Hylton safety commits to Ohio U.

When he first visited Ohio University on an unofficial trip last fall, A.J. Grady only got a glimpse of the Bobcats' football team in action. A snowstorm forced Grady and his family to leave at halftime to make the trip home.

But the brief stay piqued the Hylton High School senior's curiosity enough to keep Ohio on his radar screen as a possible college football destination. So when he returned to the school two weekends ago on an official visit, it became more apparent to Grady that the school was the best fit for him.

All he had to do was make a decision.

He liked Ohio itself and liked the idea that he could possibly play as a true freshman next season. When Bobcat head coach Frank Solich extended an official offer, Grady went back to his hotel, where he and his dad talked.

"My dad asked me, 'Do I like it?' " Grady said. "I said, 'I love it here.' "

Then Grady's father asked the pivotal question: "So why not commit?"

That's all it took for Grady to go back to Solich and accept the offer.

"Everything I wanted to hear, I heard," Grady said.

The 6-foot-1, 200-pound Grady, an all-Cardinal District free safety this past season for the Bulldogs, where he recorded 58 tackles and three interceptions, also received offers from James Madison University, Liberty and Norfolk State.

Grady made an official visit to Connecticut last month, but never received an official offer.

Grady will sign his national letter-of-intent on February 3, the first day high school seniors can do so for football. He is headed to a program that went 9-5 this season and lost in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl to Marshall, 21-17.

The Bobcats went 7-1 in the Mid-American Conference and won the East title. They also placed a school-record 12 players on the all-conference team, including Stonewall Jackson graduate Chris Garrett as a kickoff-return specialist.

Marshall decides

Defensive back Miguel Marshall (Forest Park) will re-sign with the Virginia Military Institute, Fork Union head coach John Shuman said. Marshall signed with the Keydets last February, but failed to academically qualify. He is currently at Fork Union, where he played this past season for the school's postgraduate team.

Another local player at FUMA, Jerell McFadden (Osbourn), is still waiting to hear back on his SAT score, Shuman said.

"We're trying to track the score down," Shuman said. "We're working on it."

Shuman said that McFadden has received interest from colleges, but has not been offered by anyone.

Sports editor David Fawcett can be reached at 703-878-8052