HIGH SCHOOLS RECRUITING ROUNDUP
‘Twas the night before Christmas …
… and one FBS school was busy handing out offers to a couple of WPIAL juniors.
Christmas came early for some Miami (Ohio) recruiting targets as head coach Chuck Martin spent the final few hours of Christmas Eve reaching out to recruits and passing along freshly wrapped scholarship offers. It was a cool recruiting strategy used by Miami, one that involved Peters Township linebacker Nico Pate and Kiski Area offensive tackle Brandon Lawhorn Moore. Both were offered that night by the RedHawks.
“It was amazing,” Pate said. “Coach Martin texted me and said, ‘We have a present for you.’ I called him back and he said they were offering. It was the best present I could ask for.”
Even better than the clothes he unwrapped and the PS5 he is holding out hope will be a late-arriving present. That’s because the offer was Pate’s first. He said he received the text message at about 11:50 p.m. and called Martin a few minutes later.
“I’ve been working for this for a long time,” Pate said. “It’s a sense of relief and it feels amazing.”
Pate wasted little time in relaying the good news to Peters Township coach T.J. Plack.
“He called me at 12:15 a.m. Christmas morning to tell me,” Plack said. “He said he just wanted to let me know they had offered. I said, ‘ That’s awesome’ and told him ‘Merry Christmas’ and ‘good night.’ I doubt he slept much, though.”
Earlier in the night, at roughly 10:30, Lawhorn Moore received his present when Martin reached out to him. It was Lawhorn Moore’s fourth offer, the others coming from fellow MAC schools Buffalo, Kent State and Bowling Green.
“He said, ‘You’re getting an offer,’” Lawhorn Moore recalled. “That was really cool. I wasn’t even expecting it.”
Expect both players to see their offer counts rise over the next year. Lawhorn Moore would be a big get — literally — for any school. He’s 6 feet 5, 310 pounds and is already a three-year starter at Kiski Area. He rotated between both tackles positions this season, and Kiski Area coach Sam Albert said he was dominant at times. Lawhorn Moore was named allconference in the Class 5A Northeast Conference.
“By the end of the year, we flipflopped him from left to right and we ran to whatever side he was on,” Albert said. “We’re happy as can be about those MAC offers. I really believe that once some other schools see his film, he can be (a Power Five recruit).”
Lawhorn Moore has a tremendous nickname for a teenager of his stature — “Beef.”
“Back in sixth grade, we had this thing called ‘Beef Jerky Fridays,’” he said. “I had brought in beef jerky like eight weeks in a row, so my history teacher started calling me Beef.”
What is it with Peters Township linebackers and Miami (Ohio)? Senior Corban Hondru is a two-time all-state linebacker who signed with Miami earlier this month. The RedHawks are hoping Pate (6 feet 1, 205 pounds) eventually does the same.
Plack said the similarities between Pate and Hondru don’t stop there.
“I think Corban is a heck of a
ballplayer and Nico is a spitting image of Corban,” Plack said. “They’re both defensive players. Both are sound tacklers. Nico is a little longer. Both are highly intelligent football players and know what to do on defense.”
As a junior, Pate was fourth on the team with 26 tackles and added four sacks, an interception and forced fumble. As a tailback, he led the Indians in rushing with 442 yards and scored three touchdowns. Pate was selected all-conference in the Class 5A Allegheny Six.
Posset to transfer
A former Post-Gazette Fabulous 5 pick is on the move. Beaver graduate Isabella Posset, a junior guard at Robert Morris, has entered her name in the transfer portal. Posset started every game for the Colonials last season, averaging 7.9 points (third best on the team), 3.2 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game, and was a third-team all-Northeast Conference selection. Posset
started Robert Morris’ first four games this season, averaging 2.5 points a game. As a senior at Beaver, Posset led the Bobcats to their first WPIAL championship appearance. She averaged 19.6 points per game that season and finished her high school career with 1,601 points.
Baseball commitment
Mars’ Mitchell Schultz (Case Western Reserve).
Football commitments
Burgettstown’s Shane Kemper (Clarion); Gateway’s Harden Gage (Sussex Community College); Gateway’s Jayson Jenkins (Robert Morris).
Soccer commitment
Greensburg Central Catholic’s Bethany Winnor (New Hampshire).