Avon Grove FB/LB Brendan McLaughlin transfers to Cardinal O’Hara
One of southeastern Pennsylvania’s top returning fullbacks has bid his Chester County high school adieu for a Philadelphia Catholic League school.
Brendan McLaughlin, a 6’0, 205-pound fullback who helped Avon Grove to its best football season in school history a year ago, has transferred to Cardinal O’Hara High School this morning, according to longtime Philadelphia prep sports writer Ted Silary and EasternPAFootball.com owner David Mika.
The transfer is a huge gain for O’Hara’s backfield, who returned RB/WR combination Adam Dempsey, RB Damiere Shaw, and QB Ryan Laughlin.
McLaughlin put up monster numbers in his junior season as a fullback/linebacker combination for an Avon Grove team which produced a trio of 1,000-yard rushers – the fourth such backfield in Pennsylvania since 2005.
McLaughlin led the Red Devils in rushing yards, registering 196 carries for 1,260 yards and 13 touchdowns, eight receptions for 148 yards and a touchdown and 54 tackles, one forced fumble and two fumble recoveries. He averaged 6.4 yards per carry, 18.5 yards per reception and 4.2 tackles per game.
A potential Division-1 prospect in the 2011 class, McLaughlin has received interest from schools like Cincinnati, Michigan State, North Carolina State and Notre Dame.
Avon Grove finished 11-2 overall, reaching the District 1 “AAAA” semifinals before falling to North Penn, 42-7. The Red Devils scored a school record 453 points in 2009, and averaged over 297 rushing yards, 355 total yards of offense and nearly 35 points per game.
With the loss of McLaughlin to a transfer and senior Jordan Harris to graduation, Avon Grove loses a combined 2,275 rushing yards and 28 touchdowns – 58.8 percent of the team’s 2009 rushing output and 56 percent of the team’s total rushing touchdowns scored.
