If a FedEx containing a scholarship offer from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo doesn’t arrive today at his house early enough for him to make one of the most critical decisions of Moraga’s life, the first player in Pacifica High football history to be actively recruited by college teams will miss the Ventura County Football Coaches Association’s annual national letter of intent signing day.

It means he won’t be on the same stage with approximately 15-20 area football players who will, one by one, step up to the microphone at the Clarion Palm Gardens and officially announce that they have signed with college programs big and small.

Cierre Wood of Santa Clara has verbally committed to Notre Dame, while fellow Parade Magazine All-Americans Patrick Hall of St. Bonaventure and Kevin Graf of Agoura are tied to USC.

Among others locking up their choices early were Oxnard defensive back/wide receiver Jamal Smith (Utah), Newbury Park defensive lineman Jackson Powell (Arizona), St. Bonaventure defensive back J.B. Dock (Fresno State) and Oaks Christian tight end Chris Coyle (Arizona State).

The other side of the recruiting period, which began today, were players like Moraga, who wait on the bubble today.

Moraga must weigh proposals from Cal Poly and UC Davis, which had him for campus visits in the last two weeks and offer educational and athletic opportunities for the aerospace engineering major.

“It has been my dream since I was 7 years old to have my education paid for,” said Moraga. “Both are very good schools.”

As a three-year starting quarterback at Pacifica, Moraga broke every program passing record and many of its offensive standards.

UC Davis sees Moraga as a defensive back. Cal Poly, under first-year coach Tim Walsh, could use him either as a quarterback or tailback in its double-wing option or as a cornerback.

“It has been fun seeing Vince go through the process,” said Pacifica coach Donnie Rea, who had never had one of his players recruited at two previous stops. Former Pacifica player Masi Tuitama walked on at Brigham Young University as a freshman and earned a scholarship.

“Cal Poly looked at him No. 1, as a quarterback, or No. 2 as a pitchback,” said Rea. “The third thing is that they know he can play cornerback because of his quickness.”

Moraga owes his chance to play at the next level to Rea, who “brought me up as a sophomore and showed where my football is all about.”

YAC Foundation co-founder John Diaz “was a great mentor with me off the field,” said Moraga.

Among other area players on the bubble are Newbury Park’s Brandon Born, Westlake’s Steve Hagy and Oaks Christian’s Chris Judge, whose options include Air Force, Navy and Cal Poly.

“Brandon has talked about going to UC Davis,” said Newbury Park coach Gary Fabricius. “Portland State has talked to him. He might go to Arizona (as a walk-on) with Jackson Powell.”

The stock for Powell, a two-time All-Ventura County selection, has gone up.

“Jackson has gotten bigger from the football season until now,” said Fabricius. “As a high school player, he was a guy who drew double teams. Arizona is glad that they got him.”

Including Coyle and Judge, Oaks Christian could six players signing today. Going to Ivy League schools are Brian Owusu (Harvard), Jordan Morrison (Brown) and Andrew Bierschenk (Princeton). Ryan Landsedeal is headed toward Northern Colorado.

From Pacific View League champion Oxnard, Sam McCowan has committed to Sacramento State, Dasmen Stewart is choosing between San Jose State and Idaho.

Cal Poly is expected to sign Xavier Ramos of St. Bonaventure and Tim Vizzi of Moorpark.

On his way to Portland State is Westlake’s Justin Lilly.