FOOTBALL: Former Milpitas Star Prepares for Final Season at USC

Ex-Milpitas High star quarterback Brandon Carswell helped bring the first Central Coast Section football championship to  in 2006.

Now a red-shirt senior at the University of Southern California, Carswell has his sights on helping the USC football program head back to the top of the College Football landscape.

The 6-foot-1, 190-pound wide receiver was recruited by USC as a wide receiver/cornerback after his stellar senior season at Milpitas.

Carswell briefly played receiver for the Trojans during his sophomore season before moving over to quarterback for his final two years in high school.

His fondest memory to this day is the CCS Large School Division Championship Game win over cross town rival Piedmont Hills High.

“The rivalry between the two schools and the players is just so big,” Carswell said. “Even though we don’t play each other every year, we’ve all grown up together and played against each other in the PAL league and Berryessa leagues.”

Carswell rushed for three touchdowns in the 39-21 Milpitas win, including a pair of electric third quarter touchdown runs.

The first was a 62-yard burst to extend the Milpitas lead to 21-7. Later on in the quarter, he ran another score in from 80 yards out. He finished the game with 212 yards rushing and passed for 124 more.

“It’s a game I’ll never forget,” Carswell said. “It’s one of my most cherished memories.”

Carswell now wears USC colors, cardinal red and yellow. He’s expected to compete for a starting receiver position this fall.

His father, Milpitas High assistant coach and Milpitas Knights President , saw his son’s potential at a young age.

“Everything just came naturally to him,” Carswell said. “He kept playing the game and just got better and better. I always hoped he would take his talents to the next level, but I never expected he would go to a school like USC.”

Carswell has 22 career receptions at USC, 16 of which came last season. He appeared in all 13 games in 2010 and caught his first career touchdown pass against the University of Virginia.

After catching passes in practice from current New York Jets quarterback Matt Sanchez during his first two years in college, Carswell now has another big-time quarterback talent throwing the football his direction.

Matt Barkley, widely expected to be a top-10 draft pick in the 2012 National Football League draft, is the USC starter heading into the 2011 campaign.

“Matt is a complete quarterback,” Brandon Carswell said. “We’re a young, athletic team. I’m really excited to get things going. I know the system and the coaching staff trusts me. I’m just trying to do the best job I can and keep working hard.”

On Jan. 12, 2010, Lane Kiffin was named the new head football coach at USC. Kiffin, who was a former USC assistant before leaving to take the Oakland Raiders head coaching position, replaced highly successful head coach Pete Carroll.

Carroll left for the NFL to coach the Seattle Seahawks just to prior to the news that NCAA violations were found to have taken place during his tenure. Sanctions were then levied on the program due to reported improper benefits given to players. The coaching transition left Carswell in a tough spot.

“I did think about transferring to play somewhere else,” Carswell said. “Each new coaching staff has their own agenda and their own guys. Overall, it was the academics that kept me here. I wanted to stay in California, earn my degree and be close to my family.”

Kiffin recruited Carswell out of high school but never coached him at USC until 2010.

Now one of the second-year coaches most trusted veterans on offense, Carswell and company have high hopes for the new year.

“I’m very proud of him; USC is such a wonderful school,” Bobby Carswell said. “It’s his time now.”

USC opens the regular season on Sept. 3 against the University of Minnesota. Carswell returns to the Bay Area on Oct. 13 to face off against Cal-Berkeley.