Hubbard’s George Hill signs with Pitt as Valley football players seal their futures

By BRIAN DZENIS and CHARLES GROVE

dzenis@vindy.com and cgrove@vindy.com

George Hill’s recruiting saga was one of the more closely followed affairs last year, but switching from one school to another was a trivial matter to the Hubbard tailback.

“Maybe for the media, but not for me,” Hill said when asked about any drama surrounding his recruitment. “It’s a life decision and I have to do what’s best for myself in order to put myself in a better position to succeed.”

Hill went into his senior year verbally committed to Ohio State, but de-committed in October. Two months later, he committed to Pittsburgh. He held on to that commitment and sealed the deal Wednesday on National Signing Day alongside three of his teammates.

Hill was impressed with Youngstown-connected Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi’s first season in charge. The ex-Michigan State defensive coordinator led the Panthers to an 8-5 record and the team was briefly ranked in the Top 25. The local connection was also a plus.

“He’s a Youngstown guy so you have to put that in perspective. He knows where you come from and it’s hard out here,” Hill said of Narduzzi, an Ursuline graduate. “He knows what it’s like so you can talk to him about anything because he grew up where you came from. It’s a good deal.”

Hill was part of the “thunder and lightning” backfield with former teammate and current Michigan State running back L.J. Scott, but Hill projects as a defensive back in college.

“I plan on playing corner and being a lockdown corner. If that doesn’t work, I’ll probably be a kick returner and get some offense in,” Hill said. “They’ve told me they’ll get the ball in my hands on a few plays and such, but I won’t be missing anything that I did in high school. It’s more of the same thing, I’ll just be playing more defense and returning kicks.”

Hill rushed for 1,006 yards and 12 touchdowns in his final high school season. Fellow Hubbard back Brandon Rios signed with Division II Edinboro.

Rios led the Eagles in rushing this season with 1,027 yards and 12 touchdowns. He’s relieved the process of picking a college is over.

“It feels great just knowing that I finally made it,” Rios said. “I got everything accomplished that I wanted to accomplish.”

Quarterback Cameron Ingram signed with Malone and linebacker Dom Pantone is heading off to Lake Erie College.

URSULINE

Four of the Irish’s athletes signed on to play college football with a fifth expected to come late.

Offensive lineman John Neeley signed with Akron, which was the first school to start looking at him.

“I’m going to be a key offensive lineman. I’m going to go in there and give it everything I’ve got,” Neeley said. “I’m going to do what needs to be done.”

In addition to making the football team, the Zips have given him permission to walk on to the track and field team.

“They said they’re not going to have a problem with me walking on and throwing the discus and shot put,” Neeley said. “It’s not a risk-hazard.”

Fellow lineman Giacamo Cappabianca will be a walk-on with Youngstown State and is a local guy to the end.

“I’m a Youngstown boy,” Cappabianca said. “I played high school football at Youngstown Ursuline and now I want to continue my football career at Youngstown State.”

Anthony Protopapa signed with Trinity College and defensive lineman Deion Edwards signed with West Virginia State. The chance to start immediately grabbed at Edwards.

“They graduated a rush defensive end, so I’m expected to play early if I put the time in and work hard,” Edwards said.

Two-way lineman Jabbar Price was not present on Signing Day. The Vindicator’s Defensive Player of the Year had been previously connected to Toledo and Ohio. Ursuline coach Larry Kempe said Price is waiting to hear on a few matters before signing the dotted line.

POLAND

Three Bulldogs players are heading into the Division II ranks. Two-way lineman Justyn Madick and running back/defensive back Dylan Garver are heading off to Walsh University, while defensive end Josh Bader signed with Slippery Rock University.

Bader joins his older brother, Zach, at Slippery Rock. Zach Bader transferred to Slippery Rock from Youngstown State.

“It’s a brother’s dream,” Josh said.

Bader had to make the most of a make-or-break year his senior season.

“I broke my elbow and tore my tricep. It was awkward. I basically played with one arm,” Bader said. “I also lost my position junior year, so I came into this year with a chip on my shoulder.”

Garver was a three-year starter who amassed 1,289 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns, putting him at No. 5 in the area for yardage and No. 3 for rushing touchdowns.

Garver was the All-American Conference’s Player of the Year. Madick was a first team all-district selection. Madick and Garver are good friends, but they didn’t plan their futures around each other.

“We thought about it, but when we talked about [where to go], we decided we were going to pick the best school for us even if it meant separate schools,” Garver said. “It wasn’t planned, but it is a positive.”

Garver will pursue a career in medicine, specifically radiology and pharmacy. On the football field, Garver will play safety for the Cavaliers and he isn’t too sullen about leaving the backfield.

“Defense has been a passion for me and as long as I’m playing, I’ll be OK,” Garver said. “I won’t miss it that much.”

LABRAE

A pair of Vikings will remain teammates in college as Keevon Harris and Andrew Cree signed their letters of intent to Ohio University.

The wide receiver/linebacker combo said they didn’t plan on committing to the same school, but both are glad they’ll continue playing together. Harris was also looking at the University of Cincinnati while Cree was debating about committing to Temple University or the Naval Academy.

“We both received a lot of offers and I accepted that we probably weren’t going to wind up at the same place, but I’m happy we are,” Cree said. “I like to have that foundation where you can have that person to talk to but also become acquainted with everybody else. You start with one and you start spreading yourself and you become friends with everybody.”

For Harris, the moment he landed in Athens he said he fell in love with the town and campus.

“I went on an official visit and when I pulled up I was like, ‘This doesn’t look like a college campus. It looks like somewhere I should live for the rest of my life,’ ” Harris said.

Cree was able to take in a home game on his visit and get to experience Bobcats head coach Frank Solich in the locker room addressing the team before Ohio ended the day victorious.

“It was a rivalry game against Marshall and the stadium was packed,” Cree said. “I got to go into the locker room and coach Solich was talking to them telling them how they were going to win that game and they won exactly how he said they were going to.”

WARREN HARDING

Warren Harding had a full house for its letter-signing ceremony. The Raiders are sending five football players to college this fall. Keemari Murry is going to Ohio Dominican, Myron Cunningham is going to Western Illinois, Chris Clarke is going to Baldwin-Wallace, Kaleb Jones will be attending Charleston in West Virginia and Devin Stear is taking his talents to Walsh.

As a Leatherneck, Cunningham will be going up against Youngstown State as a Missouri Valley Football Conference rival. He hopes to show the Penguins they made a mistake by not offering him a scholarship.

“YSU came calling but I didn’t get an offer from them,” Cunningham said.

When asked if that snub makes him want to prove YSU wrong, he smiled and said, “A little bit. Just because of that.”

Similarities were across the board for the quintet. Small class sizes and lots of access to professors were selling points.

“Walsh is nice and small so it’s exactly what I wanted,” Stear said. “That’s what really caught my eyes.”

“You can get a lot of one-on-one time with your teachers at Charleston,” Jones said. “Instead of being in a class with like 300 people you’re in a class with 14 or 15 people.”

For Murry, a strong academic program helped make his decision easier while Clarke enjoyed the energy Baldwin-Wallace plays with and the ability to compete for a starting spot in the secondary.

“Ohio Dominican has a great criminal justice program and it just felt like home,” Murry said.

“I went or a gameday visit and they played with excitement, energy and enthusiasm,” Clarke said. “They said I have a chance to compete for a starting position when I get there so it’s always a competition.”

CARDINAL MOONEY

Cardinal Mooney had four players commit to play college football and three of them will remain in town to play for YSU.

The signings continue a steak of the Cardinals sending at least one player to the Division I level each year since 2003.

Andrew Armstrong accepted a full scholarship to play for the Syracuse Orange while Devon McNutt, Nick Maxin and David McDowell all will suit up for YSU. Maxin and McDowell will be walk-ons.

“It’s an amazing feeling being mentioned with those past guys and it’s now a dream come true to play at the Division I level and Mooney definitely prepared me for that,” Armstrong said.

For the trio that’s set to play for Bo Pelini, Mooney head coach P.J. Fecko said it’s nice to have some of his talent stay local.

“It’s definitely nice to see guys go to Youngstown State and continue to see some familiar faces around,” he said. “It’s nice to have some players return to our campus and neat to have the community aspect when they come back for games or events.”

COLUMBIANA

Clippers wide receiver Jacob Ward signed with Lake Erie while wide receiver Dalton Miller will be a walk-on at YSU.

BOARDMAN

Spartans offensive lineman Wes Thompson and tight end Justin Metzel are expected to walk on at YSU.

CANFIELD

Cardinals linebacker Jacob Esarco is expected to sign with Colgate today at noon.

EAST

Panthers linebacker TaBrian Donlow signed with Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College.