| By
Tricia
Lafferty TRIBUNE-REVIEW Sunday, January 6, 2008
SAN ANTONIO -- If there were any doubt that Jeannette quarterback
Terrelle Pryor is the best high school football player in the
country, he may have erased it -- twice.
Just hours after winning the U.S. Army Player of the Year award, Pryor led the East to a 33-23 victory against the West in the U.S. Army All-American game Saturday at the Alamodome. Pryor had a hand in two touchdowns -- a 6-yard run and a 25-yard pass -- while throwing for 76 yards and rushing for 79, both team highs. Despite playing just four drives and sharing quarterback duties with two others, Pryor made the most of his time and earned the Pete Dawkins MVP Trophy in front of a record crowd of 36,534. "I didn't expect to win the MVP," Pryor said. "Maybe all of us come out here and think we can win it. Anyone can win it. "Today it was a team game, I was just the guy that ended up having the yards and whatever I did." Pryor had been making ridiculously athletic plays all season, but not until yesterday did he face athletes with talent similar to his own. The first time he touched the ball, he proved it doesn't matter who's in front of him. Even against the best players in the country, Pryor looked like a man among boys. "These kids are so much bigger and faster it's ridiculous," Pryor said. "It's a lot different. You just have to make sharper cuts and be smart." Pryor, the nation's No. 1 high school recruit, made the adjustment on the East's first play from scrimmage when he ran almost effortlessly for 22 yards on a quarterback draw. That was the start of a seven-play, 92-yard drive engineered by Pryor and capped with his 6-yard touchdown run and a 7-0 East lead. The West tied the score with a 9-yard touchdown pass from Andrew Luck to Dan Buckner, but another WPIAL product came up big when the East needed a boost. Aliquippa wide receiver Jonathan Baldwin, a Pitt recruit, caught a 46-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Star Jackson, an Alabama recruit. Baldwin beat defensive back Aaron Williams, the top prospect in Texas, to the end zone before leaping into the air and making the grab. "I knew if it was the situation like that, a jump ball, I knew I could jump higher than most of the players out here so I just went up and got it," Baldwin said. The 6-foot-6 Baldwin has been battling a groin injury since Aliquippa's semifinal loss two months ago to Jeannette and was nagged by the injury during the game. He said he will be ready to resume basketball season when he returns to Aliquippa, but he's still soaking up the All-American experience. "Even though I had a groin injury, I came out here and did the best I possibly could," he said. "I was having problems with my groin all week, and I just toughed it out. I scored a touchdown and got a little taste of what college football will be like." Thomas Jefferson lineman Lucas Nix, a Pitt recruit, started at right guard and Gateway linebacker Shayne Hale played defensive end. During the game, Hale was one of several recruits to announce his decision on national television. Hale chose Pitt over Ohio State, becoming the Panthers' third All-American in the Class of 2008. Pryor did not make an announcement at the game, and he said he will not reveal his decision until signing day, Feb. 6. That didn't prevent teammates and media members from trying to pick his brain. Pryor lists Ohio State, Florida, Michigan, Oregon and Penn State in his final five. "I have more thinking to do," he said. "I'm looking for a spread offense. I don't know who is telling the truth or not. Once I find that out and take my last visits, I'll make a decision and it'll be a tough decision I have to make." Pryor showed up at registration, wearing a Michigan sweatshirt to joke with the Ohio State commits. He had a buckeye sticker on his All-American helmet because Ohio State recruit Michael Brewster put it there as a joke. Pryor is doing a good job of confusing everyone. "I met some great kids," Pryor said. "I just met (LSU commit Patrick Johnson), and I feel like I knew him for so long. I wish maybe LSU was recruiting me and I could hang around him. It's too late now. I'm going to make my choice on signing day."
Tricia
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