When Greg Dulcich arrived for his first summer of football at St. Francis High School, coach Jim Bonds remembered a couple of things.
“He was a curly-haired freshman when he registered,” Bonds said. “And his size made him stand out from the rest of the others in his class.”
Fast forward four years, and it is a more physically mature Dulcich, now a senior, who has added mental maturity to his repertoire. That combination of skill and toughness has helped lead the Golden Knights (11-1) to the CIF Southern Section Division 3 semifinals, where it will be home on Friday against El Toro (8-4), hoping to advance to the championship after five straight semifinal losses since 2000.
While many people were surprised to see the physical maturity of Dulcich, who is 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds, Bonds saw the work that got him there.
“Just watching him in the off-season in the weight room, he was a man,” Bonds commented. “He was power cleaning 270 pounds and he runs extremely well.”
It was all about the work ethic.
“I’m always trying to work my hardest in the weight room, on the field and in the classroom,” said Dulcich, who leads the team in receiving yards with 874 along with eight touchdowns.
When it comes to high school football, Dulcich is the exception rather than the norm. His size and athleticism makes him an important piece in Bonds’ offensive chess board – and Bonds is quick to recognize that.
“He is an enigma for defenses to try and cover him,” Bonds explained. “They have to decide, ‘Are we going to double team him?'”
It’s something Dulcich works to his advantage.
“I think it throws defenses off a little bit so they have to figure out where they match up with their best guys,” Dulcich said. “It also opens things up for other players and gets them big plays and helps us win some games.”
This is not the first time Bonds has had a multi-dimensional player like Dulcich.
“It’s something that we did with Dietrich Riley and Daniel Scott,” Bonds said of his former players. “Instead of planting him at the ‘Z’ receiver all night and have teams put their best guy or two guys on him, let’s move him around. We motion and do some different things with him.”
As for the maturity as a player, that goes back to his freshman year. He competed for the starting quarterback position on the freshman team with three other players. Even though he didn’t win the battle initially, he eventually did become a starting quarterback midway through his next season on the junior varsity team.
“The quarterback left after the summer, then we had a guy go in and he got hurt,” Dulcich said. “I stepped in, enjoyed the position and thought I did a pretty good job, so I figured I stay with it.”
As a junior, Dulcich played tight end while teammate Michael Bonds starred at the quarterback. Like any player from a mental point of view, Dulcich figured this season could be his breakout season at quarterback, but that’s not how it played out.
During the spring Darius Perrantes arrived from Crespi High School. Suddenly, Dulcich was once again battling to become the starting quarterback. As time passed from the spring to the summer, however, it became apparent to the coaching staff that Perrantes was going to be the starter.
While most players would have complained and probably transferred to another school, Dulcich showed that he was a team guy and looked at the big picture.
“Something just clicked early on,” Dulcich said. “We’ve been working hard and getting after it at every practice. The chemistry that I built with Darius has really helped us and he’s really a great quarterback. Having him on this team has really been awesome.”
In fact, Bonds feels that playing quarterback may have helped Dulcich become a better tight end.
“From competing for the quarterback job, he has a great feel for the offense,” Bonds said.
As for playing the quarterback positon, Dulcich has proven he can still play the position when the time calls for it.
When Perrantes got hurt in the second half of their game against Saugus, Bonds turned to Dulcich. The senior responded by throwing two touchdowns in the game (which St. Francis won, 49-20) and led the Golden Knights to another win over Buena Park, 39-14 the following week.
When it comes to his performance in the classroom, Dulcich has excelled there as well with a 3.87 GPA. Whatever he does, he’s done it well and it all plays a part in his overall success.
“If you are doing good in the classroom that means you are really focused,” Dulcich said. “Your mind is into it and you need that in football. To have a high football IQ is something really important.”
It is one of the main reasons Dulcich is getting many looks from Pac-12 and Ivy League schools.
“Just his speed with his size that is something colleges should be saying ‘Where can I find a guy like that?’” commented Bonds. “There are not a lot of guys who run the way he does with his size.”
