Signing Day 2009 Recruiting Notebook
The Stone Bridge Bulldogs Celebrated With Friends And Family On Wednesday After Sending 11 Players To College Football On Signing Day. Mickey Thompson's Program Continues To Set The Bar In Local Recruiting In Northern Virginia....
Photo By: GamedayMagazine .com
Sherando's Ross Metheny got things started early Wednesday morning as he signed his letter of intent to play football at the University of Virginia. The left handed quarterback had one of the great careers in the history of Virginia high school football. He is joined by his parents on this monumental day...
Photo By: SherandoFootball.com
Chantilly's Torrian Pace is joined by his parents and coach Mike Lalli as he signs his letter of intent to play football at Youngstown State. Pace was the All-Gameday Group AAA Player of the Year for 2008 after rushing for 33 touchdowns and nearly 3,000 yards in his senior season...
Photo By: GamedayMagazine .com
DULLES, VA - The early morning workouts, long hours under the hot August sun, and finally, it pays off on Signing Day. It's the day where all of the gridiron greats from the fall put ink to paper and officially enter the next level of football.
8:15am: Stephens City, VA
The morning started with Sherando's Ross Metheny, who had one of the great careers in the history of Virginia high school football. The left handed quarterback, joined by his parents and head coach Bill Hall, officially became a Virginia Cavalier this morning.
Metheny, who tore his ACL toward the end of the season, said his rehabilitation is going well, and he is optimistic about making a full recovery. That is good news for the Cavaliers, as they need a young quarterback to come in and jump start their struggling offense in the future. Look for Metheny to be a household name by the time his career gets on its feet in Charlottesville.
11:15am - Westfield High School
The next stop was Westfield High School. The Bulldogs held a signing ceremony for several athletes, most notably their outstanding senior tailback Jordon Anderson. Anderson verbally committed to James Madison University in the past 48 hours after receiving interest from several schools, including Illinois.
"They said that I would be able to come in and fill a roll, and possibly play my freshman year," Anderson said.
Westfield's Tom Verbanic has coached great players like Evan Royster (Penn State), Mike Glennon (N.C State), and Sean Glennon (Virginia Tech), and he believes Anderson will make his mark for the Dukes in the near future.
"JMU got a great running back today," Verbanic said. "He's a special talent, and he could end up doing big things there."
12:30pm - Stonewall Jackson High School
During the lunch hour, GamedayMagazine.com broke the news that Stonewall Jackson's Damien Thigpen had signed with UCLA after a long recruiting process. Thigpen had verbally committed to Tennessee last year, but after taking his official visit to Knoxville, he decided that it wasn't the place for him. The Bruins quickly stepped into the fray along with Notre Dame, and Thigpen made the decision to join Rick Neuheisal's program this next fall.
Head Coach Mike Dougherty said he was happy for his star tailback to finally find a new team.
"Damien has meant a lot to our program. He continued to be positive and support his team throughout the entire time he was sidelined with his injury (for the 1st half of the 2008 football season), and he kept his composure, with a smile on his face, the whole time going through this (recruiting) process. He is a great kid, and (the Thigpen's) are a great family. We're going to miss him, but are excited for his future."
2pm: Chantilly High School
After lunch, we ventured over to Chantilly High School, where the Chargers celebrated one of the best tailbacks to ever dawn the purple in Torrian Pace, as he signed his LOI to attend Youngstown State. Pace was the named the 2008 All Gameday Group AAA Player of the Year after rushing for 33 touchdowns and nearly 3,000 yards in his senior season.
Pace's recruiting process was a bit rocky, but as signing day approached, Youngstown State became more and more interested in the 5'11 220lb tailback from Chantilly.
"I went up to Youngstown State two weeks ago, and didn't think it was going to be good. But it was better than I expected," Pace said. "They have the offense that suited me, and the university had my major. Their facilities were comparable to D-1 facilities."
Head Coach Mike Lalli knew his tailback deserved a chance to play at the next level.
"He's the best running back I've ever coached," Lalli said. "When it came down to the decision making process, as I got to know the coaches up there, I told him that this was a really great place for him."
Pace was the only Chantilly senior to receive a scholarship, but fellow teammates Isaac Sine and Andrew Crawford are expected to land on college rosters by next fall.
4pm - Stone Bridge High School
The busiest place on Signing Day 2008 was most definitely Stone Bridge High School in Ashburn, Va. Mickey Thompson's program has become the hotbed for major college football prospects, and this year the Bulldogs featured an amazing 9 division 1A & 1AA scholarship players.
"I've been coaching 27 years, and I've never heard of anything like this," Thompson said. "This is a great class of kids, and it is a class we should all remember."
Signing scholarships from Stone Bridge were Patrick Thompson (Wake Forest), Mike Olson (Wake Forest), Zach Thompson (Wake Forest), David Wang (Virginia Tech), Brian Slay (N.C State), Daniel Allen (James Madison), Trevor Springman (William & Mary), Matt Custer (University of Albany) and Nate Ingersoll (Glenville State).
In addition, Stone Bridge's Nick Sheehan accepted a preferred walk-on opportunity at Virginia Tech, and Dexter Strong will walk on at William and Mary and join teammate Trevor Springman on the roster.
Stone Bridge's signing day was attended by every local media outlet in Northern Virginia, and by well over 200 people consisting of team members, coaches, and families.
Signing Day has indeed become a tradition, and Thompson wouldn't have it any other way.
"The great thing about doing this at the school is that the young kids can stop in and see what's going on," said Thompson. "It's a big deal. To be able to have a full meal here, and to have it streamed, this is a big deal. This was a big day for our program."
The Original Steakhouse catered to the 235 people at Stone Bridge High School with a full array of Ribs and Chicken.
All in all, Signing Day 2008 was an exciting day for the players and their families. They can now all take a deep breath and enjoy the rest of the second semester knowing that they will all be playing college football next fall.
We would be remiss not to mention that Signing Day 2009 was also a ground-breaking day for GamedayMagazine.com as well. Gameday televised the Signing Day festivities from Stone Bridge live on its website across the worldwide web for the first time to its online audience. Our new technology will allow for even more exciting advances in broadcasting in the coming weeks, months, and years. You can watch the new Gameday Live here!
While most everyone on Signing Day was happy, I had a minor feeling of deflation knowing that football is officially over until next August. Man, that can't get here soon enough.
