Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com

By Ray Hamill — Former St. Bernard’s Crusader Perry Bailey only played half a season at College of the Redwoods last year, but he did enough to convince multiple four-year football programs he would be a big addition to their teams.

The standout defensive linemen, who helped lead the Corsairs to a second straight bowl win last month, is one of 10 CR players moving on after committing his future to Division-11 Colorado Mesa.

Bailey missed the first half of the 2024 season while recovering from a car accident, but his preparation during his recovery helped pave the way for success on the field.

“The guy showed up to practice every day, even when he was injured, and paid attention, and when he got the opportunity to get on the field he took full advantage of it,” CR head coach Jason White said of the 2022 SB graduate, who also spent some time at Santa Rosa JC before joining the Corsairs. “He’s got a great motor and he’s good with his hands.”

Bailey had four Division-II offers and follows in the footsteps of Fortuna’s Max Hough and Ferndale’s Lane Branstetter, each of whom also played for CR before moving on to Colorado Mesa.

“He had some hard decisions to make,” White added of Bailey. “But he made a trip to Colorado Mesa and really liked it there, and he talked to the other guys who have gone there.”

The 2024 Grizzly Bowl defensive player of the game, Jimmy Fomby, is also moving on to play for a four-year program.

And his hard work and dedication has paid off big time with an offer to join Division-I University of San Diego.

“He’s a kid who is your prototypical JC football player,” White said of the D-1 commit who played cornerback at CR after graduating from West Seattle High School. “He didn’t play at a great high school and he had never lifted weights before he showed up, but he bought into everything our program was teaching.

“For a guy who had never lifted, he really exploded in the weight room and squatted 500 pounds, and he’s a really good student.

“He was one of our team captains and I’m really proud of him and all the work he put in, and he really deserved what he got.”

Eight other Corsairs also have committed their futures to four-year programs, including three that will make the jump to the D-2 level in addition to Bailey.

Receiver Jaydan Burns out of Ukiah High will play at Western Oregon; offensive lineman Cale Kuska out of Maxwell High will join Henderson State in Arkansas; and defensive back Ronin Kimbrough out of Ashland High will join New Mexico Highlands.

Five other CR players will move one to the NAIA level, including offensive lineman Michael Frease (Clear Lake High), Evan Raymond (Pagosa High in Colorado), Adam Symonds (Great Falls High, Montana) and Hunter Kralj (Great Falls High, Montana).

Frease will play for Eastern Oregon, Raymond will play for Valley City State in North Dakota, Symonds will play at Dickinson State in North Dakota, and Kralj will play at Montana Northern.

And rounding out the players moving on is linebacker Ian Richter from Union Endicott High in New York, who will play at NAIA College of Idaho.

“I’m happy for all the kids that signed,” White said. “That’s what it’s all about.”

The CR coach added he is hoping to have six to eight more players from last year’s team moving on to four-year programs, including 2024 Grizzly Bowl offensive player of the game Kaleb Price of Del Norte, who has received a few offers and is still considering his options.

This past Saturday, the Corsairs also hosted visits from 10 H-DNL players, many of whom have verbally committed to play for the team in 2025 and will begin working out at the local community college this spring.

We’ll have much more on that in the coming months.