By Kyle LoJacono
The senior class that helped bring pride back to Gaither football is being rewarded with opportunities to play on the next level.
Four more of those Cowboys made their college plans official at a signing ceremony May 31. Linebacker Josh Scarberry will play at Chowan University in North Carolina, cornerback Josh Rife will attend Heidelberg University in Ohio and linemen Matt Finnesy and Ted Marks will join Vermont schools in Norwich University and Castleton State College of Vermont, respectively.
First-year Gaither coach Jason Stokes said they were integral in the squad going 9-4 last season while reaching the regional finals for the second time in the program’s 27-year history. The 2011 team posted more wins than the eight total recorded the previous three campaigns.
“I was so touched with how this senior class just bought into what I was telling them,” Stokes said. “They trusted me. It would have been easy for the seniors to say we’ve done things like this for years, so we’re going to do our own thing. They could have made it hard, but they were hungry to win.”
Finnesy said bringing excitement to the program was one of the best experiences he’s had.
“For years football was just another thing,” said Finnesy, who will study environmental science. “No one talked about it around campus. Last year it was completely different.”
Marks added, “At first no one really bought into it because the fantasy of turning it around was so crazy. Getting to the playoffs was such a huge thing.”
The signees have attended Gaither all four years, and only Rife wasn’t on the football team since his freshman season.
The 5-foot-9, 160-pound Rife, who recorded 35 tackles last year, didn’t start playing football on any level before high school.
“I never expected any of this to happen,” said Rife, who will study sports management. “As soon as I started playing I liked the sport. When I was younger I played soccer, but it was nothing like playing football.”
Rife will continue playing cornerback will at the Division III program in the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC).
Scarberry was drawn to the game at age 9 and has been hooked every since
“Most guys don’t get the chance to play after high school,” said Scarberry, who hasn’t picked a major. “Plus I get a free education. I couldn’t have asked for anything more.”
The 5-foot-10, 185-pound Scarberry was one of the smaller linebackers in the area, but Stokes said he never let anyone tell him he couldn’t be a top-flight defender.
“Josh is a guy who leads by example and doesn’t talk a lot,” Stokes said. “He talks with his pads instead.”
Scarberry led Hillsborough County with 14 sacks as a senior while adding 118 tackles, five fumble recoveries and three forced fumbles. His efforts earned him All-Laker/All-Lutz News Defensive Player of the Year honors the last two seasons.
Scarberry will move to outside safety while at Chowan, a Division II program in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association.
The linemen will be on rival Division III Eastern Collegiate Football Conference (ECFC) teams, setting up a matchup of former teammates at Norwich Oct. 6.
The duo played mostly on the offensive line as seniors, where they helped the Cowboys score 26.2 points per contest. Finnesy was also named the team MVP.
Finnesy started playing football in seventh grade, but Marks didn’t hit the gridiron until his freshman year.
“I wasn’t allowed to play before that,” said Marks, who will study athletic training. “My parents didn’t want me to play because I might break a bone and stunt my growth.”
Marks has yet to break any bone playing football and has grown to 6-foot-2, 205 pounds.
The four join Mikhail Reece and Tyler McCollum, who signed with Yale and Colgate universities, respectively, early this year.
In addition, wide receiver Carlo Perello will attend Trinity-Pawling, a prep school in New York, with the goal of boosting his grades. Stokes said several Patriot League teams have expressed interest in him. The 5-foot-10, 165-pound wide receiver led Gaither with 792 yards and eight touchdowns last year.
“Now they have to understand this is a new chapter, and there are all new challenges,” Stokes said. “We talk about how football is a microcosm of life. When you have issues you have to fight and finish. We told them all they have to get that piece of paper after four years that says they finished college.”
–Stats as recorded to Maxpreps.com by coaches
