Blue White Illustrated

M anny Bowen didn't have the highest of pro7les when he transferred to New Jersey's Barnegat High as a jun- ior, but it wasn't long before recruiters nationwide became well-acquainted with him. A:er attending two other New Jersey schools – Southern Regional as a freshman and Central as a sophomore – the future Penn State linebacker recruit came to Barnegat and quickly began to make a name for himself. "A:er being in the program in seventh and eighth grade, Manny came back his junior year and built a great rapport with his teammates and really blossomed into the player he is now," Barnegat coach Rob Davis said. Having seen him perform well at a younger age, Davis wasn't surprised that Bowen burst on the scene as a junior. While most high-pro7le recruits are known at least by their sophomore year, Bowen bucked the trend. "We knew what kind of athlete he was, but at the time he wasn't on the radar," Davis said. "He had a great junior year and all of a sudden one o8er came and 42 came later." At the end of his junior scholastic year in June, Bowen made a commitment to Penn State, choosing the Nittany Lions over Michigan State. Even though the 6-foot- 2, 205-pound Bowen enjoyed success as a receiver and also running the ball, he was recruited to be a linebacker at Penn State. "Penn State is looked on as Linebacker U, and I hope that I can help try to ful7ll that," Bowen said. He said it wasn't a di9cult decision to choose Penn State. "I liked the family atmosphere, and there are people I wanted to be coached by and I thought it 7t me academically and foot- ballwise," he said. As a junior, he helped Barnegat reach the South Jersey Group 3 championship game, where it lost to Delsea to conclude a 10-2 season. Last season, the Bengals went 7-3 and successfully defended their Shore Con- ference B-South title, sharing the cham- pionship with Central. Bowen missed three games as a senior due to an injury but still recorded 58 tackles including 14 tackles for loss and two sacks, and he added three quarterback pressures while causing two fumbles and recovering two others. On o8ense, he had 320 receiving yards and rushed 42 times for 283 yards while scoring six total touchdowns. During his two years at Barnegat, en- compassing 18 games, he recorded 136 total tackles, 32 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, 25 quarterback pressures, seven caused fumbles and 7ve fumble recoveries. He also recorded 41 receptions, 799 yards, 1,610 all-purpose yards and 17 total touchdowns. While there are bigger linebackers, Bowen has tremendous speed. He can chase down ball-carriers but is also e8ective in de- fending the pass. "He is a good rush guy and also can cover, a multidimensional player," Davis said. "He is very good in space, and what's best is that Manny is a three-down line- CLICK HERE to see video of Bowen in action. Bowen didn't struggle with decision to attend PSU | think that will show when I get to Penn State. Plus, I became friends with guys who will be my best friends for the rest of my life. It was an in- credible experience." At 6-foot-2, 230 pounds, Cooper has the perfect frame to play middle linebacker, and he also has an under- standing not just of the position, but the entire defense – an attribute that should help him early in his college career. His defensive coordinator at Archbishop Wood, Mike Carey, actu- ally planned it that way. "At middle linebacker, you're the quarterback of the defense," Cooper said. "I could have always played there, but Coach Carey didn't want to put all the pressure on me right away. Playing every position in the front seven is what allowed me to easily understand what everyone should be doing once I did start playing middle linebacker. So he kind of designed it that way. I mean, I was only 205 when I was playing inside. I was going against some big dudes. So that wasn't always ideal, but he did that with the big pic- ture in mind, and I think that was big for me." That background is something that Cooper hopes he'll be able to use to his advantage during his 7rst year on campus. At the same time, he under- stands that he won't develop a 7rm grasp of Bob Shoop's defensive scheme overnight. "I always set big goals for myself and this year really won't be any di8er- ent. I'm really high on setting big goals, and my main goal this year is to at least see the 7eld a little bit," Cooper said. "I know it's going to be a lot, but if you don't set those kind of goals, you're not going to push yourself as hard as you can. "Obviously, it's up to the coaches in the end. I'm coming in as a Mike [linebacker], so I have to know every- thing if I want to get on the field. I know that's not going to be easy, es- pecially in Coach Shoop's system, but I'm going to push myself like it's my senior year." ■

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