WARRINGTON – With friends and family looking on, Central Bucks South’s Nick Mortimer, Tom Johns and Mike Doty re-enacted the signing of their letters of intent at a special ceremony on Thursday afternoon.
Doty will be taking his talents to the University of Maine, Nick Mortimer has selected Wagner, and Johns will be vying for the starting quarterback position at Shippensburg.
“Each of them has achieved a very high level on the football field, and basically, they have been rewarded for their accomplishments and achievements,” South coach Bart Szarko said prior to introducing the three scholarship recipients. “I am proud of these three young men.
“They did an awesome job for us this year and in their three years with the program. Certainly we were fortunate this year to add someone like Mike Doty to our team both as a football player and a person. All these of these guys helped us achieve what we were able to this year on the football field.”
While Mortimer – who battled injuries his senior year – was a mainstay on the defensive line, Doty and Johns were a formidable combination for opposing defenses to try and contain.
Johns threw for over 1,500 yards and 18 touchdowns during a stellar senior season.“He’s worked very hard his three years here and made himself a very good football player,” Szarko said. “If you have a receiver who can catch the ball, you certainly need someone who can get him the ball, and Tom was that guy.
“He did an outstanding job from a leadership standpoint as a captain and as a leader of the team at quarterback too.”
Shippensburg was a late entry in the mix for Johns, who had his sights set on playing at a Patriot League school.
“I didn’t really want to visit Shippensburg, but my parents made me go,” he said. “From the moment I was on campus, I felt really comfortable up there.
“I liked the campus a lot, and it was more than just a football team. It was a family. Interacting with the players – they were really tight, and I just wanted to be part of that.”
Playing at the collegiate level became a dream when – as a junior – Johns watched a number of last year’s seniors take their talents to the next level.
“Seeing the opportunities that were presented to them kind of opened my eyes to what I could do and what I could achieve,” he said.
Doty, who transferred back to South from Germantown Academy as a senior, was on the receiving end of many of Johns’ passes. All told, he hauled in 52 passes for 1,084 yards, averaging an impressive 20.85 yards per reception.“He was just a special player,” Szarko said. “This is my 19th year coaching at the varsity level, and I don’t remember ever coaching or playing against a player who was a receiver that made as much of an impact as he did every week.
“Most of the time in high school it’s the quarterback or running back – guys that touch the ball every play, but he was a special player that way. As the season progressed and we realized what he was capable of, we used him in all sorts of different ways and started handing the ball to him and letting him run the ball as well.”
Doty selected Maine from a list that included Villanova, Richmond and New Hampshire. His Jan. 30 visit confirmed that Maine was the place he wanted to spend the next four years.
“It was really nice up there,” Doty said. “I liked the campus and the coaches. They treated me good. It was just the overall experience.
“It’s far away, but I knew it was my best opportunity. They said, ‘We’ll see you at camp. If you step up and do well, you’ll have just as good a chance as anyone.’”
The gifted wide receiver watched his older brother, Kevin Doty, sign with Lafayette and go on to have an outstanding collegiate career.
“I knew I wanted to play at the next level as well,” he said. “Once I finally made my decision, it felt like all the weight came off my shoulders and I could play basketball without any worries. It was a big-time relief.”
Mortimer was hampered by hamstring and ankle injuries in the season’s early weeks but was an impact player on defense when he returned to the lineup.“We knew coming into his senior year he was one of our best players,” Szarko said. “He was going to be a solid player and a guy we were counting on.
“Certainly not having him for more than half the season hurt us, but in the time he was able to play, he did and awesome job. During his three years, he ended up playing a different position for us each year because he got bigger and matured physically. We utilized his size, and he did a lot of good things for us. He was a hard worker, a captain and did a very good job in terms of being a leader.”
Mortimer selected Wagner from a final list that included Shippensburg, Kings, St. Francis and Albright.
“I visited in late February, and the moment I was there – I knew,” he said. “It just hit me – this is where I saw myself. This is where I wanted to be.”
His reasons for selecting Wagner were simple.
“The location and the opportunity,” he said. “It’s right next to New York, and my major is business. New York is right there, and I can easily get an internship.”
The senior captain played defensive end last season after playing defensive tackle as a junior. He is projected to play defensive end at Wagner. It’s an ending he admits he couldn’t have imagined.
“Honestly, it never hit me until I signed,” Mortimer said. “I never thought I could do it.
“I honestly never expected it.”It is the second time in as many years that South has celebrated the signing of football players who will be playing at the collegiate level.
“It feels great,” Szarko said. “The first year (2005) we had one player, Dave McClain, who received a scholarship. In between, there was nobody.
“It’s great when you’re able to keep this going. Hopefully, we’ll make this an annual tradition.”
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