Archbishop Wood RB Desmon Peoples gives oral declaration to Rutgers

The first of Archbishop Wood’s six potential Division-1 gridiron prospects has made his oral declaration of where he will continue his football career.

Desmon Peoples, a 5’7, 175-pound running back for the three-time defending District 12 AAA champion Vikings, gave an oral declaration to Rutgers today during an afternoon ceremony at Archbishop Wood High School.

Through his recruitment process, Peoples only picked up six D-1 offers, including Georgia Tech, Kent State, Pitt, Temple and UCLA, in addition to the Scarlet Knights.  A three-star prospect according to national recruiting service Scout.com, Peoples was not ranked among the site’s top 51 running backs in the 2012 class, but was one of 72 running back prospects to receive at least a three-star ranking from the recruiting service.

An impressive list of D-1 programs, reaching more than 20 in number and including schools like Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Notre Dame, Oregon, Penn State, Southern Cal, Utah, Virginia Tech and West Virginia expressed interest in Peoples, but did not extend a scholarship offer.

Peoples was ripping up the opposition in his junior season before sustaining a season-ending injury following Wood’s 11th game.  He ran for 1,349 yards and 23 touchdowns on 165 carries, averaging nearly 8.2 yards per carry.  Before the injury, Peoples was on pace to rush for 1,717 yards and 29 touchdowns.  For his career, the Vikings’ featured running back has run for 2,399 yards and scored 38 career rushing touchdowns.

In addition to Peoples, Archbishop Wood also boasts potential Division-1 prospects in RB Brandon Peoples, WR/S Nate Smith, OL Brandon Arcidiacono, OL Frank Taylor and TE Colin Thompson.

Peoples was one of two 1,000-yard rushers for the Vikings last season, helping Wood begin the season 11-0.  The Vikings won their third consecutive Philadelphia Catholic League and District 12 AAA championship in 2010, finishing 13-1 overall and scoring a school-record 511 points (157th in PIAA history).  Archbishop Wood is 83-19 overall (.817) since the start of the 2003 season.

Peoples is Pennsylvania’s second prospect in the Class of 2012 to give an oral declaration to a Division-1 football program.  The first, South Allegheny TE Jesse James, gave an oral declaration to Penn State at the end of March.

Video – Cardinal O’Hara