Freedom Bowl: Fort’s Bishop is gaining new ground

David Bishop got a new start in life, then he tried a new sport.

In his first season of organized football, Bishop finished fourth in the region in receiving yards last fall, playing for his new high school.

On Saturday, the Fort Vancouver graduate will play in the Freedom Bowl Classic, an all-star football game featuring players from Southwest Washington. Kickoff is 7:30 p.m. at McKenzie Stadium.

Bishop scored a number of touchdowns for the Trappers, scored a bunch of points for the Fort Vancouver basketball team, too. But his most impressive accomplishment came in June when he graduated.

Bishop said he was headed in the wrong direction in his hometown of Fairfield, Calif., before moving north to Vancouver to live with his father.

“Washington gave me a chance,” Bishop said. “California labeled me a statistic.”

The only culture shock he endured in Clark County, he said, was just how nice everybody was to one another.

“A lot of people where I’m from aren’t friendly (to outsiders),” he said. “Everyone here was super friendly, trying to be my friend.”

New relationships led to an open mind.

He figured he would try football.

“I think his mouth dropped,” Bishop said, recalling Fort coach Cal Szueber’s reaction to Bishop’s first day on the field. “Turns out, I was pretty good.”

A 6-foot-3 wide receiver with what he described as “great solid hands,” Bishop caught 45 passes for 766 yards and eight touchdowns.

A basketball player all of his life, he was hooked on football immediately.

“The excitement and the intensity. The adrenaline rush of catching the ball. The celebrations. The joy you get inside,” Bishop said. “It feels like you did something positive.”

Getting on the field was one thing. Staying there was another.

Football and basketball (his other sport with the Trappers) drove Bishop to improve in the classroom, to stay eligible to compete.

“Sports turned my whole life around,” Bishop said. “I was headed downhill.”

Would he have graduated on time had he stayed in California?

“No. … No. … No. No. … No way,” he said.

Fort Vancouver, he is proud to say, gave him the opportunity to excel.

He said he is glad he came to Fort rather than one of the more successful athletic schools in the region. He liked being the underdog. He used that as motivation.

Now, he is planning on going to college. Eventually, he wants to play football somewhere. He has what coaches would call potential, having only that one year of football experience.

But for now, he plans to attend Clark College.

“I’ll find myself in that first year,” he said.

Then, he will try to find a college with a football team.

David Bishop is not necessarily in a hurry.

After all, he just arrived in the Northwest a year ago. Since then, he has been making all the right decisions, trying new things, meeting new friends, and making a life for himself.

If you go

? What: Freedom Bowl Classic all-star high school football game.

? When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

? Where: McKenzie Stadium, 2205 N.E. 138th Ave., in Vancouver.

? Cost: $10, which also includes admission to CCYF games at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. (Net proceeds help support Shriners Hospitals for Children.)