Clark Phillips III, shown here running with the ball while playing for La Habra High School in California, signed a Letter of Intent with the University of Utah in December, joining the Utes’ program as an early enrollee. | Courtesy Paul Luna

By Brandon Judd

SALT LAKE CITY — In California, high school football is being pushed back because of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The state’s governing board for high school athletics, the California Interscholastic Federation, announced Monday that the fall sports season, including football competition, will be delayed, with the sport starting in either December 2020 or January 2021, depending on the CIF’s 10 sections.

The CIF outlined that football section playoffs will wrap up by April 10 and regional/state championships by April 17.

California joins New Mexico in delaying its high school fall athletic competition. The Utah High School Activities Association is planning on sports returning in the fall — the opening weekend of high school football is scheduled for Aug. 14, with one game — Davis at Herriman — opening the season the night before.

California is a rich recruiting ground for programs around the country, and with prep football being delayed in the state, it will impact recruiting.

Student-athletes who were planning on graduating high school early and signing a National Letter of Intent during the NCAA’s early signing period in December and heading to college as an early enrollee would now face the decision of staying with that plan and missing their final high school season, or postponing when they join their college program. The traditional National Signing Day is in February.

247 Sports reported that one of the nation’s top recruits in the 2021 class, five-star defensive lineman Korey Foreman from Corona (Calif.) Centennial High, already responded to the news. “If they make me choose between my senior season or going to college ... please believe i’m headed to my first camp .. no questions asked,” Foreman wrote on Twitter.

Universities in Utah are no strangers to bringing in California talent. The University of Utah had five high school signees from California in its 2020 football recruiting class, while BYU had four and Utah State two.

The most high profile of those was Utes signee Clark Phillips III, a five-star cornerback from La Habra High in California, rated as the highest recruit to ever sign with Utah. He graduated high school early and joined the U. program as an early enrollee, going through winter conditioning and participating in spring practice before COVID-19 brought an end to camp in mid-March.

“He’s got a lot to learn, obviously — he still should be in high school,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham told the Deseret News of Phillips in March. “But we think he’s got a very bright future.”