McQueen High running back Ashton Hayes gets Stanford scholarship offer

Local star running back Ashton Hayes picked up his largest scholarship offer to date.

The former Damonte Ranch High standout who is transferring to McQueen for the 2020 season was offered a scholarship to Stanford on Wednesday. Hayes previously had offers from Nevada and Hawaii, both members of the Mountain West. Stanford is his first Power 5 offer. The Cardinal play in the Pac-12.

As a sophomore in 2019, Hayes was named the Northern 4A Region offensive player of the year after leading the state in rushing. Hayes had a spectacular season, rushing for 2,429 yards, 8.9 yards per carry and 30 touchdowns last season. He also caught 28 passes for 346 yards and two touchdowns. Hayes has been a varsity player since his freshman year.

The 5-foot-11, 180-pound Hayes is listed as a three-star recruit in the 2022 class, per 247Sports.com. Hayes is ranked the 68th-best running back in his class.

Hayes announced in May he is transferring to McQueen due to financial reasons. Damonte Ranch went 11-2 overall and won the Sierra League with a 5-0 league record. It was the fourth straight league championship for the Mustangs, who haven't lost a Sierra League game since 2015. McQueen went 4-6 last season, including a 2-2 mark in the Highest Desert League.

Hayes is part of a local powerhouse 2022 football recruiting class, which also includes Bishop Manogue offensive lineman Sioape Vatikani, who has offers from Nevada, Cal, Nebraska, Arizona State, BYU, USC, Oregon State, Tennessee, San Diego State and others; and McQueen quarterback/linebacker Robby Snelling, who is committed to Stanford as a baseball player but also has offers in football from Arizona, Oregon, Ole Miss, Oregon State, San Diego State and UNLV. Both are three-star recruits.