Prince George?s County native Lawrence Brewer is nasty. At least that?s Marcus Berry?s opinion.
Berry, an assistant coach at Friendly High in Fort Washington, is quite familiar with the abilities of Brewer, one of 25 players who committed to Morgan State?s football program during National Signing Day Wednesday. Brewer, a 6-foot-5, 275-pound left offensive tackle, helped lead the Patriots to the Class 3A state championship last fall.
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“As far as off the field, he?s a nice, soft-spoken kid,” Berry said. “On the field, he?s pretty nasty.”
Morgan State undoubtedly needs that tenacity in order to rebound from a 5-6 season in 2006.
It was Brewer?s responsibility to protect the Joe Haden, the best high school quarterback in the state this season who will play for national champion Florida next fall. Brewer surpassed all expectations, allowing just one sack last season, keeping Haden?s blind side clear. Berry said Brewer excelled in pass protection and will steadily increase his ablities in run-blocking.
“He had a great senior year,” Berry said of Brewer. “He has great athleticism. It?s hard to speed-rush him.”
Brewer, who finished at Friendly early with a 3.8 grade-point average, enrolled at Morgan State for the winter semester. With his impressive size, Brewer attracted interest from a variety of impressive colleges, according to Rivals.com and Scout.com. Ohio State, Akron, Louisville and Virginia had been in touch. Virginia came calling, but Berry said it was too late.
“Virginia never really pulled the trigger,” Berry said. “Morgan really came after him hard. He could have gone other places, but he went where he was wanted.”
Just like Berry, Morgan State was impressed with his will to win.
“They like his nastiness,” Berry said.
Fans of Morgan State will get a glimpse of Brewer and the other new players at a party on Feb. 19 to celebrate the signing class. Head coach Ronald Hill-Eley, who couldn?t be reached for comment yesterday, and members of his staff will be in attendance to talk about the new players and show video highlights of their signees. Price is $25, which includes dinner.
The following players committed to Morgan State footballyesterday:
Offense
» Lamont Bryant, QB
» Keith Lee, RB
» Braxton Banks, OG
» Lawrence Brewer, OT
» Ledeven Kirkland, OT
» Jonathan Mitchell, OG
» Robert Norris, OL
» Dwayne Smith, OL
» Lawrence Berry, TE
» Brandon Knight, TE
» Jackie Chambers, WR
Defense
» Emmanuel Barnett, DT
» Kevin Myrie, DT
» Sheldon Jacques, DT
» Clarence McPherson, DE
» Larry Bailey, LB
» George Howard, LB
» Gelman King, LB
» Antonio White, LB
» Kendall Jamison, S
» Chris Johnson, S/CB
» Maurice Portee, CB
» Willie Hardemon, CB
» Sheldon Waller, S
» Avery Norris, S
