STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — They were standouts during their high school football days and now a handful of Dauphin County players are ready to fight for Penn State this upcoming season.
The program hosted its preseason media day on Saturday with all returning players available for interviews. Two are sophomore wide receivers, Anthony Ivey of Manheim Township and Mehki Flowers from Central Dauphin East.
Both are working hard to earn more playing time; Flowers asked to switch from defense to offense and is now part of the receiving corps.
"It starts with trying to get on the field with special teams first. That’s a big part because [it's] going to carry over to the field," explained Flowers. "That’s the first part, the second part is just learning the playbook for offense. [Trust is] going to be the first thing that gets you on the field and then going out in this camp and showing my capabilities.”
Ivey is a potential candidate to return punts so his opportunity to get on the field could also be on special teams.
"Just spending time in the facility with the coaches," Ivey explained. "Just doing whatever I can to gain the trust of the coaches [and] teammates. [It's about building] trust and letting everything fall into place.”
Speaking of special teams, Dallastown's Mitchell Groh is a junior on the squad. The punter is part of the crowded competition to win the kicking duties for PSU.
“It’s still early, but consistency is the number one thing," said Groh. "Especially with this group. Kicking, long snapping, punting, consistency, that’s what everyone is pushing for.”
Warwick's Nolan Rucci transferred from Wisconsin and still has two years of eligibility remaining to play offensive line in Happy Valley. He says he's been doing a lot of work at the training table to pack on more bulk for the season.
“Having brand new food available to you, with so many options I think has helped me out a lot," Rucci explained. "I think I showed up somewhere around 300 and now I’m sitting at around 320. Being able to hold that weight and move with it as well has been an important piece. That’s pretty much what I’ve been working on all summer, being able to not lose a step and be quick on my feet.”
Of course, Beau Pribula of Central York continues to compete with Drew Allar for snaps at quarterback. The sophomore is one of the Nittany Lions offensive weapons. He's excited about the opportunity to play in new destinations and against different opponents after the expansion of the Big Ten.
“Having teams like USC, UCLA, Washington [and] Oregon in the Big Ten is something I never would have imaged ten years ago," Pribula said as he smiled. "To have the Big Ten like a power conference like this is something else. To be able to go to the Coliseum this year [and] travel the country in the middle of the school year [is] quite amazing and I’m just super excited to get going.”
Penn State opens the season on Saturday, August 31st at West Virginia. You can watch the kickoff at 12 p.m. on FOX43.