Eleven Valley athletes sign to play scholarship football

December 20, 2018 at 12:10a.m.

When record-set- ting quarterback Girard quarterback Mark Waid stepped onto the Stambaugh Stadium football field for a playoff game against East, he said it just felt like home to him.

Waid made it official Wednesday, signing a national letter of intent to attend Youngstown State and play football for the Penguins.

“The way the entire Valley supported us during our playoff run was eye-opening,” Waid said. “No community does it like the Mahoning Valley and for all of us it was an incredible experience. We’re wired differently here in Youngstown. We’re all hard workers and have a blue-collar mentality. This is a special place and I’m so happy to be staying home.”

Waid will graduate high school early and has already enrolled at YSU for the spring semester, which begins Jan. 14.

He’ll get a jump start on college and the collegiate game.

“I’m going to work as hard as I possibly can,” Waid said. “I’m going in with the mindset that it is my job and the mindset that I’ll have every opportunity to earn it, but it has to be earned. We’re building something special at YSU.”

Waid led the Indians (13-2) to a Division IV state final appearance. Girard fell to Cincinnati Wyoming, but Waid will graduate as Girard’s all-time leading passer having completed 715 of 1,193 (.599) aerial attempts for 11,658 yards.

He threw 117 touchdown passes and just 21 interceptions. He also had a career 118.1 passer rating.

“It was an unbelievable four years and really was five years because as an eighth-grader, you would have thought that Mark was the backup quarterback since he was around the program every single day. He’s just a great kid,” Indians head coach Pat Pearson said. “His growth on the field speaks for itself but his growth as a young man, a leader and his football IQ were unbelievable to watch as he just kept getting better each year.”

Waid’s maturation under center came as no surprise to Pearson.

“He got better, stronger, tougher and became a better leader. He’s just an unbelievable kid,” Pearson said. “I have no idea if he can start as a freshman, but I do know the type of person and player that YSU is getting and they are getting a complete workhorse.

“He’s going to be a kid who is going to work as hard as he can work, will do everything that he can to help the team and will be a great teammate and leader. If it lands him the starting job, it does and if it lands him a job where he must continue to work for it, then he’ll do that. He’s committed to the University and committed to making the team better any way that he can.”

In four seasons Waid led the team to a 27-19 overall mark, including 23-4 his final two seasons.

“It’s really special to have Mark going to YSU and very special for me to be able to have coached him,” said Indians athletic director Nick Cochran, who helped lead the Penguins to the 1992 Division I-AA national championship game against Marshall. “YSU is getting an all-around great person, not just an athlete but a great person and student. That is what made him so successful on the football field.”

Several other Mahoning Valley schools hosted signing day festivities for student-athletes:

CARDINAL MOONEY

The Cardinals are sending two players to the Big Ten Conference. Linebacker Luke Fulton (Michigan State) and offensive tackle Kyle Jornigan (Purdue) signed their letters of intent.

Fulton, who plans to major in business, confirmed his intention to join head coach Mark Dantonio’s Michigan State Spartans while Jornigan, who is weighting his academic options between civil engineering and business, is set to play for coach Jeff Brohm’s Purdue Boilermakers.

A three-year starter, Fulton chose the Spartans among his 30 Division I offers.

He played nine games last season for coach P.J. Fecko’s Cardinals, registering 98 tackles along with six sacks, 16 tackles for loss, an interception, two forced fumbles while scoring a defensive touchdown.

“A lot of it was geographical for me as I wanted my family to be able to watch me,” Fulton said. “I felt at home, the coaches were great and the atmosphere at the school tremendous.

“I’ve worked for this my whole life and want to play and contribute however I can. I want to bring a Big Ten and national championship to MSU.”

Fecko called Fulton a smart player.

“Luke is a tremendous athlete, very intelligent and has great skill set paired with size,” Fecko said. “He had a knack for making big plays on the defensive side of the ball.”

Jornigan, who is also a three-year letterman, graded out at 93 percent last season, had 51 pancake blocks and chose the Boilermakers from 20 offers.

“I made an unofficial visit and last week, an official visit. I realized they have a lot of good things going on at Purdue,” Jornigan said. “After talking with coach Brohm and [position coach] Dale Williams, it felt like a family atmosphere. It’s also a top academic institution.”

He’ll now go up against Fulton after being teammates the past three seasons.

“We’re both competitors so it is definitely going to be a lot of fun,” Jornigan said.

Fecko feels Jornigan can become one of the very best at his position.

“Kyle is an outstanding athlete and a dominant offensive lineman,” Fecko said. “He’s someone who has played at a high level for three years and has a great combination of skill and size. He had a tremendous scholastic career and was solid and consistent week in and week out.”

Athletic director Don Bucci noted that both Michigan State and Purdue are getting two excellent student-athletes.

“When you look at Luke and Kyle, you see two good kids who were leaders in the locker room, on the field and in the hallways as well,” Bucci said. “I now look forward to watching them on Saturday afternoon.”

WARREN HARDING

Hall and Oates, chocolate and peanut butter and Trumbull County running backs in the Big Ten are pairings that make too much sense.

Kay’ron Adams is continuing his football career at Rutgers. Toledo and Iowa were the other schools in contention. The Scarlet Knights were 1-11 this year, but that didn’t deter Adams from breaking his June commitment to the team.

“From the outside looking in, we’re at the bottom, but me and the other recruits think we can take this thing from the bottom up,” Adams said. “To be apart of something special like that would be really big.”

Adams rushed for 1,710 yards and 18 touchdowns as the Raiders went 8-3 in his senior campaign. He’ll join the recent crop of Trumbull County backs in the Big Ten like Harding’s LeShun Daniels at Iowa, Mineral Ridge’s Devine Redding at Indiana and Howland’s De’Veon Smith at Michigan.

“It’s an honor to be included with those guys. They did great things at the next level,” Adams said.

Rutgers sealed the deal with an above and beyond approach to show how much it wanted Adams signature.

“I tell guys to go where they’re loved and Rutgers showed a tremendous amount of love. I think the first day that they were allowed to visit, they sent their entire offensive staff [to Harding] and sat in the varsity office for seven hours,” Harding coach Steve Arnold said. “No staff in my 30 years of coaching has ever done that and I think they showed Kay’ron and his family how much they wanted him.”

BOARDMAN

Tino Arcuri sings, studies, blocks and will soon serve his country.

The Spartans’ offensive lineman is heading to West Point.

“I’m going to be a part of history. You walk around campus and you see pictures of five-star generals, cannons from the Civil War — you’re literally apart of history,” Arcuri said. “That’s one of the biggest reasons why I wanted to go there.”

Arcuri’s accolades extend far beyond the football field. He’s a National Honor Society Member, carries a 3.97 GPA and scored a 28 on the ACT. Just to keep things well-balanced, he also sings in the BHS Chorale. His performing locales include sporting events and nursing homes.

“I’m a bass. I always hit the low notes,” Arcuri said. “My teacher says I have an operatic voice. I can sing whatever she needs me to sing.”

Arcuri served as a team captain this past fall and was a first-team selection in both the All-American Conference Gold Tier and the All-Inland District.

Wednesday, like most of his days, was very busy. Forgive him for having more than football on his mind.

“Hopefully, I got an A on my AP physics and calculus tests because I’m on no sleep right now,” Arcuri said. “I studied for those the last few nights and I need to get to bed.”

Boardman graduate Travis Koontz ended a circuitous path through the recruiting process by signing the dotted line with Texas Tech.

Coming out of high school, the tight end was initially committed to Bowling Green, but elected to play junior college ball instead at Ventura College in California. He made himself into a three-star prospect and committed to Pitt.

He switched to the Red Raiders on Sunday.

HUBBARD

Bowling Green defensive coordinator Carl Pelini won a recruiting battle with his younger brother — YSU head coach Bo Pelini — for Davion Daniel’s signature.

“They’re really similar. They’re both great guys, but Carl caught my eye first so that’s where I’m headed,” Daniels said.

Daniels played quarterback for the Eagles this past fall, becoming the first Hubbard player to both rush and pass for 1,000-plus yards. He rushed for 1,656, passed for 1,196 more and scored 41 combined touchdowns as his team went 11-2 with a Division IV, Region 13 finals appearance.

His role with the Falcons will vary.

“They’re going to use me as an athlete. Coach Carl says I’ll be a nickelback most of the time, but [head coach Scott Loeffler] mentioned that I’m a guy on offense too,” Daniels said. “They can use me anywhere on offense and I can return punts and kicks — all that good stuff.”

QB won’t be in the cards for Daniels anymore, but he loved the experience.

“It feels great to be the general on the field. I can kind of come in and lead the charge,” Daniels said. “It’s truly an honor to be at that position.”

EAST

Defensive linemen Chris Fitzgerald, Blaine Spires and Dawan Martin will all play scholarship football next fall.

Fitzgerald is headed to YSU while Spires and Martin will play at Bowling Green.

Fitzgerald was first-team All-Ohio selection in Division IV and was the All-American Conference Red Tier’s Most Valuable Player.

Martin and Spires were both first team All-AAC selections and second-team all-district selections.

LABRAE

Tight end Tyler Stephens signed with Buffalo. He also had offers from Akron, Marshall and Ball State.

Last season, he had 586 receiving yards and seven touchdown grabs.

On defense, he had 61 tackles with 16 for a loss.