Marquette Washington signs letter of intent on Feb. 6, 2013 at Kaiser High. (Photo courtesy of Marquette Washington)

Kaiser High School running back Marquette Washington signed his letter of intent to play football at the New Mexico State University on Feb. 6, 2013.

Washington played his final high school football game as a Kaiser Cat against Rancho Verde High School in the CIF-SS Central Division finals on Dec. 1^st.

Washington had 33 carries for 269 yards and one touchdown against the Mustangs of Rancho Verde, who not only had home field advantage against the Cats but were also the defending champions from 2011.

The defending champion Mustangs were unable to repeat as champions, as Washington and his teammates brought home the third football championship in the Kaiser’s 16-year history, with a 28-21 victory. Kaiser finished with an overall season record of 14-1.

It is been a decade since Kaiser last won a CIF football title, when the school won consecutive CIF-SS championships in 2002 and 2003 under former head coach Dick Bruich.

At Kaisers’ football team banquet after the 2012 season, Washington was named the team’s most valuable player on offense.

Washington had a total of 245 carries for 1850 yards and 19 touchdowns during the 2012 season.

His name was also shown in the school record books for a number of different categories for both career and single season records.

Some of those records include being second among individual total career points with 234 points from 2009-2012, second in career total yardage with 3,017 yards from 2009-2012, and forth in single season touchdowns with 19 touchdowns in 2012.

“It feels good to know all my hard work pays off,” Marquette said.

He also received recognition for his off the field success at the banquet as well, including perfect attendance and for maintaining a 3.5 or higher grade point average.

Washington took a trip to the campus of New Mexico State, prior to signing his letter of intent. New Mexico State was the only offer he had officially received.

“My visit went very well, I got to meet the rest of the coaching staff and players,” Marquette said.

Compared to his time at Kaiser, he knows there will be a few changes as he moves to the next level and jumps into the offensive rotation behind a returning senior running back.

“The adjustment is small but it’s the speed of the game,” Marquette explained. “In high school, we changed into a lot of formations and they do as well, it’s just the blocking assignments.”

Marquette’s father, Bobby Washington, also went on the trip with his son.

“It was good for me to see what the school has to offer,” Bobby said. “Every parent should go and get a feel for the school and the coaching staff.”

Washington has been honored with several different awards and titles this season while at Kaiser including Central Division Offensive Player of the Year, Kaiser’s Offensive MVP, and CIF Champion.

The only title left for Washington to earn at Kaiser is “high school graduate,” which he is expected to earn in May/June.