On June 3rd, Quilcene High School senior Robert Comstock III signed a letter of intent to play for College of the Siskiyous in California. Siskiyous is the northernmost of the California Community Colleges and a football powerhouse, with a steady stream of football players transferring to Division I programs. In 2017, 17 Siskiyous players signed on to play for Division I schools.
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Robert Comstock III did it all for Quilcene. He caught passes as a tight end on offense, racked up tackles and sacks as a defensive lineman, and shone on special teams. And now he is taking his talents to California as the first Quilcene football player to sign on to play college football in more than 20 years.
On June 3rd, Comstock signed a letter of intent to play for College of the Siskiyous in Weed, California. Siskiyous is the northernmost of the California Community Colleges and a football powerhouse, with a steady stream of football players transferring to Division I programs. In 2017, 17 Siskiyous players signed on to play for Division I schools.
Comstock plans to join this group and eventually pursue football at the highest collegiate level. “I want to try and get a scholarship so I can get a good education and play my favorite sport,” he said. After getting his bachelor’s degree, Comstock plans to become a P.E. teacher.
He is happy with his choice of Siskiyous for now. “I chose it because I wanted to better myself before I go to a four-year college.”
His coach, Trey Beathard, had sent game film of Comstock to the Siskiyous coach and recommended the college to Comstock based on the transfer rate of its football players.
Beathard believes Comstock, at 6 foot 5 inches and 218 pounds, is built to play at the collegiate level. “He has excellent hands and is physical as a tackler and blocker,” he said.
Quilcene, with average graduating classes between 10 and 20 students, fields an eight-man football team. However, Comstock isn’t worried about the learning curve of adjusting to eleven-man football.
“I have done it before, but there are a lot of challenges,” he said. “ I know what is supposed to happen on an eight-man team, but in eleven-man it’s a lot more crowded and there are more people you have to worry about. The linebackers have a little different job, the defensive backs have a little different job It’s gonna take time to get used to it, but once I do I should be fine.”
He’s not crazy to believe he can make it on the big field. In the 2018 draft, the Dallas Cowboys used a first-round pick (#19) to draft Leighton Vander Esch, who played eight-man in high school, progressing to Boise State University.
Since Quilcene competes at the 1B level, eighth graders can play varsity sports. Because of that, Comstock played for Quilcene for five years, where he grew into a first team all-state player on offense and defense. As a tight end, he caught 31 passes for 643 yards and 13 touchdowns, as well as 13 two point conversions. As a defensive linemen, he recorded 133 tackles, 13 quarterback sacks, and returned two fumbles for touchdowns. On special teams, he blocked three punts.
“He was the team’s best blocker,” said Beathard.
Comstock was voted co-MVP for the Rangers this past season, and was an integral part of their record-breaking 12-1 season, the best in the school’s history, in which they reached the state semifinals before falling to the eventual state champions, Odessa.
