Glendale football standout Dario Sandoval caps his career with state and league player of the league honors

GLENDALE - Football and farming. Ask anyone who knows Glendale College football standout Dario Sandoval and they will agree that the GCC sophomore has his priorities in order on and off the field. Give the 20-year-old sophomore some fresh air and wide-open spaces and he is a happy young man.

Apart from his work at the Gilcrest Farm in Saugus, Sandoval was a very happy man this past fall as he helped lead the GCC football team to a 6-4 record as a defensive lineman and also led the state in sacks with 13.5 and broke the school record for tackles for a loss with 16 in a season. Head football coach Tanner Farwell had glowing words for his standout defensive lineman who was named the All-State Region IV and Pacific League Defensive Player of the Year, a first-team All-Pacific League selection and earned Southern California Defensive Player of the Week honors this past season.

"Dario represents the standard of what it means to be a Vaquero Football Player,'' he said. "He is a great teammate and leader; he prioritizes academic success and he has Grit on a football field. "

Standing 6-foot-3 and weighing 235 pounds, Sandoval is soft-spoken and polite and chooses his words carefully when talking about his experience at Glendale College the past two years after graduating from Saugus High, opting for the chance to make a difference on the field, despite the commute, and the opportunity to take classes he hopes will lead him into a career in law enforcement.

"Glendale College has been a school that has offered me great opportunities on and off the field and I am grateful for that, as well as my family and my father for challenging me to be the best I can be," said Sandoval who has a 3.3 GPA. "It takes hard work to meet your goals, and I feel like I was helped along by my coaches and teammates on the field and the many resources that GCC offers to put me in a position to transfer to a four-year school in the next few months. I am thankful for the opportunities I have been presented with.''

Farming and football. On a recent chilly evening, Sandoval was in his element on the farm, taking care of an assortment of animals, watering and feeding them and being in his perfect space with clean, crisp air surrounding him and the mountains providing the kind of scenery that a painted picture could not do justice to.

Except for the 6:30 am daily football practices at picturesque Sartoris Field at Glendale College.

If Sandoval finds solace working on a farm, he finds not the polar opposite but an important parallel in his life playing football and working to be the best player he can be. Not quite a surprise for his performance as a freshman for the Vaqs in 2023 that earned him an all-league selection, Sandoval was a man on a mission as a sophomore in 2024 where his relentless pursuit of anyone carrying the ball, especially quarterbacks, made him the player for opposing offensive coordinators to game plan against with little success.

One of his goals is to transfer to a four-year university to continue his football career and his recent visit to UNLV reinforced his vision of playing at the next level. "It was a great experience to be there and I was treated well and made to feel like I could be a part of something special if I chose to play for them," he said. "I was able to tour the facilities and the players were great to be around and I really liked the environment.''

Dario the CHP Explorer. In his ever-challenging world, Sandoval became a Police Explorer out of Santa Clarita six months ago training in areas such as participating in ride-alongs, writing tickets, learning laws and rules and such techniques as how to use a ballistic shield and seeing how arrests are conducted. The active shooter training hit close to home as he said he was within 60 feet of an on-campus shooting event at his high school, Saugus High, in 2019 and reinforced his desire to major in and work in law enforcement with becoming a firefighter also a possibility.

He and the GCC football staff are working on more transfer options and in the meantime, he will be taking three classes during the upcoming winter session and will include ramping up his personal workouts to stay sharp among his immediate priorities. 

Dario Sandoval's impact on the GCC Football Program will never be forgotten and the impact of No. 82 fending off opponents to reach his goals on and off the football field will resonate in people's minds now and in the future.

(Alex Leon, GCC Athletics)