Trib HSSN Preseason Football All-Star team: Tyreese Fearbry, Perry

By: Jerry DiPaola
Friday, July 2, 2021 | 9:04 AM

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The Tribune-Review and the TribLive High School Sports Network are profiling each member of the 25-player Trib HSSN Preseason Football All-Star team. The players will be recognized July 22 during HSSN Media Day at Kennywood Park.

When Tyreese Fearbry stands next to Pat Narduzzi — and you can bet Pitt’s coach hopes that happens every day for the next four years — the height difference is stunning.

Please make note, Narduzzi played college football, so he’s not a small man.

So, when Fearbry is asked what makes him such a coveted recruit — Rivals.com lists 19 college scholarship offers, 13 from the Power 5 — Fearbry has a ready answer.

“My height,” he said, without any attempt at bravado. “Not a lot of guys in the City League are 6-5, 225, moving like I can off that edge.”

Fearbry is a rising senior defensive end at Perry Traditional Academy and the No. 1 recruit among WPIAL and City League players, according to the Tribune-Review and Rivals. He’s No. 13 in the state in what looks like a good year for Pennsylvania prospects.

Fearbry’s final choices are Penn State, Pitt, Auburn and Kentucky.

“They’re all great schools. They all put guys in the league,” he said.

He said he’ll end the suspense Sunday — the 4th of July — when he posts a commitment video on social media. This is Pittsburgh, after all, so expect some fireworks.

Fearbry’s athleticism and size are obvious, but his popularity among college recruiters also has plenty to do with what happened last weekend, something rooted in other parts of his body: his head and his heart.

He was on a recruiting trip to Auburn but was eager to get back to Pittsburgh, where his 7-on-7 team was playing a tournament on Pitt’s South Side practice fields.

He was respectful of Auburn’s invitation and stayed until Sunday, just as most recruits do. Only he didn’t go straight home.

We had a busy weekend. @FearbryTyreese @TaMereRobinson3 #2tenths pic.twitter.com/hGiv7IaKww

— Evolve (@Evolve2tenths) June 28, 2021

“He came straight to the passing camp,” Perry coach Darnell “Pepsi” Farrow said. “We were getting ready to play Massillon. We held the game for him to get there.”

Said Fearbry: “I was determined. My team was doing pretty good. I felt like being there for my team would help even more. I’m just a team player.”

His coach appreciated his appearance.

“He caught the game-winner for the championship,” Farrow said. “He made several tough catches. He made a couple passes. He showed the way he moves is very unique.”

Fearbry projects to either a defensive end or outside linebacker in college, but he played middle linebacker on the 7-on-7 team. Farrow couldn’t believe what he saw.

“He dropped back into the deep part of the middle of the field and almost took away the corner route,” Farrow said. “He did it in front of the Pitt coaches. It was amazing to see a guy 6-5 move that way.”

Fearbry said his recruitment has become “pedal to the metal” now that it’s approaching the end. He expects schools to keep calling after he verbally commits, but he will be focused on something else.

“I’m trying to enroll early, so whoever comes doesn’t affect me,” he said. “I’m still going to ball the same way.”

Fearbry and Farrow are eagerly anticipating the 2021 City League season, especially after the covid-19 pandemic shortened Perry’s 2020 to five games. He registered five sacks and an untold number of half-sacks, according to Farrow.

The City League appears to gaining a bit of traction with college recruiters after Pitt signed Westinghouse defensive end Dayon Hayes last year. Brashear junior linebacker Ta’Mere Robinson has 11 Power 5 offers.

Farrow said Narduzzi first noticed Fearbry when he attended a Perry-Westinghouse game two years ago to look at Hayes. There, he noticed this 6-5 kid during warmups.

That night triggered Fearbry’s recruitment. The 6-5 kid took it from there.

“He might be in the weight room, and he gets 1,001 calls and the kids are messing with him about it,” Farrow said. “He was virtually a nobody, and he woke up one morning and the country wanted him.”

Tyreese Fearbry

Perry

Senior

6-5/225

DE/WR

Committed to: Uncommitted

Stars: Four

Division I offers: Finalists Penn State, Pitt, Auburn, Kentucky. Also, Arizona State, Boston College, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Coastal Carolina, Indiana, Kent State, Miami (Fla.), Michigan State, Missouri, South Carolina, Syracuse, Toledo, West Virginia, Western Michigan

2020 stats: 5 sacks in 5 games