Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1340947
WHAT HE DID Townley didn't start play- ing football until his junior season, but he quickly established himself as a player to watch. North Community went 14-1 that year, earning a spot in the MSHSL AA state championship, although the Polars ultimately came up short. During North Community's COVID-shortened six- game 2020 season, they went 5-1. Town- ley 9nished with 42 tackles, seven tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks and 10 pass breakups. A two-time team captain, he also played of- fense and had 9ve catches for 149 yards and two touchdowns. Before emerging as a football prospect, Townley shined on the hardwood, averaging 17.5 points and 9.4 rebounds during his junior season on the North Community boys' basketball team. WHAT HE WON A four-star prospect ac- cording to Rivals.com, Townley is ranked No. 11 nationally at weakside defensive end and No. 2 overall in Minnesota. He was a 2AA All-Conference choice in 2020. WHERE HE VISITED Because he emerged so late in the recruiting cycle, after the pandemic had clamped down on prospects' opportunities to check out schools in person, Townley didn't take any visits. But even though his recruit- ment by Penn State was strictly remote, he and his family made a connection with James Franklin, John Scott Jr. and Tim Banks. Townley had considered signing with Arizona State during the December period but ultimately opted to wait. Among the other schools on his short list were Minnesota, Michigan State, Nebraska and Washington. In the end, he decided that the Nittany Lions were offering "too great of an opportu- nity to pass up." He signed on Feb. 3, becoming the 16th and final member of the Class of 2021. QUOTABLE Townley: "The plan is to come in and compete for a job and play as early as possible. I'm ready to work and under- stand that to get a job you have to take a job. And you can't take any- thing without hard work and knowledge of the job, so I'm ready to go to work. There's low depth at the po- sition, so it's an opportunity to play early." PHIL'S TAKE I believe Townley will play exclusively at the strongside defensive PENNANT RACE Penn State beat out Washington, among other schools, to earn Townley's signa- ture in February. Photo by Kale Severson Penn State Athletics DAVON TOWNLEY JR. RIVALS ★★★★ | POS DE | HT 6-6 | WT 250 | HOME Minneapolis, Minn. | SCHOOL North Community >>