Players Mentioned
Defensive Back Talanoa Hufanga Signs With USC Football
December 29, 2017 | Football, Features
LOS ANGELES—Defensive back Talanoa Hufanga of Crescent Valley High in Corvallis, Ore., signed a letter of intent with the USC football team as part of the early signing period, USC head coach Clay Helton announced today (Dec. 28).
The 6-1, 215-pound Hufanga, who withheld from publicly announcing his signing until today, will enroll at USC for the upcoming spring semester as a freshman.
He joins 8 high school players and a junior college player who USC previously announced as signees for the 2018 class.
Hufanga was a safety and wide receiver at Crescent Valley. As a 2017 senior, he had 44 tackles, with 7 for losses, 4 interceptions, 1 fumble recovery, 1 forced fumble and 1 blocked field goal on defense and 35 receptions for 696 yards (19.9 avg) with 11 TDs plus 490 yards on 39 carries (12.6 avg) with 7 TDs on offense. As a 2016 junior, he made USA Today All-Oregon second team as he had 19 tackles, with 3 for losses, 3 interceptions and 1 fumble recovery on defense and 643 yards on 74 carries (8.7 avg) with 17 TDs plus completed 35-of-75 passes (48.0%) for 846 yards with 7 TDs and 2 interceptions on offense. He also played basketball at Crescent Valley. His cousin is USC freshman defensive tackle Marlon Tuipulotu.
Hufanga will enter USC next month with 5 of the previously-announced signees, including 4 who will graduate a semester early from high school. Those 4 incoming freshmen are offensive lineman Justin Dedich of Chaparral High in Temecula (Calif.), linebacker Kana'i Mauga of Waianae (Hi.) High, linebacker Raymond Scott of Narbonne High in Harbor City (Calif.) and defensive back Chase Williams of Roosevelt High in Eastvale (Calif.). Then there is defensive lineman Caleb Tremblay of American River Community College in Sacramento (Calif.), who will enroll in the spring as a junior.
The 4 other previously-announced USC signees will join them in the fall as freshmen. They are offensive lineman Liam Douglass of Harvard Westlake High in Studio City (Calif.), linebacker Palaie Gaoteote IV of Bishop Gorman High in Las Vegas (Nev.), linebacker Abdul-Malik McClain of JSerra Catholic High in San Juan Capistrano (Calif.) and running back Markese Stepp of Cathedral High in Indianapolis (Ind.).
