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like I've stepped up and have taken on more of a leadership role in our program as well." MANNY BOWEN Despite missing three early-season games with a minor injury, Bowen was Barnegat (N.J.) High's sec- ond-leading tackler with 51 stops from his outside linebacker position. Even more impressive is the fact that 10 of those tackles were for negative yardage, including a sack. Bowen also caused a fumble and recovered two others. On o;ense, he to- taled 517 yards: 204 rushing and 313 re- ceiving. He scored four rushing touch- downs while adding another TD as a re- ceiver. Barnegat 9nished its season with an 8- 3 record, losing to Buena, 28-7, in the NJSIAA South Group 2 quarter9nals. RYAN BUCHHOLZ The defensive end from Great Valley High in Malvern, Pa., had been a three-star prospect earlier this year, but he received a four-star rating in June, and backed it up during his senior season. While the school did not keep track of his total tackles, some of his other numbers are known, including four forced fumbles and 28 tackles for loss, 10 of which were sacks. He also showed that he knows how to read a quarterback, to- taling 15 pass de:ections. Contributing on special teams as well as defense, Buch- holz blocked two punts. Great Valley 9nished its season with a 12-2 record, losing to Archbishop Wood (which featured future Penn State team- mates Ryan Bates and Jake Cooper) in the quarter9nals of the PIAA Class AAA play- o;s. In addition to being a 9rst-team All- Conference defensive lineman and a sec- ond-team tight end, Buchholz was named the defensive line MVP in the Ches-Mont League by the West Chester Daily Local News. "I would say the biggest thing I improved on was chasing down plays from the back- side," Buchholz said. "There were a bunch of plays this year where I would chase the running back down the line of scrimmage as they ran the other way. Also, I improved on my pursuit routes and making plays down9eld. They're not necessarily big plays, but it's just something I did more of this year." KAMONTE CARTER The four-star de- fensive end played in seven games for Gaithersburg (Md.) High, totaling 20 tackles, three tackles for loss and two sacks. The Trojans missed out on the state playoffs after finishing with a 4-6 record. IRVIN CHARLES The Haddon9eld, N.J., wide receiver led Paul VI to a 6-4 record before losing to Bergen Catholic, 49-20, in the 9rst round of the NJSIAA Non- Public Group 4 playo;s. Charles totaled 32 receptions for 474 yards and 10 touch- downs, averaging 14.8 yards per catch. "I think I really excelled at keeping my composure when the game isn't going my way," he said. "I became mentally strong and improved on my speed, agility and versatility, too." JAKE COOPER The Warminster, Pa., linebacker completed an extremely suc- cessful career by helping Archbishop Wood win its second consecutive PIAA Class AAA championship with a 33-14 victory over Central Valley. Cooper's statistics were arguably even more impressive: 149 tackles, seven sacks, two interceptions, three forced fumbles and two fumble re- coveries. Cooper contributed on o;ense too, totaling 320 yards receiving and seven touchdowns playing tight end. During Cooper's four seasons, Arch- bishop Wood went 54-7 and won three state championships. "I believe I took the role as a student of the game this year," he said. "I really took the time to watch 9lm on my opponent, which gave me an upper hand in the games. I was a lot better at always keeping my feet underneath me and moving from sideline to sideline." STEVEN GONZALEZ Expected to play o;ensive guard at Penn State, Gonzalez manned a tackle spot for Union City (N.J.) High and 9nished his senior season with a remarkable 51 pancake blocks. He also had a solid season at defensive tackle; of his 30 total tackles, 13 were for negative yardage and 10 were sacks. The Soaring Eagles 9nished 8-3, losing to Passaic County Tech, 12-6, in the North 1 Group V semi9nals. "Overall, I felt like we fell short this sea- son," Gonzalez said. "We wanted to go get a ring, but things just didn't happen the way we wanted. But I actually feel like I really excelled on defense. I had 10 sacks on the year and made multiple plays. I actually set a single-game record for my school with four and a half sacks in one game. There were a few areas where I im- proved on o;ense, like my pass blocking. I felt like my pass blocking was way better than last year." JONATHAN HOLLAND The Potomac, Md., native originally committed to Penn State to play defensive end, but a

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