He may still have three full seasons left in his varsity football career, but Bangor Pius X sophomore-to-be A.J. Long is already turning heads in the world of Division-1 collegiate football.
Long, a 6’0, 170-pound athlete, has received interest, but no verbal offers to date, from several Division-1 football programs, according to national recruiting services Scout.com and Rivals.com. Interested parties include Miami (FL), Oregon, Pitt, Penn State, Rutgers and Texas A&M.
According to Long’s father, a visit to Pittsburgh over the weekend went very well, and Mr. Long said the Panthers have very high interest in his son and added the Royals’ gunslinger is Pitt’s top underclassman quarterback prospect at present. (Don’t be surprised if Pitt is among the first schools to verbally offer A.J. Long a scholarship, either.)
Long had the most productive freshman season of any Pennsylvania quarterback in recent history. In fact, his season passing yardage and touchdown pass totals might be records for a 9th grade quarterback playing at the varsity level. Long finished 202-of-307 (65.8 percent) for 2,852 yards and 28 touchdowns against six interceptions, averaging close to 238 passing yards per game. He finished seven of 12 contests with at least 200 passing yards, including a pair of 300-yard performances, and also posted seven games with multiple touchdown passes.
Long was the leader of a Royals’ offensive arsenal split nearly 50/50 between the run and the pass (312 rushing attempts, 307 pass attempts). Bangor Pius X finished 8-4 overall in 2010, averaging 397.5 yards of offense (159.8 rushing, 237.7 passing) and 41 points per game en route to the District 11 Class A championship game opposite Schuylkill Haven, where the Royals were eliminated, 37-14.
One Response
I don’t see how he is attracting d1 offers if he’s playing class a football. I’ve seen a lot better quarterbacks than him playing playing against tougher competition and only getting looks from d2-d3 schools.