Brettell

ADAMS TWP — Scott Brettell is hoping the college experience includes more than just being part of a winning football team.

He wants the total package.

And he believes he's going to get it at California (Pa.) University.

A senior offensive and defensive lineman at Mars High School, Brettell signed a letter of intent last week to play at the Washington County school.

"Football is very important there, but they also place a lot of importance on academics," Brettell said.

Brettell started on both sides of the ball for the Planets the last two seasons.

As an offensive tackle, he helped teammate Bill Bair rush for more than 1,900 yards and 28 touchdowns last season.

He also totaled 56 stops as a defensive tackle, including 13 behind the line of scrimmage, and five sacks.

"We had a lot of kids make either first-team defense or offense last season," said Planets coach Scott Heinauer. "But Scott was the only one who made first team on both sides of the ball. That speaks volumes about what the other coaches in the conference thought of him."

While Brettell proved to be effective on both offense and defense in high school, the Vulcans are planning to keep him on offense.

"He showed me a lot of athleticism on the defensive side of the ball," said Vulcans offensive line coach Mike Evans, who recruited Brettell. "But we feel we can do what's necessary to move him to the offensive line, hopefully to either guard or center."

Brettell stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 290 pounds. He can bench press 325 pounds.

While Brettell's freshman season at Cal isn't set in stone, there's a good chance he'll spend it learning the offense and preparing for playing time in 2008.

"We never look for a freshman to come in at his first camp and have the full package," Evans said. "We redshirt 85 percent of our freshmen. We like to see how coachable they are and what our future plans for them may be."

And Brettell is fine with that.

"If they redshirt me or if they decide to play me as a freshman, it's up to them," he said. "I know they'll do what's best for me."

Cal is coming off an 8-3 season that saw the team win its second straight PSAC-West title.

John Luckhardt will enter his sixth season as head coach with a 32-21 record at Cal.

"Winning football games is important," said Brettell, who plans to major in criminal justice. "But I want to have a good experience with it, too. And I believe that I will get both sides of that at Cal."