Originally published Thursday, February 5, 2009 at 12:00 AM

Tony Heard will play at Central Washington

Tony Heard, the Gatorade State Player of the Year as a junior at Edmonds-Woodway High School in 2007, was among players signing football letters of intent with Central Washington.

By Seattle Times staff

Tony Heard of Edmonds-Woodway High School, the Gatorade State Player of the Year as a junior, was one of 36 high school football players signed Wednesday by Central Washington.

Heard is projected as a linebacker at Central. He was a star running back and linebacker at Edmonds-Woodway, running for 2,238 yards and 31 touchdowns as a junior. Last season, Heard ran for more than 1,000 yards but didn't match his 2007 output.

He missed games with a concussion, but was still a first-team All-WesCo South player on offense and defense.

Five Wildcats recruits were first-team all-state players last season — QB Jordan Durbin of Prosser, OL Grant Cisneros of Sumner, OL Mike Nelson of Mount Si, DB Riley Wall of Capital and WR/DB Blair Collins of Royal.

All 36 of the recruits were Washington players.

Second-year coach Blaine Bennett said the Wildcats' strongest group was at offensive line.

He said two offensive linemen, Cisneros and Hoquiam's Justin Taylor, plus Heard and tight end Sean Stuby of Issaquah, had been offered scholarships by Division I-A Big Sky schools.

Eastern focuses on defense

Eastern Washington signed 33 players, 21 from in-state.

Coach Beau Baldwin's list was heavy on defensive backs and defensive linemen.

Among the defensive backs were Chandler Gayton of O'Dea, Greg Herd of Steilacoom, Billy Lechtenberg of Mountlake Terrace and T.J. Lee of West Seattle.

Gayton's father, Carter Gayton, played football at Washington and played in the 1960 Rose Bowl.

"They were definitely priorities," Baldwin said of the backs and linemen on the defensive side.

The Eagles signed Paul Ena, a linebacker from Inglemoor. Ena's father, Tali, was a Washington State running back in the late 1970s and played for the Seahawks.

The Eagles signed three local running backs — Ron Baines of Mount Tahoma High School, Taylor Cox of Jackson and Artise Gauldin of Kent-Meridian.

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