It seemed like a good idea at the time.

It was homecoming and Chris Young was in the mood to celebrate.

With the undefeated Auburn Trojan football team on the verge of contending for a state 4A title and a scholarship to attend and play for the University of Washington in hand, Young had a lot to celebrate.

Young made a bad decision, however.

“I just got drunk,” Young said. “I don’t know what I was thinking, just that I would have a little fun. But that little fun ended up costing me pretty much the state title. That’s the way I look at it.”

After arriving at the school’s homecoming dance with friends, Young and two other members of the football team were caught drinking and suspended from playing for the rest of the season.

“I had to call my parents from the school to come pick me up,” Young said. “They were not happy.”

The suspension forced Young to passively watch as the Trojans soldiered through the first two rounds of the state playoffs before ending their season with a 34-21 quarterfinal loss to Skyview.

“It was really hard,” he said. “I was so disappointed in myself.”

And although he felt that he had let the team down, Young said the rest of the squad accepted his apology.

“We’re all pretty close and they understand that people make mistakes,” he said.

After the football season ended, Young settled into wrestling, determined not to let the incident affect the rest of his senior year.

“I just brushed it off right after I had wrestling, so that kind of helped get my mind off things,” he said.

Two weeks before graduation, however, Young received news that he wouldn’t be able to attend UW as planned.

“It was grades and my SAT scores,” Young said. “I needed a 1500 to get in, and what I was getting was nowhere near that. So I had to make a decision on whether to go to a JC (junior college). I talked about it with my family for about three days. But it was the best decision that I could have made because if I didn’t go to JC, I probably wouldn’t be playing football anymore.”

Young now is in Yuma, Ariz., taking classes, dealing with the heat and preparing to play for the Arizona Western Matadors.

“It is death. Every day is hot, and I hate being this hot,” He said.

Young said that although organized practices don’t start until Aug. 4, he’s been working out with the other members of the team for a couple of weeks.

He is excited about the prospects this season.

“Right now in the preseason rankings they’ve ranked us as No. 1 (in the JCGridiron.com preseason poll of National Junior College Athletic Association football teams),” Young said. “The talent that is on this team is pretty crazy. Everybody is really good. There is going to be a lot of competing for spots.”

Young, who earned 1,424 yards and scored 26 touchdowns as a running back for the Trojans last season, will concentrate strictly on the defensive side of the ball and try to make the Matador squad as a free safety.

For the future, Young said he still envisions himself in purple and gold.

“I’m going to transfer to UW after this. I’ve still got my eyes on UW, and nothing else,” Young said. “I talked to the coach, and they’re going to be holding my scholarship and give it to me when I’m done here.”

As for the missteps his senior year, Young said he’s just trying to leave them behind and move on.

“I take it as a blessing. Without this school and them helping me out with my situation, I probably wouldn’t be playing football,” Young said. “I’m going to take this time, get my grades straight and work out and get better. And get prepared for UW.”