McFadden is Fork Union-bound

Jerell McFadden had two choices: Either play college football next year at the Division II level or wait a year and increase his chances of landing a Division I scholarship.

The News & Messenger's Football Player of the Year chose the latter, deciding to put college on hold for a year and enroll in Fork Union Military Academy and play for the school's postgraduate football program.

McFadden, who led the Eagles to the Division 6 state championship game in December, did not meet NCAA Division I eligibility requirements to earn an athletic scholarship.

Shepherd, a Division II school in West Virginia, did offer McFadden, which Osbourn coach Steve Schultze encouraged McFadden to seriously consider. But McFadden wanted to play Division I football.

Schultze said at least one school, Illinois, came through three weeks ago and made a verbal offer to McFadden.

"At Shepherd, he could have been a big fish," Schultze said. "But he wants to play at a bigger school."

Schultze said he expects Division I programs to recruit McFadden as a defensive back. He was an all-Group AAA selection as a safety last season after making 136 tackles.

As a running back, McFadden rushed for 1,246 yards and 16 touchdowns.

McFadden also considered Hargrave Military Academy, but decided on FUMA in part because it was closer to his Manassas home and would allow his mother to come and see him play.

McFadden will graduate a year early from Osbourn. Although he's been on the varsity football team since his freshman year, McFadden cannot play this coming season because he turns 19 before August.

Virginia High School League rules state that any student who turns 19 on or before the first day of August is ineligible for athletics for that upcoming school year.

Teammate Tyler Brown, the Cedar Run District and Northwest Region Defensive Player of the Year, has signed with College of the Canyons, a junior college in California.

Brown, who was originally set on attending Hargrave, attracted the attention of College of the Canyons both by word of mouth and by Schultze sending film out on him.

QUARLES DRAWING INTEREST

Woodbridge High School's Demetrius Quarles has been offered by Miami University (Ohio) and Richmond, the defending champions of the football championship subdivision, formerly Division I-AA.

In his second year as a starting safety, the junior was both a first-team all-Cardinal District and all-Northwest Region selection for the Vikings.

The Miami-Woodbridge connection has been a strong one over the years. Former running back Andre Bratton was a red-shirt junior with the RedHawks last season, while senior lineman Austin Brown will be an incoming freshman at the school in the fall.

"He's one of the best pure football players I've ever been around," Woodbridge head coach Keith King said of Quarles. "People look at him and say he's undersized, but they need to stop looking at size."

Virginia Tech has also expressed an interest in the 5-foot-9 Quarles. King said that Hokie assistant coach Bud Foster has invited Quarles down for one of the program's one-day camps.

ODDS AND ENDS

Two other rising seniors at Woodbridge, quarterback Frank Buckley and linebacker Darryl Haley, are also attracting interest. Neither has received an offer, but Buckley has plans on attending a camp at Duke University this summer.

A first-year starter last fall, Buckley threw for 1,612 yards and 16 touchdown passes.

Haley was the team's co-defensive player of the year after recording a team-high 148 tackles last season.

King said that De'Antwan Williams is on track to meet NCAA Division I eligibility requirements to enroll at Rutgers as a freshman in the fall. The senior running back has received his qualifying test score and needs to maintain his B average for the rest of the school year.

"He's good to go," King said.

Teammate Kelvin Lewis was originally set on attending Hargrave next school year to gain more exposure from colleges.

But a recent visit from a Norfolk State assistant coach changed Lewis' plans. When the assistant learned Lewis was not immediately going to a four-year college, he took a game tape back to Norfolk State.

The staff liked what they saw and offered Lewis a scholarship, 80 percent of which covered football and the other 20 percent, which came from track.

Lewis earned second-team all-district honors as a wide receiver and first-team all-district honors as a defensive back last season.

In track, Lewis earned all-state honors after finishing seventh in the 100-meter dash at the Group AAA Outdoor Meet.