Treyvon Breckenridge quarterbacked an Edison of Stockton team last fall that nearly upset state powerhouse Folsom in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs. He is shown at left performing his job for his own business that he had begun in July. Photos: Courtesy family.
Recent Edison of Stockton quarterback Treyvon Breckenridge was featured on this site last month for starting his own COVID-19 related business. We were shocked and saddened to learn on Friday that Trey had been killed along with three others in a car accident in Tracy. He was dreaming of one day playing football for a four-year university.
We hope you enjoy this free post on CalHiSports.com. All of our annual preseason all-section, all-county and all-region football teams are being delayed in getting done until late November at the earliest. All of those posts will be for Gold Club members only, but we’ll have plenty more Gold Club coverage in football and boys basketball until then. Not to mention, we’ve just put all of our boys and girls basketball state records onto the site for Gold Club members. You can now join for one-month rate of just $3.99. For subscription info, CLICK HERE.
Like so many others from the Class of 2020, Treyvon Breckenridge from Edison of Stockton had to miss so many of his senior year traditions. On the other hand, how many got to lead their high school football team to victory in one of the most exciting recent playoff games in his city’s history, start his own small business not to mention throwing eight touchdown passes in another game and scoring 49 points in a basketball game?
Those were just a few of the reasons why so many people in Stockton, including Mayor Michael Tubbs, were devastated to find out that Trey had died in a car accident on Friday, Sept. 18 in Tracy. Breckenridge, who still had not yet turned 18, was not the only victim of the crash. He was passenger in a vehicle that included Donald Edwards, a 19-year-old Class of 2019 graduate and former football player at McNair High of Stockton, and two current Patterson High School females. The two girls had yet to be publicly identified as of Sunday morning, Sept. 20.
Breckenridge threw for more than 55 TDs over the past two seasons. Photo: Mark Tennis.
The foursome were in a car that according to numerous media reports had been pursued by California Highway Patrol on southbound I-5 near Lathrop. That pursuit had reportedly been broken off. The car apparently proceeded toward Tracy using the exit for I-205. It crashed into two palm trees on an onramp from Tracy Boulevard going back onto I-205.
The loss of all four lives are indescribable for all families and school communities that are involved. This post has been done simply because we had already gotten to know Trey from a previous story done about him just one month ago. We didn’t know when doing that story that Trey also was part of a mentoring/leadership program by Mayor Tubbs.
Tubbs tweeted on Friday night: “Trey was a leader, an entrepreneur, and a light. It was a joy to watch him grow through high school and I am deeply saddened and upset that his life was cut far too short. He had so much to give! Prayers for his family and for us all for the loss.”
Stockton Unified School District interim superintendent Brian Biederman is the former principal at Edison and knew Breckenridge well.
“Every coach that you talk to about him, just the drive to win and the drive to lead,” Biederman told the Stockton Record. “The kid had everything going for him. He just graduated. He was going to continue his athletic career at Delta. He just started a business. Just doing everything right.”
Here is the rest of story we wrote about Trey last month:
As the Coronavirus pandemic broke out in California in March, Treyvon had finished his senior season in basketball and was getting ready to play for the Vikings’ baseball team. He and his squad never got to play in a single game. With his senior prom cancelled, Breckenridge next had to wait to see if he’d get to play in the Central California Lions’ All-Star Football Game and a game in which Edison’s head coach, Booker Guyton, had been selected to be the coach of the North team that Trey would be on. That game, which was scheduled for the middle of June, didn’t make it and neither did an all-star basketball game that Breckenridge had been chosen for.
With no offers from a four-year college, Breckenridge was hoping to get his chance playing for Delta College in Stockton. But the summer hasn’t been just about working out with Edison assistant coach and local trainer Tim Brown. Just a few weeks ago, Trey got the notion to start his own business and since then, as they say, business had been booming.
“It all started when my mom told me to go and clean the garbage cans,” Breckenridge said. “I said, ‘But mom, isn’t it supposed to be dirty.'”
Treyvon went ahead and took care of the chore and added that he’s had a lot of experience cleaning up around his house.
“I have 14 siblings (10 brothers, four sisters) and I’m the third oldest so I kind of grew up cleaning stuff,” he said.
Breckenridge also had always wanted to own and operate his own business and hoped one day to be a business major in college. The cleaning of the family cans led to an idea, which led to a simple series of posts on Instagram. Others from the Edison High community put in orders for him to do the same. Someone from the FOX 40 TV station in Sacramento saw the posts and a crew showed up to watch Treyvon complete a cleaning. That TV story also has now led to a statewide story on this website.
One of the first decisions Breckenridge had to make is what he’d charge for his garbage can cleaning service. With the support of his mother, Kimberly, they came up with $5 per can.
“That seemed reasonable, plus a lot of the elderly folks can’t get out as much as they can,” he said. “But they also want their cans to stay clean, especially now with COVID.”
Did being the quarterback and a team leader in two sports help Treyvon get his cleaning business going a lot quicker than perhaps it ordinarily would have taken?
“Yes, I think that helps a lot,” he said. “By me being one of the leaders at the school people believe in me for who I am and they want to support me.”
Guyton, who has also coached at Brookside Christian in Stockton as well as at Vacaville Christian, was one of those who certainly believes in Breckenridge.
“Trey was a great leader for our football team, players looked up to him and they respected his work ethic, his approach to the game and the way he carried himself,” Guyton said. “The story of him starting his own business is no surprise to me; he is a born leader.”
Treyvon Breckenridge was all smiles after Stockton Edison team won in CIF Sac-Joaquin Section D1 playoffs 35-21 over Stockton Lincoln. Both teams were 9-1 entering the contest. Photo: Mark Tennis.
Edison’s team last season featured Raleek Brown, one of the most dynamic sophomore running backs in the nation who has since transferred to national power Mater Dei of Santa Ana. While Raleek’s talent and projection to play at a high level in college is obvious, it was felt by a lot of the coaches in the San Joaquin Athletic Association that what Trey did as the quarterback couldn’t be ignored so it was he who was named the league MVP.
Breckenridge completed 60 percent of his passes with 25 TDs in the regular season. In one game, a 65-0 romp past Chavez of Stockton, Treyvon put his name into the Cal-Hi Sports state record book with eight TD passes. It’s also the most TD passes in one game for any school in the Stockton Unified School District. It’s not a city record, though, since Tony Rodriguez of Brookside Christian had nine in a game 2010. The CIF Sac-Joaquin Section record of 10 (which also is tied for the state record) was set in 2012 by Folsom’s Jake Browning.
Folsom has in fact been an SJS powerhouse since the 2012 season, capturing CIF state titles in 2014, 2017 and 2018 (all in Division I). The Bulldogs had their shot at getting a third in a row stopped in last year’s D1 section semifinals by Monterey Trail of Elk Grove, but the week before in the quarterfinals it was Edison that nearly ended the run. Folsom held on for a 45-42 victory.
Edison put itself in a position to almost pull off that upset with a 35-21 win in the first round of the playoffs over Lincoln of Stockton. Lincoln had been 9-0 until it lost in its regular season finale to St. Mary’s and was looking to bounce back against the Vikings, who also were 9-1. Breckenridge had 300 yards passing and three TDs to help turn back Lincoln.
That Edison-Lincoln game drew a crowd of perhaps 5,000 or more at Edison. Administrators, staff and athletic director Richie Lynch did a great job creating an electric atmosphere similar to what Grant of Sacramento had going about eight to 10 years ago.
Breckenridge has never been one to sit still. He went straight from football to basketball and averaged 16.6 points per game for a squad that also won its league title and finished 20-9 after an opening round section playoff loss to Modesto Christian. In an MLK Day non-league 85-75 loss to Deer Valley of Antioch, Trey broke loose for 49 points. He also had a 30-point outing in a loss to Albany.
Proud mom Kimberly added: “I would like to add that Treyvon is the only quarterback that has led Edison to back-to-back league championships since 1977, which is the year I was born.”
Breckenridge knew the odds were stacked against him for making that transition from Delta College to a four-year university and he knew he’d have had to do well for the Mustangs first.
“I say whatever you put your mind to that you have to trust the process,” he said. “In my junior year, I wasn’t starting at the beginning. I knew when my time came to prove to the coaches what I could do. In my first game, I had five TDs.”
We once again reiterate our deepest condolences to the Breckenridge family and to the school communities and other families involved in this accident.
Mark Tennis is the co-founder and publisher of CalHiSports.com. He can be reached at markjtennis@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow Mark on the Cal-Hi Sports Twitter handle: @CalHiSports
