Last Saturday the Maryland Terrapins took the field for its second scrimmage of the spring, Middletown High School football fans came out in full support of the Terps. Who were greeted by a graphic on the Middletown scoreboard reading “Welcome Maryland Football.”
“It was great to see Division I players from your state university on your field,” says MHS football coach Kevin Lynott “they energized the Middletown fan base just like they were trying to do.”
Maryland came to MHS as part of an initiative to gain support from the Washington DC/Baltimore metropolitan area, they visited state champions Dunbar before heading to MHS.
Players from the MHS football team, who are coming off of an undefeated season and back-to-back state championships came to check out the action.
MHS Senior Parker Johnson came out to observe the action along with juniors Logan Casey, Bradley Rinehart, Mitch Scrignoli, Ryan Crompton and the heavily recruited Justin Falcinelli.
Falcinellli has received offers from multiple schools including Penn State, West Virginia and Maryland. He is ranked by rivals.com as the number 36 offensive linemen in the nation for the class of 2014.
Ricky Leonard is also a highly touted recruit for the class of 2014, he will line up of at defensive end and tight end ext year. Leonard has also received offers from Maryland, Mississippi, Old Dominion, Rutgers, Towson and West Virginia.
“I think recruiting Falcinelli and Ricky Leonard was a byproduct of what Maryland was trying to do,” says Lynott “yes they’ve (Falcinelli and Leonard) been able too visit Maryland, but it’s also great for those guys to be able to see them practice in their hometown.”
The Terps appear to be Falcinelli’s number one choice, due to his close proximity to the school, and the fact that his older brother is currently enrolled there, but he has also visited Clemson, Penn State and received and just recently received an offer from West Virginia.
As for next season Lynott is not looking too far ahead.
“We need go step by step during the offseason, and work on development, and weight training,” Lynott says “It will be promising and exciting, especially taking on Wesminister on the road the first game of the season. They are coming off of a final four appearance in the 4a region.”
The Knights are looking to win its third straight title this season and can’t be too confident after a visit from Maryland.
“It’s exciting and motivating the way this program has developed,” says Lynott “ Maryland coming here can’t make us too confident, we have to keep building.”