CEDAR CITY, Utah, Feb. 4 ? Southern Utah University has signed 27 players to national letters of intent for football, Thunderbird Coach Ed Lamb announced today.
    The list includes 14 players from Utah, six from California, three from Nevada, two from Hawaii and one each from Texas and Washington. Three are junior college transfers and 24 are committing from the high school ranks.
    Most notable among the high school players, at least in the state of Utah, is quarterback Ammon Olsen, Utah's reigning 5A MVP. Olsen led Alta High to a state championship this year, throwing for 3,209 yards and 36 touchdowns and running for another score.
    In addition to Olsen, the Thunderbirds signed Utah 5A all-state selections Brady Davies, an offensive lineman who was Olsen's teammate at Alta; defensive end James Cowser from Davis High; and running back Karl Williams from Layton High.
    The Thunderbirds also inked Kevin Moss, a Utah 4A all-state center who played at Pine View High School; Mountain Crest wide receiver Mitch Jessop, another 4A all-stater; linebacker Austin Gumicio, a 3A first-team selection from Grantsville HS; and Anthony Cossairt, who earned first team-all-state honors at Utah's 2A level at Grand County High last season.
    The remaining high school signees from Utah include Chandler Allpin, a receiver from Lone Peak HS; Drake Eckholdt, a tight end from Alta HS; Andrew Eide, a defensive end from Timpanogos HS; and Gavin Farr, an offensive/defensive lineman from Northridge HS.
    Two more native Utahns, Travis and Trent Barney, have agreed to join the Thunderbirds after both earned 2008 first-team all-Western States Football League recognition at Snow Junior College. Travis is a defensive back, while Trent is a defensive end who also earned honorable mention all-American honors last season.
    Joining the Thunderbirds from Nevada are Nevada offensive lineman of the year Cody Burgess, from Lincoln County HS; Matt Holley, a receiver/defensive back who earned all-division honors at Las Vegas Centennial HS; and linebacker/defensive end Sam Aigbe from Las Vegas Bishop Gorman HS.
    Signing letters of intent from California are Randall Nygren, a first-team all-CIF player who quarterbacked LaHabra High to the CIF championship; Dennis Fite, a two-time all-CIF performer from Citrus Hills HS; and offensive lineman Daron Griffin, a first-team all-Inland Empire performer at Cajon HS.
    Also signing from California were Anthony Fagans, a defensive back from Oakland Technical HS who earned second-team all-league honors; Gregory Reid, a lineman who can play on either side of the ball who was named all-league and all-area at Chino Hills HS; and quarterback J.J. Mayer from Trabucco Hills HS.
    Signing from Hawaii were wide receiver Jordan Ursua, an all-state selection at Kealakehe HS who is the brother of current T-Bird receiver Jared Ursua; and linebacker Tu Tui, who prepped at Kahuku HS before playing at Snow College, where he earned honorable mention all-WSFL honors last season.
    Rounding out the Thunderbird signing class are WR Cameron Morgan, a unanimous first-team all-district performer at Uvalde (Texas) HS; and Christian Rennie, a first-team all-King County honoree on the offensive line at Issaquah (Wash.) HS.
    
Southern Utah's 2009 Football Signees
Player        Pos    Ht    Wt    Hometown/Previous School(s)
Sam Aigbe    LB/DE    6-3    225    Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman HS
Chandler Allpin    WR    6-3    200    Alpine, Utah/Lone Peak HS
Travis Barney    DB    6-1    180    Orem, Utah/Orem HS/Snow College
Trent Barney    DE    6-3    235    Orem, Utah/Orem HS/Snow College
Cody Burgess    OL    6-5    280    Caliente, Nev./Lincoln County HS
Anthony Coissart    OL    6-5    285    Moab, Utah/Grand County HS
James Cowser    DE    6-4    235    Fruit Heights, Utah/Davis HS
Brady Davies    DE/LB    6-3    225    Draper, Utah/Alta HS
Drake Eckholdt    TE    6-4    195    Draper, Utah/Alta HS
Andrew Eide    DE    6-4    240    Orem, Utah/Timpanogos HS
Anthony Fagans    DB    6-0    185    Oakland, Calif./Oakland Tech
Gavin Farr    OL/DL    6-3    255    South Ogden, Utah/Northridge HS
Dennis Fite    DB    6-3    185    Citrus Hills, Calif./Citrus Hills HS
Daron Griffin    OL    6-4    305    San Bernardino, Calif./Cajon HS
Austin Gumicio    LB/RB    6-3    200    Grantsville, Utah/Grantsville HS
Matt Holley    WR/DB    6-1    205    Las Vegas, Nev./Centennial HS
Mitch Jessop    WR    6-4    185    Providence, Utah/Mountain Crest HS
Jason (J.J.) Mayer    QB    6-2    205    Foothill Ranch, Calif./Trabucco Hills HS
Cameron Morgan    WR    6-2    180    Uvalde, Texas/Uvalde HS
Kevin Moss    OL    6-4    285    St. George, Utah/Pine View HS
Randall Nygren    QB    6-3    200    La Habra, Calif./La Habra HS
Ammon Olsen    QB    6-3    195    Draper, Utah/Alta HS
Gregory Reid    OL    6-6    245    Covina, Calif./Chino Hills HS
Christian Rennie    OL    6-4    290    Issaquah, Wash./Issaquah HS
Tu Tui        LB    6-2    250    Kahuku, Hawaii/Kahuku HS/Snow College
Jordan Ursua    WR    5-9    175    Kailua-Kona, Hawaii/Kealakehe HS
Karl Williams    RB    6-0    230    Layton, Utah/Layton HS