FOOTBALL Gateway standout sought by Buckeyes

Justin King has rushed for 1,064 yards and 16 touchdowns this season.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Gateway High School football coach Terry Smith often has just one word to say after watching game film of running back Justin King.
Wow.
"We watched the Plum game as a team and there was one play where Justin was a couple yards downfield and there were six Plum players around him," Smith said. "We stopped the film, then ran it and not one of those guys got a hand on Justin."
The 6-foot, 178-pound King is one of the best juniors in Pennsylvania. He has rushed for 1,064 yards on 121 carries and has scored 16 touchdowns. Not surprisingly, he is being courted by a number of colleges.
"Ohio State was in the other day and has offered him a scholarship," Smith said. "Four Big Ten schools have offered him along with a number of others."
King is a sprinter on the track team at Gateway, but Smith said he's not a track athlete who just happens to play football.
"He's a football player who I make run track," Smith said. "There's no question that his future is in football, not track."
The question is which position is in his future? Smith would like to keep King on the field every down but realizes that's impossible. Gateway, ranked third in Class AAAA by the Patriot-News of Harrisburg, uses King on offense and sparingly on defense.
"We need him to handle the ball 20, 25 times a game," Smith said. "We try to keep him fresh for that. He's just a part-time cornerback for us."
However, most colleges are recruiting King as a defensive back to take advantage of his speed. Still, his coach said King has not played in a game where he hasn't had at least one run of more that 30 yards.
The drawback to King playing offense in college is his size, but he has been getting bigger. He has added weight since the season began, going from 172 to 178.
Coming on
Avon Grove, in only its second season of varsity football, has a 3-2 record and is 2-0 in the Southern Chester County League. Last year, Avon Grove finished 2-8 and won only one of seven league games.
Avon Grove is coming off a 16-6 victory against Garnet Valley, which was favored to win the league title when the season began.
No. 200
Mina George won his 200th game as a coach when Girard defeated Iroquois 14-0. George, who is in his seventh season at Girard after 16 years at Erie Cathedral Prep, is the first Erie County high school coach to reach 200 wins.
On a streak
St. Joseph's Prep in the Philadelphia Catholic League won its 29th consecutive game by beating Archbishop Ryan 42-6.
St. Josephs Prep, 6-0 overall and 3-0 in the league's Red Division, has outscored opponents 209-27 going into Friday's game against undefeated Roman Catholic.
Baseball first
Sean Conley has quarterbacked Blackhawk's football team the past two seasons and is a four-year letterman, but he has committed to play baseball at Pitt.
Conley (5-11, 170) is a center fielder who hit .465 with 21 RBIs, 11 doubles and 12 stolen bases last spring. He also helped Blackhawk win the Pennsylvania American Legion title.