Kennedy Halfback Jones Will Play for Iowa State

Edwin Jones of Kennedy High, who rushed for 909 yards and scored nine touchdowns last season, signed a national letter of intent Wednesday to play football at Iowa State, a member of the Big 8 Conference.

Wednesday was the first day that high school athletes nationwide could sign letters of intent for fall sports.

Jones, a 5-11, 185-pound halfback, led the team in rushing, gained a school-record 280 yards in one game and averaged 6.2 yards per carry. He was a first-team, All-Valley 4-A League pick.

There were no surprises as several other Valley-area seniors announced their decisions. Pac-10 schools signed several highly rated local players, but UCLA picked off the most prospects. The Bruins signed linebacker Sean Howard (6-5, 220) from Crespi, a USA Today All-American; Dion Lambert (6-2, 175) from Kennedy, a Times All-Valley defensive back; Northwest Conference player of the year Jim Bonds (6-0, 180), a quarterback from Hart; and placekicker Dominic Sandifer (5-10, 160) of Harvard, who kicked the nation’s longest field goal in 1986 (59 yards).

Ralph Blanks of Royal, a 6-4, 180-pound, All-Marmonte League defensive back, signed with Cal, as did Taft’s Cornell Collier, a 6-3, 205-pound linebacker who was The Times’ All-Valley and the Sunset League’s defensive player of the year.

Crespi’s John Carpenter, a 6-5, 230-pound tight end, signed with Stanford. Bill Haney, a 6-3, 230-pound linebacker from Camarillo, signed with Oregon.

Other signings included Ken Sollom, a 6-2, 190-pound quarterback from Canyon, who signed with Michigan of the Big 10.

Kennedy’s Ron Simmons, a 6-4, 245-pound center, signed with Brigham Young of the Western Athletic Conference. Sylmar’s Sean Hampton, a 5-10, 200-pound fullback, signed with Hawaii.

Chris Hite of Hart signed with Santa Clara University.