There’s a heck of a lot that the Washington State sports information department can write about Justin Clayton in the 2009 football media guide.

Clayton, a starter at guard and strong-side defensive end/outside linebacker for Justin-Siena High School who has verbally committed to WSU, just keeps adding highlight after highlight to an already-impressive career with the Braves.

Washington State projects Clayton — who had 136 total tackles and two fumble recoveries as a junior — to be a defensive lineman in the college game.

But in putting together his bio, the Cougars will also need to recognize what he has done offensively — in particular the 2008 season, which continues Friday with Justin-Siena (8-4) taking on Salesian-Richmond (9-2) in the CIF North Coast Section Division IV championship game at 7 p.m. at Alhambra-Martinez.

Clayton is a very good run and pass blocker, dominating at the line of scrimmage in the Houston split-back veer. He’s also as multi-dimensional as anyone on the team — as a fullback in short-yard situations out of the wishbone, he has scored three rushing touchdowns.

“He’s a good solid football player all the way around,” coach Rich Cotruvo said before practice Tuesday. “He’s tough, he’s athletic, he’s got great feet, he’s explosive — all the things that Pac-10 coaches like to see.

“He’s worked very hard to improve himself, both physically and mentally. He’s one of the top linemen in Northern California. There’s no question he’s one of the best high school student-athletes I’ve ever had the privilege of being around.”

Clayton’s three-year run as a starter for Justin-Siena comes to an end with this week’s game. A 22-15 win over Ferndale in the semifinals moved the Braves, an at-large team and the No. 4 seed out of the Marin County Athletic League, into the finals for the fifth time in nine years.

“As captains, we’ve got to make sure that we keep everyone’s head on straight,” said Clayton, a Napa resident. “You can’t overlook a team playing you in the section championship, because they obviously have their stuff together. We’ll go in with some fire.”

Clayton will make his scholarship official, signing a national letter-of-intent with the Cougars in February. He becomes the first Justin-Siena football player to receive an NCAA Division I scholarship.

The 6-foot-4, 250-pound Clayton visited the campus in Pullman, Wash., in early September. He also took part in a full-contact football camp over the summer at WSU, playing on the defensive line.

“He’s going to add quality,” said Steve Vargus, Justin-Siena’s assistant head coach and defensive coordinator. “He’s going to make it better just because of who he is.”

Clayton was listed as an All-Farwest prospect by SuperPrep at defensive end. He was recognized in SuperPrep’s preseason football publication and was grouped with players from California, Nevada and Hawaii.

He was also named to the CalHiSports.com All-Redwood Empire Preseason Football Team as an offensive lineman.

As a junior, Clayton was named to the All-Napa County team on defense and was First-Team All-MCAL at both tackle and defensive end.

He has had one big game after another during the Braves’ run to the NCS title game.

“I started off the season a little slower than I wanted to,” he said. “Now I’ve picked it up a little better. I think that if I play well, the team can feed off that.”

His carries have been limited, but as the fullback the results that Clayton has generated are big.

He scored from one yard out against Terra Linda-San Rafael. He ran seven yards for a TD against Tamalpais-Mill Valley and during the first round of the playoffs scored from three yards against St. Patrick/St. Vincent-Vallejo.

In last week’s semifinal-round game against Ferndale, Clayton was credited with a safety in the first quarter. He also tipped a pass that Quin Stanier, a middle linebacker, intercepted to seal the win.

“He’s displayed great leadership qualities through a sometimes very adversarial season when things weren’t going so well,” said Cotruvo. “He’s handled it with maturity and with dignity.”

Clayton has good technique, combining good hands and feet with being in the right place all the time on defense at the strike position. Offenses have a difficult time against him, as he applies a strong pass rush.

“He just sticks with his techniques,” said Vargus. “He plays low. His pad level’s low.”

Clayton, 17, plans to work hard in the offseason and throughout the summer so that he’s ready to go when practices start at Washington State.

“I really think the class they’re bringing in is going to be really good and I hope that I can make a big impact to that,” he said.

And while he’s at it, add to his bio in the school media guide.