CTK ’16: MSA SPORTS PRESEASON ELITE ELEVEN

By: HSSN Staff
Tuesday, August 16, 2016 | 11:49 PM

Pittsburgh Central Catholic is ranked in the top 20 in some national preseason polls. To MSA Sports, the Vikings have three players who rank among the top 11 in the WPIAL.

Three Central Catholic players have been selected to the MSA Sports Elite 11 preseason team. The squad is made up of the top 11 players in the WPIAL and is picked by the MSA Sports staff.

The three Central Catholic players named to the Elite 11 are lineman C.J. Thorpe, lineman Kurt Hinish and linebacker David Adams. All three seniors already are commited to Division I colleges. Thorpe will attend Penn State while Adams and Hinish have made verbal commitments to Notre Dame.

While Central Catholic has three players on the Elite 11, Steel Valley has two – Paris Ford and Dewayne Murray.

Here is a look at the Elite 11:

DAVID ADAMS
Pittsburgh Central Catholic, 6-2, 235, TE-LB, Sr.

Adams is an outstanding inside linebacker who was the leading tackler last year on a Central Catholic team that won WPIAL and PIAA championships. He has been a starter since his sophomore year and is ranked as high as the No. 3 inside linebacker in the country by 247 Sports. He also plays tight end for the Vikings.

Adams made a verbal commitment to Notre Dame in March. He had a number of scholarship offers, but his other finalists were Pitt, Penn State and Stanford. Florida, LSU and Michigan were among other colleges that offered.

ZANE DUDEK
Armstrong, 5-10, 190, RB-DB, Sr.

This is a “Zaney” Elite 11 this year. Dudek is one of two Zanes selected to the Elite 11. The other is Thomas Jefferson’s Zane Zandier.

Dudek is a talented running back. He was the WPIAL rushing champ last year and had more than 2,000 yards in the regular season. He heads into his senior year already with more than 4,000 yards (he has 4,022). He finished with 2,059 yards on 220 carries a year ago.  Dudek also showed his speed in the spring when he won the WPIAL 3A 100-meter dash.

Dudek is getting some interest from lower Division I colleges. Bucknell, Army and Air Force have offered scholarships.

PARIS FORD
Steel Valley, 6-2, 185, WR-DB, Sr.

There is Paris in Munhall this year. Ford transferred from Seton-LaSalle to Steel Valley during his junior year. It is the third high school for Ford. He attended Central Catholic as a freshman. Big things are expected of Ford at Steel Valley, because he did big things at Seton-LaSalle. He caught 47 passes for 818 yards last season, scored 23 touchdowns and was excellent on kick returns. He also was a standout defensive back and sometimes played linebacker.

Ford is rated among the top 100 seniors in the country by scouting services. He had numerous college offers, but got his decision out of the way last October when he committed to Pitt.

KURT HINISH
Pittsburgh Central Catholic, 6-3, 290, OT-DT, Sr.

Teams with C.J. Thorpe to give Central Catholic a pair of ace two-way tackles. Hinish is regarded as one of the best defensive linemen in the state. He has been a starter since his sophomore year and was a key cog on an excellent Central Catholic defense a year ago that helped the team win WPIAL and PIAA titles. But he also is adept on offense. His cousin, Jacob, also plays on the offensive line for Central Catholic. From tackle to tackle, all five Central Catholic offensive linemen are headed to either Division I or I-AA colleges.

In March, one day after teammate David Adams committed to Notre Dame, Hinish also chose the Fighting Irish. He also had offers from Pitt, Penn State, West Virginia, Mississippi and Tennessee.

GABE HOUY
Upper St. Clair, 6-6, 270, OT, Sr.

Houy’s mother, Lori, is a reporter for WPXI television. Her son will likely be on the big picture in the future – as a major-college football player. Gabe Houy made a verbal commitment to Pitt a few weeks ago. He chose the Panthers over scholarship offers from Maryland, Wake Forest and Cincinnati, among others.

Houy has good size, but is very athletic for a big man. He is one of the reasons Upper St. Clair is expected to have one of the top teams in the new WPIAL 5A classification.

DONOVAN JETER
Beaver Falls, 6-5, 250, TE-DE, Sr.

Jeter is the brother of Pitt basketball player Sheldon Jeter. Donovan also plays basketball, but his No. 1 sport is definitely football. Donovan Jeter is one of the most heavily-recruited defensive ends in the eastern part of the country. He has narrowed his final list of schools to Pitt, Penn State, Ohio State, Alabama, Notre Dame and Tennessee.

Jeter has lost a lot of weight since last season and is one of the reasons why Beaver Falls is considered one of the top teams in WPIAL Class 3A. Jeter helped Beaver Falls win a WPIAL basketball title this past season, but he will not play basketball this season. He has decided to graduate early and enroll in a college for the spring semester.

PHIL JURKOVEC
Pine-Richland, 6-5, 200, QB, Jr.

Jurkovec had a monster sophomore season, his first on the Pine-Richland varsity. He became one of the few quarterbacks in WPIAL history to throw for 1,000 yards and rush for 1,000 in the regular season. He finished with 2,560 yards passing, completing 176 of 264 and throwing for 20 touchdowns. He also is an excellent runner in Pine-Richland’s spread offense and rushed for 1,250 yards on 120 carries.

Scouting services rank Jurkovec among the top 10 quarterbacks in the country in the junior class. He had many scholarship offers by the time his sophomore year was over. But Jurkovec got his college decision out of the way in May and made a commitment to Notre Dame, one of his childhood favorites.

Jurkovec also has been a starter in basketball since his freshman year and helped Pine-Richland win the WPIAL 4A title last season.

DeWAYNE MURRAY
Steel Valley, RB-DB, 5-9, 175, Sr.

Murray surpassed 4,000 career rushing yards in last year’s WPIAL Class 2A playoffs. With Murray back and with Pitt recruit Paris Ford transferring to Steel Valley from Seton-LaSalle, Steel Valley is one of the teams to beat in WPIAL Class 2A. Murray finished last season with 1,615 yards on 165 attempts for a team that made it to the WPIAL semifinals.

Murray has Division I scholarship offers. West Virginia, Kent State, Army and Buffalo are among the schools that have offered.

C.J. THORPE
Pittsburgh Central Catholic, 6-4, 310, OT-DT, Sr.

Thorpe is the “big horse” on the lines of Central Catholic. He is a wide body with athletic ability who moves well. Scout.com ranks him the No. 9 offensive guard in the country while Rivals.com gives him a four-star rating. He has been a three-year starter for the Vikings.

Thorpe had a number of scholarship offers from schools around the country. In April, he made a verbal commitment to Penn State. Pitt, West Virgina, Auburn and Michigan were some of the other schools that offered. Although he is a two-way tackle for Central Catholic, he was recruited to play offensive guard.

ZANE ZANDIER
Thomas Jefferson, 6-3, 200, WR-DB, Sr.

Zandier is Mr. Versatility, a standout on both offense and defense. He made first-team all-conference a year ago as both a receiver and defensive back. He had 26 receptions for 427 yards for a team that won the WPIAL 3A championship.

Zandier is being recruited by Division I colleges, as both a linebacker and defensive back. Virginia is one of his top schools. He also has offers from Toledo, Syracuse and Northwestern, among others.

LAMONT WADE
Clairton, 5-9, 190, RB-DB, Sr.

Wade is back for one more season with the orange and black. Wade has made waves at Clairton since his freshman year and he enters his final season close to 5,000 career rushing yards. He has 4,711. A year ago, he rushed for 1,308 yards on 148 attempts. This year, Wade might even see time at QB.

While his offensive exploits are impressive, he will be a defensive back in college and is the highest-ranked player from the WPIAL on a national scale since Terrelle Pryor of Jeannette in 2007. Wade is ranked the No. 10 player in the country by Rivals. Wade is being recruited by colleges across the country. He has narrowed his college choices to eight – Pitt, Penn State, West Virginia, Ohio State, Tennesse, Alabama, Mississippi State and UCLA. He plans to graduate early and enroll at a college for the spring semester.

Tags: Armstrong, Beaver Falls, Clairton, Upper St. Clair