SANTA CLARITA, Ca. – Armani Edden is a warrior in more ways than one.
The quarterback has experienced a series of mountain highs and valley lows throughout his college football career to date. This is what the junior college life is about.
Through it all, the 6-foot, 175-pound signal career managed to win respect and honors from those who have seen him play for College of the Canyons on the West Coast. Edden’s level of grit, passion, and determination has earned him a roster spot this upcoming fall season with Hawaii.
The Palm Beach Lakes (West Palm Beach, Fla.) alum from the 2017 high school graduation class made his decision to go with the Warriors on the night of April 17.
“They have talked with me the most I wanna say for about two months,” said Edden, who also had an offer from Alabama State. “And I’ve felt the most comfortable with them. Their situation I felt like was the best place for me to be.”
Edden had an amazing sophomore season at College of the Canyons. In 12 games played, he compiled 3,044 passing yards with 33 total touchdowns (27 passing, 6 rushing) and a 63 percent completion rate.
Edden led the Cougars (No. 3 overall ranking; Southern California Football Association) to a 9-3 final record and a spot in the Southern California championship game. For his efforts, the Canyons team leader was selected as the SCFA National Division’s Northern League Offensive Player of the Year.
Also, Edden was named MVP of the Canyons playoff win (58-53) over No. 2 Saddleback College. He registered a total of 263 passing yards and 4 touchdown passes in that game.
“I had an amazing season,” the three-star quarterback said. “The system and my coaching staff there was tremendous. I was able to flourish in that system and atmosphere.”
Edden said he learned a lot from the JUCO experience. He started out at Antelope Valley College (1,276 passing yards, 17 touchdown passes in 9 games played) before moving on to blossom at College of the Canyons.
“I learned resiliency and never settling for less than you want,” he said. “It wasn’t easy at all.”
Edden discussed a little bit of how he had to pull from within over these past 2-3 years at the JUCO level.
“I had a lot of practices without meals, and I had a bad game one night that I’ll never forget,” he said. “After the game, I stayed on the field throwing passes until 3, 4 in the morning I think.”
Edden had more to offer.
“Off the field, I had a construction job when I was back home,” he said. “I needed that just to pay off my school bill and pay for my flight in order to come back to school on time.”
Obrian Edwards, who is the Palm Beach Lakes offensive coordinator, coached Edden when he was high school. He remembers the former Rams leader as one of the players who set the foundation for his team’s success over the past few years.
“Coming out of high school, Armani had a few opportunities to play for some smaller schools. But in his mind, he felt he could play on a bigger stage,” Edwards said. “He’s always had the will, attitude and work ethic to be a Division 1 athlete. He knew he had some other things he needed to work on and used the JUCO system to his advantage. He felt he was over looked, but didn’t allow that to keep him down. He never quit and never allowed anyone to see him down and out.”
Edden offered some advice to our current outgoing high school seniors who haven’t found a college home yet.
“Don’t settle,” he said. “Trust the process and go chase whatever big-time school you want to be at.”
NOTE: You can watch Edden’s highlight tape by going on the following link: https://youtu.be/JFNd0fwgHks<br< a=””> />
PHOTO CREDITS: College of the Canyons Football</br<>
