Photo submitted by: Matt Heacock
	Heacock won the Best Lineback award at the UMass camp.

By Mike Loveday

The public school football season is a week away and teams are focusing on their first game, but for a few athletes this is also the time of year when they are narrow their college choices or send out recruiting film.

Quince Orchard senior Cody Magill trimmed his list of schools to five. The 6-foot-3, 280-pound tight end lists Delaware, Syracuse, East Carolina, Ohio University and Vanderbilt as his final five.

Of the five, only Ohio has offered Magill as a defensive end. The other schools extended offers to him to play tight end. Magill told MDvarsity.com that he has not set date as to when he will make a decision.

Loyola's Matt Heacock hit camp scene this summer, and it is paying off. The 6-foot, 190-pound linebacker attended the UMass camp Aug. 1, and came away with the best linebacker award.

Heacock is one of the Dons' captains this year and registered a 4.6 40-yard dash at the UMass camp, which was the fastest time among the linebackers.

The offers keep rolling in for athletes at Eleanor Roosevelt. The MDVarsity.com preseason Top 10 team already has some of the state's top recruits in Derrick Thomas, Stephon Morris, Isaiah Ross and Danzel Manley. Now add another name to the list, Quincy MaCaulley.

	Photo by: Mike Loveday/ESPNRise
	Miller is garnering strong recruiting interest.

MaCaulley is a 6-foot-5, 260-pound defensive end who holds an offer from Buffalo. During a recent scrimmage against Friendly, MaCaulley showed a quick first step and was consistently in the backfield, chasing down the Patriots quarterback.

Good Counsel is another team loaded with Division I talent and one name that may have been overlooked so far is linebacker Durrell Miller.

The 5-foot-10, 195-pound senior has been receiving interest from Temple and Stony Brook. The University of Maryland along with West Virginia also has been keeping an eye on the senior.

During his junior season, Miller recorded 53 tackles, three forced fumbles, three sacks and two interceptions as he helped lead Good Counsel to its fifth straight appearance in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC) championship game.

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	Photo by: Mike Loveday
	Head coach Tom Green (center) oversees the Raiders chances at a Class 4A title.

By Mike Loveday

Last year: 6-4

Key losses: The graduation of safety Okechukwu Okoroha and Dalonte Wallace left two big voids to fill.

Key returnees: Derrick Thomas (WR/DB), Stephon Morris (RB/DB), Isaiah Ross (DE), and Danzel Manley (OL).

Most improved: A.J. Bryson could be a starter at linebacker this season.

Names to look for: Quincy MaCaulley (DL) holds an offer from Buffalo. Bryan Davie (OL).

My take: The thought of Eleanor Roosevelt matching up against Quince Orchard in the Class 4A title game sends chills up my spine. The division I-A talent on display in that game would be worth twice the price of admission.

The losses of Okoroha and Wallace hurt, but I think the Raiders may be more talented this year and that says a lot. Quarterback Mike Thomas is a four-year starter and will not turn over the ball.

The only thing that could hold the Raiders back this season will be adjusting to a new head coach and a new offense. That said, they moved the ball extremely well in their first scrimmage against a talented Friendly team.

The team won after former head coach Rick Houchens was dismissed last year and new head coach Tom Green led Surrattsville to a 10-2 record last season so I do not think the coaching change will affect the team.

They are talented and focused and that makes for a title contender in my book.

EDITORS NOTE: If you want more information on this team and the upcoming season e-mail me to find out more about the 2008 Preseason Magazine.

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By Mike Loveday, editor

State College, Pa., is little more than a three-hour drive for most of the Maryland football players committed to Penn State University, but the ESPN Outside the Lines series profiling the trouble Penn State athletes have gotten into over the past six years must have hit a little closer to home.

Or did it?

Six Maryland high school football players are verbally committed to attend Penn State following their senior seasons and none of the players contacted seem concerned about the issues raised in the program.

"Me and my mother watched it. It didn't really have an affect on me because I know what I can do and what I'm going through, Eleanor Roosevelt's Derrick Thomas (pictured below) added. "It doesn't really change my mind at all. I still like Penn State and I'm still with it.

While that sentiment is shared by the other athletes, Thomas' mother did not agree.

"To see all that stuff happening there I really worry. At this point I don't really want him to go to that school. I know you can't run away because trouble is everywhere, but to see that they have a coach and a coaching staff that is not doing what they need to do to keep this stuff from happening it really worries me, Angela Thomas said. "I don't want my son to attend a school where there's no guidance. When he's away from me I want him to have a role model to keep him in line.

According to the OTL program, "since 2002, 46 Penn State football players have faced 163 criminal charges, according to an ESPN analysis of Pennsylvania court records and reports. Twenty-seven players have been convicted of or have pleaded guilty to a combined 45 counts.

When asked if she was concerned about Thomas attending Penn State Mrs. Thomas replied, "I am. Honestly I am. I'm going to have to have a serious talk with him. I'm definitely not leaving it up to him. We all need to sit down and talk about this because I just want the best for my son. & I need to see what type of options he wants to have right now, because Penn State, to me, is not a good option.

Thomas added that his mother had expressed interest in him attending the University of Maryland before his commitment. Thomas chose Penn State over offers from Maryland, Tennessee, Pittsburgh and Illinois.

Thomas is one of six Maryland athletes committed to Penn State. Eleanor Roosevelt teammate Stephon Morris, Oxon Hill's Brandon Felder, Lackey's Darrell Givens and Malcolm Willis and Gaithersburg's Sean Stanley have all committed to play for the Nittany Lions.

In fact, Penn State has received more commitments from Maryland players than from any other state so far. Five Pennsylvania athletes have given verbal commitments as of press time.

From those already committed, the allegations have little to no affect.

"Of course if you have a lot of students and players at one school getting into trouble it's going to make that school look bad, but you can't necessarily say that the school is a bad place. It just shows that those people chose to make the wrong decision, Givens said. "It's not really been a big deal to me. Once you're in college you're an adult. You're a grown female or male and you're old enough to make your own decisions. If you choose to make the wrong decision, that's on you.

The program seems to have raised so little interest in the athletes interviewed for this story that at least one, Felder, still has not seen it. Thomas chose to not watch the entire program and said he has no interest in seeing the rest of it.

While no names were mentioned in the OTL program, days later former Gwynn Park standout Phil Taylor was dismissed from the team. A name that Roosevelt defensive back Morris knows, which made the series more interesting for him, but did not make him waiver from his decision.

"My whole take on it was that I stay away from that type of trouble. When you go to college you should know the things you shouldn't be doing, Morris said.

What about the questions surrounding Paterno's job security? The 81-yeard old, who will enter his 43rd season as head coach and has compiled a win-loss record of 372-125-3, enters the last year of his contract and the release of the OTL information raises serious questions as to whether JoPa will return.

"I've been told that about his (Joe Paterno) contract. I've been watching ESPN College Gameday, they keep talking about it. I mean even if this is his last year, whether it's a successor, which I'd love to have, or if it's a brand new coaching staff, and then I guess I'm going to have to see, Morris added. "I'm going (to Penn State) because that's where I should be. It wasn't for any specific coach.

Bobbie Felder, the mother of Brandon Felder (pictured), also seemed unconcerned about the program.

"I honestly don't have a problem as far as these allegations that have gone on with Penn State, Mrs. Felder said. "Both my son and I believe in the program and I don't feel as though this is going to be a problem with my son's football career or academic career.

While each student-athlete comes from a different background and are spread out over several counties, they all expressed a single thought.

"At a lot of schools around the country things are going to happen, people make mistakes. It's not like it really affected me or changed my mind, Lackey's Malcolm Willis said. "There are places you can get in trouble around the world. You can live in the country with no trouble at all and you can mess up. It's about bettering yourself after you make that mistake.

Penn State has offers out to five more Maryland high school athletes: Dunbar's Tavon Austin, Gwynn Park's Raynard Randolph, Quince Orchard's Travis Hawkins and Jason Ankrah and Good Counsel's Jelani Jenkins.

So how will this impact the decision for potential commitments? At least one athlete said it will have none.

"That's not me. I know what kind of person I am and I won't be in situations like that, Randolph said. "That has nothing to do with me and has nothing to do with the school. That's outside of the school and what they did. & stuff like that happens everywhere. Unfortunately they were the ones to get caught. Penn State is still one of my favorites.

Randolph is said to be deciding between attending Penn State and Maryland.

As of press time, the other four athletes mentioned above along with Stanley were unavailable for comment.

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