Donald Fusilier hopes that playing for the Victor Valley Junior College football team this fall will give him a boost toward his ultimate goal of playing professional football.

Fusilier, a 2002 Westgate High School graduate, helped the Louisiana Hurricanes win the 2008 Texas/Louisiana Southwestern Football Association championship. He scored the only touchdown in the Lafayette-based team’s 10-3 championship game win over the Louisiana Survivors.

“I’m getting my opportunity to play college football,” said Fusilier by telephone from California on Friday.

Advertisement

Fusilier said that at 24 he will be one of the older players on the Rams’ team. He hopes to play in the Canadian Football League or perhaps the NFL when his days at Victor Valley are done.

He credits his time with the Hurricanes for the opportunity to play in college. Fusilier said that someone he met at the TLSFA All-Star Game got in touch with coaches at Victor Valley, and things moved forward from there.

“I got a call from recruiting coordinator Charles Walker of Victor Valley College one April morning,” said Fusilier. “He said that Victor Valley was interested in having me come there to play football. We talked on and off and because of their interest in me I chose Victor Valley College.”

At Victor Valley, Fusilier will play for the school’s most successful coach. Dave Hoover leads the Rams in career coaching wins, and nearly every school record holder has played in his tenure, according to the school’s Web site.

Hoover led the Rams to the first two bowl games in school history.

Fusilier had 26 catches for 710 yards and 11 touchdowns for the Hurricanes in 2009, finishing second in the TLSFA with a 9-7 championship game loss to the Alexandria Patriots.

He arrived in Victorville on June 8 for summer camp. The team opens the season on Sept. 5 at home against Riverside Community College. The 10-game schedule concludes with a Nov. 14. home game against Mt. San Jacinto College.