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DT Doug Worthington (Official Thread)

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http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20040831/1009012.asp

Worthington on the right

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HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PREVIEW
St. Francis moves on to bigger things
Everything in place for Red Raiders to face challenging schedule

By KEITH McSHEA
NEWS SPORTS REPORTER
8/31/2004

It has 13 starters back from the No. 1 team in Western New York, including its quarterback and leading rusher. Its best player is fielding offers from a who's who of college football powers. The offensive line features two All-Western New York players, and it's even bigger - much bigger - than it was last year. And it's playing as many teams from football frenzied Ohio (three) as from its own Monsignor Martin Association.
When it comes to St. Francis football this season, as senior standout lineman Chris Smith said, "everything is in place."

With so many players back (six on offense, seven on defense), including All-Western New Yorkers Doug Worthington, Smith and Zak Kedron, St. Francis sought out the best schedule it could find.

"In our situation right now, especially this year, I think it's good for our kids going against the top competition in the country," said St. Francis coach Jerry Smith, who was named Western New York's coach of the year after the Red Raiders went 9-2 last season. "We wanted to make it a challenge for our kids."

The Red Raiders - who take on Timon/St. Jude in their opener Saturday - will play St. Ignatius of Cleveland, St. Xavier of Cincinnati and Youngstown Chaney as well as McDowell of Erie, Pa., and Rochester private school power Aquinas.

While St. Francis - as well as other large schools in the Monsignor Martin Association - has often traveled to Ohio and Pennsylvania for nonleague games, coach Smith (who is Chris' father) called this year's schedule the Red Raiders' "most ambitious."

St. Ignatius is ranked 40th in the nation by the Sporting News/School Sports magazine. St. Xavier is ranked 20th in its 10-state Midwest region; St. Ignatius is ranked seventh. (In comparison, defending New York State Class AA champion New Rochelle, which returns 10 starters, is just 18th in the East, the only New York school ranked by the magazine.)

Check out the impressive list of schools that are after Worthington, a chiseled, 6-foot-7, 252-pound defensive end: Ohio State, Penn State, Louisiana State, Alabama, Tennessee, Michigan. Last week Florida became the latest to offer him a scholarship. Worthington said Ohio State is at the "top of the list" and that he expects to make
a verbal commitment before the midpoint of the season. The national signing date for Division I-A football is Feb. 2, 2005.

Two-way lineman Chris Smith (6-1, 261) joined Worthington (who also plays tight end) on the All-Western New York first team, while second teamer Kedron (5-8, 165) rushed for 1,193 yards and scored 18 touchdowns. The Raiders will again be strong on the ground with Kedron, senior back Kevin Rautenstrauch and junior fullback and inside linebacker Brent Titus (6-2, 235).

Junior quarterback Ilio DiPaolo (52 for 101, 1,093 yards, 14 TDs, three INTs) has matured after starting last year, with one of his major targets senior Ralph Pignataro.

"Last year, especially in the big games, (DiPaolo) was a little wide-eyed," said Chris Smith, a co-captain with DiPaolo and Pignataro. "He realizes this is his team now and he's taking control."

Last year's Raiders used an experienced line to run over opponents (St. Francis beat the three Monsignor Martin Association League AA schools by a combined 188-46 in five games as it won its second straight league championship). While graduation hit the line hard, the new guys just might hit harder. The offensive line weighs in each day at practice, and the numbers add up to more than 100 pounds heavier than last year. Mike Hymes (5-10, 280) started at guard at the end of last season, Billy Travis (6-1, 235) was a reserve tackle, and the promotions from the junior varsity are literally big ones: Pat Denecke (6-1, 295, guard) and Dan Ready (6-5, 270, tackle).

"Our line is bigger than we were last year and that gives me great confidence," Kedron said. "I'm pretty excited about playing those big schools. You concentrate on the game that's ahead, but when you look at the schedule, it's going to be pretty fun to play those teams in those big stadiums."

For years, Catholic schools have bemoaned not being allowed into Section VI, or the fact that public schools don't even schedule nonleague games against Catholic schools (there have been two Section VI-Monsignor Martin Association games over the last three years, and none is scheduled this season).

By turning that negative into a positively impressive schedule, St. Francis has turned those scheduling woes into scheduling wows.

"All of our schools would like to get in (to the section), but we're not allowed," Jerry Smith said. "But we're not going to sit by and wait. We're going to do something, and we have done something.

"Here, if you make the varsity team, you know you're traveling somewhere and staying overnight and having an almost college-like experience."

And while in the past St. Francis scheduled tough teams to simply gain exposure, this season, Chris Smith says, "now we're taking them on to beat them.

"Most of our team believes that this could be the year," he said, "but we've got to beat Timon first."
Click to expand...
 
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rivals premium

still remains very positive for tOSU- Doug just called JT to check in and confirms again that tOSU is the clear favorite. He has family members in Ohio and will take his official for the scUM game.

He is aware of how many players tOSU put in the NFL last year and after watching the UC game he commented, "They're a young team. In a couple years they'll be back to the national championship" :osu:
 
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Worthington commits to Bucks

huge commit
Worthington Commits to Ohio State
By Duane Long
Date: Sep 15, 2004

The Buckeyes landed a huge out of state commitment this evening as four-star defensive end Doug Worthington of Athol Springs (NY) St. Francis decided to make his commitment to Ohio State. Duane Long has more on this story.


The Ohio State football recruiting effort has received a huge addition as defensive lineman Doug Worthington of Athol Springs (N.Y.) St. Francis High School has made a verbal commitment to the Buckeyes.

"I did a big thing today," Worthington said. "I committed to Ohio State. I did it about three hours ago.

"I talked to Coach Tressel about 6:30. I spoke to him for about a half hour, then I spoke to Coach Daniels later on."
 
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