News & notes of interest, etc...
-
THE CHOPS
- Official BleacherCoach
- Posts: 1900
- Joined: October 24th, 2003, 10:42 am
- Location: SCOTTDALE, PA.
News & notes of interest, etc...
Woodland Hills' Walls commits to Notre Dame
The Associated Press
(AP) — When Dave Wannstedt took over as Pitt's football coach last winter, he said a goal was to keep all of the talented high school players in western Pennsylvania at home.
One got away this week.
Woodland Hills High School's Darrin Walls, considered one of the top defensive back prospects in the country, has given a verbal commitment to Notre Dame. Walls, who is 6-foot-1 and 178 pounds, selected the Fighting Irish over Pitt, Michigan and Florida.
Walls visited Notre Dame three times before making up his mind.
Walls was coveted by Division I-A coaches — Southern California coaches called to make a late pitch — because of his 4.4-second speed in the 40-yard dash and his athletic ability.
He is the second Pennsylvania player to commit to Notre Dame, joining Mechanicsburg quarterback Zach Frazer.
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KICKING IN:@ At 5-9 and 165 pounds, Collin Wagner is one of the smallest players on the State College football squad. But he came up big in the Little Lions' 28-14 victory last weekend against Central Dauphin.
A senior, Wagner made field goals of 46 and 40 yards and averaged 41 yards on seven punts. State College coach Al Wolski wasn't sure whether the field goals or the punts were more important.
"He's worked hard to improve his punting and that played a big part in the win," Wolski said. "Of course, getting two field goals of 40 yards or more was nice."
Wagner has made four field goals this season, and Wolski believes the kicker is a Division I-A college prospect.
"He went to a number of camps in the summer, so I think so. He's got a strong enough leg," Wolski said. "A lot of colleges have different approaches on kickers. They might invite three or four to walk-on, and then they might have one guy on scholarship.
"But we think Collin is talented enough and enough college coaches know about him from his going to camps."
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CROWDED OUT:@ Conwell-Egan and Wyncote Bishop McDevitt were supposed to play a Philadelphia Catholic League game last Saturday night at Truman High, but the contest was moved to Sunday afternoon because the artificial turf at the stadium was in bad shape.
The game was rescheduled for the practice field behind Conwell-Egan High School in Fairless Hills, even though the field doesn't have much seating.
Many fans showed up with their lawn chairs and set them up near the sidelines. The price was right: admission was free.
_____________________________________________________________
ONWARD AND UPWARD:@ South Fayette quarterback Andrew DiDonato threw for 196 yards last weekend in a 38-27 victory against Northgate and moved into third place on the District 7 (WPIAL) career passing list.
A senior, DiDonato has passed for 5,671 yards. Only Steel Valley's Luke Getsy (6,010) and Sto-Rox's Adam DiMichele (6,741) threw for more yards.
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NOTES:@ Northern Lehigh coach Jim Tkach and Easton's Steve Shiffert got their 100th victories as high school football coaches last weekend. Northern Lehigh defeated Pen Argyl 9-6 and Easton downed Parkland 16-0. ... West Allegheny's Andrea Walker has given a verbal commitment to play basketball at Ohio State, and Serra Catholic's Laura Grimm plans to attend Colgate. Grimm, a 5-6 guard who averaged 19 points a game last season, was also being recruited by Bucknell, Maine, Vermont and William and Mary. Walker, a 6-5 center, averaged 16 points, 12 rebounds and 7 blocked shots per game last year. Penn State, Pitt, Duquesne and Xavier were recruiting her.
"THE CHOPS".
The Associated Press
(AP) — When Dave Wannstedt took over as Pitt's football coach last winter, he said a goal was to keep all of the talented high school players in western Pennsylvania at home.
One got away this week.
Woodland Hills High School's Darrin Walls, considered one of the top defensive back prospects in the country, has given a verbal commitment to Notre Dame. Walls, who is 6-foot-1 and 178 pounds, selected the Fighting Irish over Pitt, Michigan and Florida.
Walls visited Notre Dame three times before making up his mind.
Walls was coveted by Division I-A coaches — Southern California coaches called to make a late pitch — because of his 4.4-second speed in the 40-yard dash and his athletic ability.
He is the second Pennsylvania player to commit to Notre Dame, joining Mechanicsburg quarterback Zach Frazer.
_____________________________________________________________
KICKING IN:@ At 5-9 and 165 pounds, Collin Wagner is one of the smallest players on the State College football squad. But he came up big in the Little Lions' 28-14 victory last weekend against Central Dauphin.
A senior, Wagner made field goals of 46 and 40 yards and averaged 41 yards on seven punts. State College coach Al Wolski wasn't sure whether the field goals or the punts were more important.
"He's worked hard to improve his punting and that played a big part in the win," Wolski said. "Of course, getting two field goals of 40 yards or more was nice."
Wagner has made four field goals this season, and Wolski believes the kicker is a Division I-A college prospect.
"He went to a number of camps in the summer, so I think so. He's got a strong enough leg," Wolski said. "A lot of colleges have different approaches on kickers. They might invite three or four to walk-on, and then they might have one guy on scholarship.
"But we think Collin is talented enough and enough college coaches know about him from his going to camps."
_____________________________________________________________
CROWDED OUT:@ Conwell-Egan and Wyncote Bishop McDevitt were supposed to play a Philadelphia Catholic League game last Saturday night at Truman High, but the contest was moved to Sunday afternoon because the artificial turf at the stadium was in bad shape.
The game was rescheduled for the practice field behind Conwell-Egan High School in Fairless Hills, even though the field doesn't have much seating.
Many fans showed up with their lawn chairs and set them up near the sidelines. The price was right: admission was free.
_____________________________________________________________
ONWARD AND UPWARD:@ South Fayette quarterback Andrew DiDonato threw for 196 yards last weekend in a 38-27 victory against Northgate and moved into third place on the District 7 (WPIAL) career passing list.
A senior, DiDonato has passed for 5,671 yards. Only Steel Valley's Luke Getsy (6,010) and Sto-Rox's Adam DiMichele (6,741) threw for more yards.
_____________________________________________________________
NOTES:@ Northern Lehigh coach Jim Tkach and Easton's Steve Shiffert got their 100th victories as high school football coaches last weekend. Northern Lehigh defeated Pen Argyl 9-6 and Easton downed Parkland 16-0. ... West Allegheny's Andrea Walker has given a verbal commitment to play basketball at Ohio State, and Serra Catholic's Laura Grimm plans to attend Colgate. Grimm, a 5-6 guard who averaged 19 points a game last season, was also being recruited by Bucknell, Maine, Vermont and William and Mary. Walker, a 6-5 center, averaged 16 points, 12 rebounds and 7 blocked shots per game last year. Penn State, Pitt, Duquesne and Xavier were recruiting her.
"THE CHOPS".