St. Vincent football foursome reveal college plans

In the summer of 2019, the quartet of Kai Hall, Jaret Bosarge, Nathan Rooks and Cameron Vaughn met up at Scandia Family Fun Center in Rohnert Park.

It was right before their freshman year at St. Vincent de Paul High School in Petaluma. All four were slated to go out for the football team. But they also had one thing on their minds.

“We all looked at each other and said we will be the future, we’re going to be the leaders and set this culture,” Vaughn recalled.

The statement proved true for the Mustangs these past four years, and on Wednesday, the four young men took the next step.

In front of a big crowd in the school’s DeCarli Gymnasium, each of them signed their letter of intent to play football at the next level. Hall will play at the University of San Diego, Rooks at the University of New Haven and Vaughn at Johns Hopkins University.

Bosarge will join the United States Military Academy’s sprint ball program — a form of varsity football — by way of Trinity-Pawling School in New York.

Eventually, he hopes to suit up for the academy, more commonly known as West Point.

“I’ve been wanting to go to West Point ever since I learned about what it was,” Bosarge said. “I’ve always wanted to be in the military. My brother was getting recruited by the same coach; he didn’t go, but that’s when I found interest in West Point. I realized I could get my education and go military as well, so it was kind of like a two in one.”

Hall also had an offer from West Point, as well as the Naval Academy, Air Force Academy and Western Oregon University. Ultimately, the All-Empire leading rusher chose to go down south and become a Torero.

“Going to a smaller school, being a smaller back, I learned the hard way that it’s not that easy,” Hall said of his recruitment process. “I’m definitely happy for where I landed at San Diego. I’m excited for what comes next and wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

For defensive star Rooks, football was an added bonus. The North Bay League Redwood division’s Defensive Player of the Year’s first love — music — was at the forefront throughout his college selection process.

Rooks plans to have a career in the music industry, whether it be as an engineer, producer or composer.

“It limited my options in terms of what schools actually had what I was looking for,” Rooks said. “That’s what me and my parents went off of, and University of New Haven came up as one of those options. Little did I know then that that’s where I was going to go.”

And then there’s Vaughn, whose process was hampered a little by an injury sustained last year. He couldn’t go to some of the recruitment camps in the summer, but even so, schools kept finding him.

“It was rough,” Vaughn recalled. “I got injured, and the camps I was supposed to do I didn’t end up doing. A lot of schools backed out there and obviously I pushed through the season.”

Johns Hopkins, Vaughn’s final choice, made him an offer in July, which he eagerly accepted.

“Hopkins, you can’t beat it,” Vaughn said. “It’s just one of those things where once I got the offer, we all looked at each other like ‘It’s John Hopkins, baby!’”

Hall, Rooks, Bosarge and Vaughn are the pillars of a St. Vincent football program that has been resurgent over the last four years. The Mustangs’ accomplishments during that time include two NBL-Redwood titles, a North Coast Section championship, an NCS runner-up finish and a state NorCal runner-up finish.

“This is definitely one of the happiest moments of my coaching career,” St. Vincent head coach Trent Herzog said after the quartet of players signed Wednesday. “Sending all these kids out to tremendous universities, to get great educations.”

“It’s going to be hard for anyone to fill the shoes of these four, but I just can’t thank them enough,” Herzog continued. “The last four years, they’ve been the main four guys. You don’t get student-athletes like them, and I’m going to miss the heck out of them.”

While Wednesday was the start of the four going their separate ways, they still took that step together — just as they have for four years.

Do you know of a Sonoma County student-athlete making a college commitment for the fall? Email sports@pressdemocrat.com. We’ll be publishing a list soon.

You can reach Staff Writer Kienan O’Doherty at 415-887-8650 or kienan.odoherty@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @kodoherty22.