La Jolla football stars sign with William Jewell College

La Jolla High’s Collin Rugg and Bishop’s Bulla Graft headed for Missouri this fall

La Jolla High School quarterback Collin Rugg and Bishop’s School running back Bulla Graft are trading one “Jewel” for another. The top-performing La Jolla athletes have each signed national Letters of Intent to play football for William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri.

Rugg, a two-year starter, racked up a total of 5,965 passing yards and 70 touchdowns during his tenure at La Jolla High.

He finished his senior season as one of San Diego County’s top quarterbacks, breaking a 15-year-old, single-season touchdown record with 46 passing scores.

Other notable honors for Rugg include first team All-CIF, offensive MVP at the San Diego FNL magazine All-Star game, and “Scholar-Leader-Athlete” honoree of the San Diego Chapter of the National Football Foundation.

Graft, the play-making running back from The Bishop’s School, accounted for 40 touchdowns last season. In an earlier interview with La Jolla Light, football coach Joel Allen, who has coached Graft all four years at Bishop’s, said his “football IQ” is higher than anyone he has coached. In his senior season, Graft averaged 12 yards a carry, and Allen said about every third or fourth time Graft touched the football, he scored a touchdown.

William Jewell College is a private Liberal Arts school east of Kansas City and participates in the Great Lakes Valley Conference at the NCAA Division 2 level. Together, Rugg and Graft are destined to deliver a potent offensive boost to the Jewell College football program, and the legacy of their hometown Jewel.