Fresno State or bust for Merced High football star Becerra

John Becerra hopes that he won’t be playing his last football game on Saturday night. The Merced High star is headed to Fresno State next season, but his football future will be put on hold.

The Sun-Star Defensive Player of the Year from last season says he plans to walk on at Fresno State, but that won’t likely happen until next spring.

“A lot of junior college coaches have tried to persuade me to play for them. Definitely more than one,” Becerra said. “But I have an opportunity, with both of my parents being veterans, that I can get free tuition through financial aid. I want to take full advantage of that. Not that junior college is bad, but I want to graduate from a big school.”

Becerra will suit up for the North in Saturday’s 32nd annual North/South Rotary All-Star Game at Veterans Stadium at Golden Valley High.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., but the recent heat wave may force the start to be pushed back to 8 p.m.

Becerra will team with Merced High teammate David Perales, Turlock High’s Mustafa Noel-Johnson and Oakdale linebacker Cullen Bearden to give the North a dominant defensive line.

“It’s another last chance to play football before everything ends,” Becerra said. “Going out there, there are lot of emotions. I get to play with David one more time. This will be something we remember. We’ll be able to tell our kids about that time we played in an all-star game together.”

Perales will continue his football career at Merced College this fall. Noel-Johnson and Bearden are headed to Modesto Junior College. Bearden will attempt to play football and baseball at MJC.

Becerra has his sights set on Fresno State.

Becerra’s father served in the army and his mother served in the army and national guard. He wants to take advantage of his opportunity to receive free tuition because of the time his parents sacrificed in the military. The importance of graduating from college has been stressed on Becerra from his family at an early age. He had a 3.5 GPA at Merced High and plans to major in psychology at Fresno State.

“Both my parents and most of my family never received a college education,” Becerra said. “They have always wanted me to go to college. They’ve always wanted what is best for me.”

If that means no football, so be it.

However, Becerra says he’s not giving up on football. Merced High coach Rob Scheidt has reached out to the Fresno State coaching staff on Becerra’s behalf and the Bulldogs coaches want him come see them about the possibility of walking on next spring.

“They coaches basically said to make sure John pokes his head in the office when he gets there,” Scheidt said. “It’s going to take some diligence on John’s part. He’s really going to have to pursue it.

“I think he can play. I think he can play at Fresno State. What capacity that will be I’m not sure. It depends on his ability to play another position.”

At 6-foot-2, and 210 pounds, Becerra played defensive end in high school. He finished with 94 tackles and 12 sacks for the Bears last season. Scheidt believes he’d likely have to switch to outside or inside linebacker in college after adding some weight.

“My family has always wanted something better for me,” Becerra said. “I’m still trying to play football. I’m going to stay in shape. I still love practicing. I still love football.”

Becerra has a fan in Turlock coach James Peterson, who is coaching the North in Saturday’s game. Peterson is used to watching Becerra from the other sideline the past three seasons with the Bulldogs fighting the Bears for the Central California Conference championship.

Peterson has gotten to know Becerra a little bit better during practices this week.

“You play against a guy like that, he’s a kid that has got a motor, who can run anything down,” Peterson said. “He does a good job busting traps. He’s tough to run at. You picture the guy like a machine, like he’s some soldier. Then you have him on your team and you see he’s a good guy. He’s super intelligent. The guy has a great smile.”

This story was originally published June 23, 2017 at 3:38 PM with the headline "Fresno State or bust for Merced High football star Becerra."