Brett Cornelison
During the 1982 and 83 football seasons, running back Brett Cornelison was an offensive force for the Panthers. Over those seasons, Brett totaled 1746 yards, (103.4 yards per game) while scoring 24 touchdowns in 17 games. As a senior, both his 935 yards and 14 touchdowns led the entire east bay area and was instrumental in leading the Panthers to a DVAL co-championship and berth in the North Coast Section playoffs.
His career rushing totals still rank in the top 10 on the Panther all-time list. Brett combined power (he was a fullback as a junior) and explosive speed (he averaged over 20 yards per carry on his 14 touchdowns) as he continued a tradition of outstanding Panther running backs. These exploits on the field were widely recognized as he was named all-league as both a junior (2nd team) and senior (1st team), second team all East-Bay, and honorable mention on the San Francisco Examiner’s All-Metro team. Not surprisingly, Brett’s contributions to his team were recognized by teammates as he was selected as the Panther’s outstanding back receiving the Ron Pritchard Award and team MVP, as well as team captain.
He capped his high school career by playing in the Contra Costa-Alameda All-Star game. Finally, Brett was selected as one of two outstanding scholar-athletes for Contra Costa County by the prestigious National Football Foundation.
Upon graduation, Brett continued his football career at UC-Davis where he was a starting running back on the Freshman team. A preseason injury in his sophomore year led to Brett ending his promising Aggie football career.