Seven Harry S Truman seniors were recognized for committing to play football at the collegiate level.
The Harry S Truman football program is on the rise.
Validating the immense strides the program has taken is the fact that seven seniors have committed to play their sport at the collegiate level.
“It’s what we hope is the standard,” coach Jon Craig said. “We want to put kids to the next level, get them into a college and make football part of it.
“We talk all the time – any kid in our program that wants to play college football, we’ll help them find a place to go. There’s a place for everybody. That’s the way we look at it.”
Trysten Hunt and Brandon Hill were four-year starters for the Tigers and have been key pieces in the program’s rise. Hunt will continue his career at Saint Francis University while Hill will play at East Stroudsburg University.
“They were almost forced into starting roles because of injuries and the fact that we only had 30-40 kids on the team, so they were always there,” Craig said. “They were stalwarts that were there every year, and for us to have to replace them is a big task, and we joke about how it’s kind of weird to look at those positions they’ve played for four years and realize it’s going to be somebody else now.”
Terez Franklin will continue his career at Delaware Valley College.
“I look at Terez Franklin, and he’s a product of our offseason,” Craig said. “He was a small, slight kid his freshman and sophomore years.
“He just kept at it. His attendance was near perfect. He made it a habit to work hard, and it paid off. He started for two years and got a lot of college attention. He’s going to Del Val, and he’s going to be a good player.”
Rob Lanceri will play football at Delaware Valley, and Isaac Flowers will continue his football career at Bethany College.
“Rob and Isaac were two kids that were middle linebackers as juniors,” Craig said. “We moved them to defensive ends, and they played ‘O’ line for us.
“They were guys that didn’t feel comfortable there at first, and now you look at it – they both made all-league honors at some level on both sides of the ball, and they’re both going off to play college football.
“Isaac was concerned that he wouldn’t get recruiting for not being very big as an ‘O’ lineman. We said, ‘Listen, if you can play and you have athletic ability, you’ll be fine, and they’ll find a place for you.’ He stuck with it, did what we asked. He was great.”
Ray Meyers will join Brandon Hill at East Stroudsburg.
“Ray Meyers just moved to Truman as essentially a junior for us,” Craig said. “He tried to learn quick and came around.
“They didn’t do things the way we do at his old high school, so he had to buy into the process. He opened up to it. He was a surprise for us as a senior and did a lot more things than we expected.”
Yventong Charles will continue his football career at Albright College.
“Yventong was a kid that just was always consistent for us,” Craig said. “He was always there. He stepped in as a junior to take some reps.
“He became one of our kids that we look at – he just works every day, he just works hard. He’s a very bright kid. I think Albright is a great fit for him.”
It’s been a remarkable journey for a program with numbers so low that the threat of discontinuing football was real. The Tigers are just four years removed from a winless season.
“Sometimes we do reflect and put it in perspective,” Craig said. “The things we’re doing now - the kids are there, and kids are wearing Truman stuff again.
“The staff is great, the kids are great, and we’re excited to keep moving forward.”
Seven players moving on to play at the next is a gigantic step, and Craig hopes it’s only the beginning.
“It’s got to be one of the most gratifying parts of the job for any coach, but for us to see kids go to the next level and to see them come back – the last couple of years, we’ve had some kids that have gone on and played and they come back and they talk to our kids about what it’s like, and they come back and say hi to us,” Craig said. “It’s something you almost forget about sometimes – you get so caught up with the season and all that goes on in school.
“When these guys come around, it just kind of brings you back and acts as a little reminder of what you’re doing this for and what kind of stuff you can do for a kid. It’s what we hope to do every year.
“These kids this year are just a project of what we’ve done. They’ve been with us for a while. We have some four-year starters, and it’s kind of sad that Trysten and Brandon – they’ve been there for four years, and now they’re gone. It’s the turning of the page for us. Now we have the numbers we didn’t have when they were freshmen. It’s the end of an era, in a way, from where we were to where we are now to be a typical program of our size in our league. I couldn’t be prouder of the guys for what they’ve done.”
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