Grace Brethren High School gridder, Julien “Juice” Stokes, is featured in today’s Simi Valley Acorn. The junior at the Simi Valley, Calif., high school, which is a ministry of Grace Church, Simi Valley (Jordan Bakker, senior pastor), has entertained college offers from the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia. A portion of the story appears below. Click here to read the complete article.
Juice World: Stokes is on fire
Julien “Juice” Stokes didn’t stop when the world stopped for the coronavirus.
The Grace Brethren High junior football star dusted off the weights in his garage and started pumping iron like the Governator. He sprints up the hill in his Newbury Park backyard like Walter Payton chugging up a knoll in Arlington Heights, Ill.
Stokes keeps pushing himself. He visualizes the next carry, the next reception, the next tackle, the next touchdown, the next big play. Whenever the whistle blows again, he’ll be ready to play football.
“When we get back,” Stokes said, “I’ll be in the best shape of my life, hopefully.”
In his first season with Grace Brethren, Stokes was named an Acorn MVP after rushing for 1,377 yards (11 yards per carry) with 21 total touchdowns. At safety, he added 62 tackles, one interception, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery on defense for the Lancers, who were No. 1 in the Acorn Power Poll every single week of the 2019 season, from the preseason Pigskin Preview poll to the final coronation of the year.
Click here to read the complete article.