The decision is finally official.

Apaches quarterback Keith Zuniga hands off to Andy Garcia during practice last season at Nogales High School. This season, Garcia will be suiting up for the Pima Community College Aztecs.

Andy Garcia, one of the most dominant athletes in recent years to come out of Nogales High School, will be playing college football next month for Tucson’s Pima Community College Aztecs.

Garcia was on the fence for a while, with a visit to Division II University of North Dakota still pending last month.

Garcia, however, has opted to stay closer to home for the time being.

“I’m not going to North Dakota,” Garcia wrote recently in an e-mail to the Nogales International. “I will be attending Pima on a full scholarship. I’ll have my family near, as well as everyone else I care about. I feel it’s the right choice.”

Pima head coach Pat Nugent couldn’t be happier that Garcia made that choice.

“Andy is a tremendous athlete,” he said. “When I first got the job (at Pima), the first thing I did was come down (to Nogales) to try and get Andy onboard.”

With Garcia on board, the Aztecs have higher hopes on improving the 1-39 slate the team has accumulated in the last four seasons.

“We plan to use him in as many ways as we can,” Nugent said. “He’s so athletic. His speed and strength are top notch.”

So top notch that Nugent is not blind to the fact that Garcia may only be with Pima, a two-year school, for one season.

“He’s a Division I caliber athlete,” Nugent said. “He has the potential to play at the next level because of his ability�”on the field and in the classroom.”

On the field, Nugent says Garcia is currently working at running back�”the position he excelled at in high school�”although he is also being looked at as a possible slot receiver or defensive safety.

The team has been practicing at the Kino Sports Complex in Tucson since the beginning of the month.

“Things are going good,” Garcia said. “I’ve been busy with practice and just getting settled in Tucson.”

“It’s an exciting situation because everything is new�”players and coaches,” added Nugent. “We’re going in the right direction. We’re making big gains at Pima.”

Also helping the team make those gains this season will be a slew of Santa Cruz County talent, including Patagonia’s David Soto, former NHS Apaches Carlos Navarro, Hector Estrella and Erik Marquez; plus former Rio Rico High School quarterback Lucas Mesa.

Other big names from Southern Arizona expected to lace ‘em up for the Aztecs will be Chris Johnson from Amphitheater High, Scott Campbell from Ironwood Ridge and a couple of top prospects from Florida, Chicago, and Georgia, said Nugent in a previous interview.

But “getting Andy in the door is exceptional for us,” he said. “It was a big reward for this program �- and it will get this program going in the right direction.”

The Aztecs play in the Western States Football Conference. Their regular season is expected to begin in early September.