KENTFIELD, CA – Marin Catholic nose tackle and offensive lineman Jamar Sekona made official on Tuesday night what was buzzing for a while, and that’s when the upcoming football season concludes and he graduates next year, he’ll go from wearing a Wildcats jersey to a red and yellow jersey of the USC Trojans.
Not surprisingly, nothing changed on Wednesday morning when we caught up with Sekona, looking fit and ready to rumble, and also acting like a traffic cop or maybe even a drill sergeant, directing and participating in workouts and drills by the players on their own with the 6-4, 310-pound man-child the obvious leader.
“The thing that stands out about top power five players is the freakish size and athleticism,” remarked Marin Catholic Coach Mazi Moayed. “What makes Jamar a Unicorn is the addition of his character and leadership.”
“Jamar motivates everyone around him and leads by example,” Moayed continued. “At the same time he genuinely cares about everyone around him with his big heart. Jamar has experienced some lows and highs that life has to offer, and this has given him a unique perspective.”
Besides the praise from Moayed, recent stories and blogs about Sekona have talked about his character as much as his football prowess.
Asked if it makes him feel good to have his character pointed out Sekona had this to day.
“Yes it does, and it makes me proud of how I was brought up by my mother.”
The only son of a single parent, his mother Margaret Sekona, a hospice care giver, Jamar also has six older sisters, and his family has had its challenges, but according to Moayed they’ve always risen up, and his mom has been an amazing figure in his life and led him through everything.
Sekona has been a known commodity since he was offered by Southern California as a sophomore, but after a very strong showing at The Opening in May at El Cerrito, interest sparked even more.
“I definitely had a lot more interest in USC right away when they offered me my sophomore year,” said Sekona when told most of the top analysts had felt he would commit to Southern California. “But after The Opening and the beginning of summer I narrowed things down, and I wanted to wait up until this point to keep my options open.”
“They were a school I really liked from the start and over time I started to like them more,” continued Sekona. “I was just waiting for that right moment.
Sekona is Tongan and Samoan and we wondered if the tradition of USC looking for Pacific Islanders was a factor.
“I knew about the type of Polynesians they took in and a lot of them have come out very successful, so that was a great benefit to look at,” responded Sekona. “I knew about the history but that didn’t really persuade me.”
So what did persuade Sekona to become a Trojan?
“Most of the time in high school I play the nose so I’m used to taking on the double and triple team, and I’m usually successful,” Sekona said. “I feel very confident with the right coaching that I will be successful in a one on one, and I feel that from USC when I’ve talked to the coach.”
Sekona is a two-way lineman at Marin Catholic but is looking to play the nose in college and USC knows that.
“I’m going for defense,” Sekona said.
Marin Catholic has recently sent two quarterbacks to the Pac-12 as was outlined in the Redwood Empire quarterbacks feature earlier this week, Jared Goff to Cal and Morgan Mahalak to Oregon, and Spencer Petras is at Iowa, but Sekona joins just a couple of defensive players that have recently gone to the Pac-12 from the Redwood Empire, and one from way back.
Linebacker Scooby Wright, a 2013 Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa graduate, went on to Arizona and is playing professionally, and 2016 Marin Catholic graduate Sebastian Olver is now a lineman at Colorado.
The first was 1975 Cardinal Newman graduate and standout linebacker Jerry Robinson. After three years as an All-American at UCLA in the old Pac-10 he was drafted in the first round of the NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles but finished his career as an Oakland Raider before being elected to the College Football Hall of Fame.
Sekona has a long ways to go even before he plays his first down of football at USC, so comparisons will have to wait a while
After the interview concluded Sekona went back to the workouts and drills and spotted lineman Dawson Brown, a 6-4, 275-pound incoming junior vying for a spot on the line, and Sekona shouted some words of encouragement to him.
Asked if he’s taking some of the lineman like Brown under his wing he answered “yes and with Dawson I’ve been working out a lot with him this summer.”
Since Sekona has been at Marin Catholic the Wildcats made it to the CIF Northern Regional 3-AA title game in 2017 before losing to Shasta-Redding, and lost a 16-15 heartbreaker to Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland last season in the North Coast Section Division 2 championship, so that would seem to set the bar high for this year, even with sophomore Michael Ingrassia starting at quarterback.
“As far as the team goals obviously it’s going to be state for us,” Sekona remarked. “I think everyone has bought in and is on the same page which is really great. I think everyone has this type of energy and feeling about it. We’re going to be very successful as long as we execute and all do our jobs.
“For personal goals one of them is to be the best leader I can be for the team,” Sekona said. “I definitely want to be sure I leave a legacy for these guys, for the younger ones and for my class, and for myself leave knowing I left it all on the field and helping us have the best year we’ve ever had.”
At this point, and with Sekona’s stated goals for the team and himself, USC seems in the distant future.
After the workouts and drills on Wednesday, regular practice resumes on Thursday with the first game on August 24 hosting El Cerrito. From there we’ll get an idea of where Sekona and the Wildcats are headed this season.
