Breaking Out
BUTLER TWP — After enjoying a breakout football season at Butler last fall, Zach Slomers will now look to break through.
The glut of wide receivers at California (Pa.) University, that is.
The 6-foot-1, 185-pound Slomers has accepted a preferred walk-on opportunity with the Vulcans. He rushed for 188 yards and three touchdowns, caught 25 passes for 239 yards and a score in his lone year as a starter for the Golden Tornado last year.
“Last year, he just blew up,” Butler coach Eric Christy said. “He developed into our go-to guy offensively.”
If he's staying at receiver, Slomers will have to get in line. While California is graduating its leading receiver from last season, Jordan Dandridge, the Vulcans have 13 rostered receivers returning, including four who had double-digit catches a year ago.
“I'm confident I can go down there and prove myself,” Slomers said. “They are all great athletes and I'll see how I compare when I get out on the field with them.
“I'm planning to just outwork people.”
Slomers, who plans to major in business, could have gone to the Division II level.
“A number of Division III schools were interested in Zach. Westminster was really interested,” Christy said. “He wanted to challenge himself at the highest level he had an opportunity.
“There are a lot of places he can still go in terms of football. He's been a three-sport athlete, also playing basketball and baseball. Just concentrating on football now, there's no telling what type of player he may develop himself into.
“I know California likes him. They love his potential,” Christy added.
While Slomers wasn't part of a varsity team that won a game in high school, he is headed to a California program that hasn't won fewer than seven games in a season since 2004. The Vulcans' last losing season was 2003.
“I'm really looking forward to that,” Slomers said of California's winning tradition. “I haven't experienced a football win in a long time.”
Slomers stopped playing football in eighth grade. He did not return to the sport until his junior year, when he totaled 15 yards from scrimmage on three touches.
He firmly believes his best years of football remain ahead of him.
“I absolutely do,” Slomers said. “I've never concentrated solely on football all year before.
“There will be a good supporting cast at Cal and I love the coaches there.”
Head coach Gary Dunn is 34-12 in four years at Cal. He took the Vulcans to the Division II playoffs in 2016 and 2017 before posting 7-4 records each of the past two years.
Slomers was recruited by the offensive line coach and has yet to talk to the wide receivers coach.
“With the coronavirus thing going on, things have been kinda crazy,” he said. “You can't do much else these days, so I've been pounding the weight room, getting stronger. I'm preparing to go down there and compete.
“Starting as a freshman may not be realistic and I know I could be red-shirted, but I want to be a starter by my sophomore or junior year. That is absoluely the goal.”
Slomers will get his chance. That's all he asks for.
“There is so much scholarship opportunity out there for football, probably moreso than any other sport,” Christy said. “We tell our kids that all the time.
“Colleges will find the player if that player comes out and performs. The tapes don't lie. Zach is a prime example of that.”
