Bainbridge High School senior Sio Peato recently signed a letter of intent to attend Lewis & Clark College in Oregon.

He was also selected to represent BHS in the state All Star game.

The senior bruiser was a huge contributor to the Spartan success last year with 79 tackles, 12 sacks, and the creator of havoc in opponent’s backfields, said BHS Head Coach Jeff Rouser.

“I am so proud of Sio as he really grew to be all that he could be last year both on and off the field,” Rouser said. “Sio will go down in BHS football lore as he literally took over football games starting with the win over North Kitsap in the first annual Agate Cup. But, what’s even more impressive is how Sio turned around his academics to enable himself to be selected to this very fine academic institution”.

Eleven of Peato’s former teammates have benefited from their involvement in the school’s football program to help themselves get into very fine next-level programs with prestigious academic institutions, the coach added, including fellow Class of 2020 member Alex Ledbetter, who recently signed a letter of intent with the prestigious Pomona College in California, joining former teammate and 2018 valedictorian Kyle Bierly.

John Devlin (2020) is slated to attend Western Michigan University. Max McCleod (2019) will be a future star at Colorado School of Mines. Gannon Winker (2019) is competing for the starting quarterback spot for Western Oregon as a freshman.

Kyle Smit (2019) is at Massachusetts Merchants Marine Academy, Tanner Shattuck (2019) the University of Idaho, Jason Hogger and Ethan Peloquin (2018) are teammates with a D3 football program and highly rated academic program at Whitworth College.

Sam Roth (2017) is at Puget Sound. Eric Jung is at University of Massachusetts Amherst.

“While I’m sure parents of kids from our program recognize many of the benefits from being part of our team — the life lessons, the friends for life, etc. — I don’t think people realize how many players have created opportunities for themselves that simply would not have happened without football,” Rouser said. “We are very fortunate to have such a highly rated academic school, and now a football program that competes with some of the best in the state. And with that, we have many coaches who look at our school for athletes that meet their high academic requirements.”

“We all hear the acclaim for D1 athletes and that’s great, but these young men are getting real educations from fine schools preparing them for futures without limits,” Rouser added.