Breitbard Stars of the Month, December, 2006

PROFESSIONALS

ANTONIO GATES (Football, Chargers) – The Chargers tight end earned his third straight Pro Bowl trip after a season in which he caught 71 passes for 924 yards and nine touchdowns. Gates scored on a 33-yard touchdown pass in the regular-season finale against the Arizona Cardinals to give the Bolts a 7-0 lead in a game San Diego went on to win 27-20. For the season, the fourth-year pro, a 6-4, 260-pounder, averaged 13.0 yards a catch with a longest of 57 yards for a touchdown.

NICK HARDWICK (Football, Chargers) – The third-year center earned his first Pro Bowl trip as the anchor to the Chargers’ offensive line that cleared the way for NFL MVP LaDainian Tomlinson and protected first-year starting quarterback Philip Rivers by permitting only 28 sacks. By comparison the Chargers sacked opposing quarterbacks 61 times. Hardwick, a 6-4, 295-pounder, was a third-round draft pick out of Purdue in 2004.

NATE KAEDING (Football, Chargers) – The third-year kicker earned his first Pro Bowl trip while converting 58 of 58 PATs and hitting 26 of 29 field goals and also improving his distance on kickoffs. Kaeding, a third-round pick from Iowa in 2004, was third in the league in scoring with 136 points behind Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson (186 points, an NFL record) and Chicago kicker Robbie Gould (143 points). On field goals, Kaeding was 7-of-7 from 20 to 29 yards, 11 of 12 from 30 to 39, 7 of 9 from 40 to 49 and 1 for 1 on 50 yards plus.

LORENZO NEAL (Football, Chargers) – The veteran fullback cleared the way for a 1,000-yard rusher for the 10th straight season in his career and was named to his third career Pro Bowl. Neal, a 14th-year veteran in his fourth season with the Chargers, led the way for LaDainian Tomlinson to rush for 1,815 yards and the NFL rushing title. Neal also finished the regular season with a streak of 107 consecutive carries without losing yardage. The streak dates back to the 2002 season and is the longest in the NFL.

KASSIM OSGOOD (Football, Chargers/San Diego State) – The fourth-year pro from San Diego State earned his first Pro Bowl trip and was named the Chargers’ Special Teams Player of the Year for the second straight season. Although the 6-5, 220-pound wide receiver didn’t have as many special teams tackles as a year ago, he was the target of opponents in their game plans as he faced constant double- and triple-team blockers on kickoff and punt coverage teams.

AMATEURS

ANTWAN APPLEWHITE (Football, San Diego State) -- The junior defensive end recorded a sack for the sixth straight game as the Aztecs finished their season with a win over Colorado State. Applewhite, from Torrance, was the only Aztecs player named first-team All-Mountain West Conference as he led the MWC in sacks with seven for losses of 52 yards. He also led the Aztecs with nine tackles for a loss.

ERIC BAKHTIARI (Football, University of San Diego) – The junior defensive end from Burlingame was named an NCAA Division I-AA third-team All-American, cracking a team comprised almost exclusively of players from scholarship schools. The 6-foot-4, 255-pounder was earlier named the Pioneer Football League’s Defensive Player of the Year and selected as a Division I-AA Mid-Major first-team All-American for the second straight year. The Mid-Major team is made up of players from non-scholarship schools. Bakhitari had 23.5 tackles for a loss and eight sacks.

ROSS DEROGATIS (Basketball, University of San Diego) – The senior guard was led the Toreros to a 7-1 record in December as USD finished the month with a 9-5 record before entering West Coast Conference play. DeRogatis’ stretch including being named the WCC Player of the Week after he scored a career-high 27 points in a win over Campbell on 9 of 14 shooting, including 7 of 12 on 3-point shots.

LEON HALL (Football, Michigan/Vista High) – The Michigan senior cornerback, who is projected as one of the first five picks in the NFL draft, was named a first-team All-American on teams selected by the American Football Coaches Association and the Walter Camp Team. Hall was a Bronko Nagurski Award finalist and was one only two players who was a unanimous All-Big Ten pick. He started 35 games in his career and is Michigan’s career pass breakup leader with 43. He had three interceptions to finish his career with 12, good for fourth place on Michigan’s career list.

TY LACKEY (Water polo, UC San Diego/Patrick Henry) – The senior led the fifth-ranked Tritons to a Final Four berth and third-place finish in the NCAA Water polo tournament. He was a finalist for the sports’ national collegiate player of the year, the Peter J. Cutino Award. In the semifinals, the Tritons lost to No. 1-ranked Cal, which went on to the win the national title. UC San Diego defeated Navy for the third pace as Lackey scored five goals. He led the team in scoring for the season with 77 goals and 19 assists.

AMANDA REGO (Basketball, USD, Mission Bay High) – Rego led the Toreros to their best start in program history with a 10-3 record as she was named West Coast Conference Player of the Month for December. Rego did a little bit of everything for USD, setting conference-highs with 6.88 assists per game and 3.5 steals per contests. The junior also averaged 8.4 points per game for the Toreros, and pulled down 7.0 boards per game to rank sixth in the league. Against Holy Cross, she dished out 13 assists and collected a program-record 10 steals, just one point short of a triple double with nine points. Rego also notched a double-double in a win over Cal State Bakersfield, scoring 10 points and dishing out 11 assists on December 12.

Click here for Prep Stars of the Month

Brock Butler, Carlsbad High, football

Corbin Cutshaw, Santa Fe Christian, football

Jhazmine Lynch, Marian Catholic, basketball

John Mossy, Santa Fe Christian, wrestling

Tyrone Shelley, Crawford High, basketball

La'Kenya Simon-West, Grossmont High, basketball