preparing for it.

He has seen playing time on special teams and he says there has been talk of playing some reps at wide receiver.

And the former Crusader, who threw for 3,312 yards and rushed for 1,514 yards with 60 total touchdowns in high school, is just happy to be getting the opportunity again.

“It’s fun,” he said. “Just playing free. Kind of like high school.”