Oak Harbor senior Nick Rouser signed a letter of intent Wednesday to play football for Central Washington University.
The signing took place in the classroom of his high-school football coach Jay Turner.
Rouser picked Central because of its successful football program, it showed interest in him earlier than other schools and it has a strong program in his choice of study, art education.
Rouser’s mother, Nancy, said, in response to his signing, “We’ll be busy.” That’s because Nick’s older brother, Jake, a 2008 OHHS graduate, plays football at Idaho State University.
Central defeated ISU this past fall, but Rouser is unsure if the two schools are scheduled to play again in the future.
Football runs in the Rouser family. Father Ken played linebacker at the United States Naval Academy and two uncles also played college ball.
Nick Rouser was a two-way all-Wesco first team selection this past season as an offensive tackle and defensive end. Recently he was chosen to represent the Western Conference in the all-state East-West game, which feature’s the state’s top seniors, in June.
He was also chosen as the Skagit Valley Herald’s defensive player of the year and was a two-way first-team player on the Everett Herald’s all-area team.
Turner said, “Nick had an outstanding year for us. He dominated both sides of the ball. He was nearly unblockable on the defensive side of the ball. As the year went on teams started running away from where Nick was lined up. Nick improved tremendously from his junior year to his senior year and became one of the top linemen in our league.”
Rouser, who is 6-5 and 240 pounds, expects to red shirt his first year at Central and is not certain if he will end up on the offensive or defensive line. He said his preference is defense.
He added with a smile, “Coach Pica (the offensive line coach) wants me to play offense; the defensive line coach wants me to play defense.”
Central has become a national power in Division II football and a perennial top-20 team. Last fall it was ranked No. 1 and the only undefeated team until it lost in the quarterfinals of the playoffs to the No. 2 team and eventual national champion Northwest Missouri State.
