AURORA | An injury kept Elijah Reed from playing his senior season with the Vista PEAK Prep football team, but it didn’t prevent him from continuing his playing career at the next level.
Just a few days after he verbally committed, the 6-foot-4, 295-pound offensive lineman signed his National Letter of Intent to play at Colorado-State Pueblo at a morning ceremony in the school’s auditorium Wednesday.
Reed was one of nearly 90 student-athletes from Aurora schools honored on national Signing Day, the regular period for football signees and others. (Full list of Aurora signees/honorees, here)
Coach John Sullivan’s Bison finished just short of the program’s first state playoff appearance in the 2016 season and could have used the services of Reed, who was an honorable mention All-Colorado 7 player as a junior.
“Guys rave about what he’s doing (in workouts),” CSU-Pueblo head coach John Wristen said about Reed on the school’s website. “Off his junior tape, I really think this kid had a chance to be a Division I player. I really think he and Cal (Highlands Ranch’s Neubert) will be two cornerstones of our offensive line for a long time.”
Reed played in the Blue-Grey All-American Bowl on Jan. 21 in Oakland, California, where he suited up for the Pacific Team in a 37-14 win over the Atlantic Team.
In all on National Signing Day, CSU-Pueblo harvested four players from Aurora programs, including Cherokee Trail’s Max Gonzales and Brenden Holt plus Grandview’s Gunnar Lamphere, to add to a roster that already has quite a few former Aurora standouts.
The ThunderWolves — the 2014 Division II national champions — finished 8-3 in 2016.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel
WELCOME TO #PackNation!
Elijah Reed (OT, 6-4, 295, Aurora, Colo./ Vista Peak Prep)
BIO https://t.co/DkhJHQ8PHr #NSD2017 #IGiveMyAll pic.twitter.com/caKemBr3oC— CSU-Pueblo Athletics (@gothunderwolves) February 1, 2017
