Blue White Illustrated

BY TIM OWEN Blue White Contributor B The flowing blond locks are gone, but Virginia defensive lineman Derek Dowrey is still Penn State's mane man THE DOWREY FILE A CUT ABOVE Having chosen a college, he turned efore he cut his hair – and donat- ed the clippings to the Locks of Love charity – Derek Dowrey's blond locks were 14 inches long, extending well below the back of his John Han- dley High football helmet and onto his shoulders. Blond hair of that length was sure to inspire nicknames. At a summer camp, the Winchester, Va., native was called Thor – after the comic book su- perhero. Players from rival schools went with another obvious choice: Goldie Locks. But his personal favorite came from Penn State defensive lineman Luke Graham, Dowrey's host during his of- ficial visit to University Park. "He called me Hamish," Dowrey said, "from the movie 'Braveheart.'" It might be the most fitting of the names he's been given. The long- haired Hamish shows unwavering perseverance and hardiness through- out the 1995 film, qualities that Dowrey relied on to earn his scholar- ship offer from Penn State. The summer before his senior year, Dowrey, a 6-foot-3, 280-pound defen- sive tackle who his father said "com- mands the double team every play," was told by assistant coach Larry Johnson that Penn State had a limit- ed number of scholarships remaining for defensive linemen. With an impres- sive showing at the upcoming summer camp, one of those grants could be his. "He was putting all the pressure on this one camp," Dowrey said, "because I was either going to get a scholarship or I wasn't." When it was finished, Dowrey said he felt confident in his performance, and he wasn't the only one. "I guess Coach Johnson felt the same way," Dowrey said, "because afterward he met with my family and we talked." "We'd like to offer you a scholarship to Penn State," Johnson told them. The Nittany Lions' defensive line coach con- tinued, explaining the parameters of the offer and how Dowrey didn't need 30 A P R I L 1 1 , 2 0 1 2 S T A T I S T I C S Had 13.5 sacks and 107 tackles his senior season. ... Averaged nearly 7 yards a carry as a running back. H O N O R S Was first player to be named The Northern Virginia Daily's Defensive Player of the Year three years in a row. ... Named All-Northwestern District Defensive Play- er of the Year. ... Was a two-time All-District choice on offense and defense. to accept it right away. In fact, he did- n't need to accept it at all. But the coach's explanation didn't sink in. Dowrey was having trouble lis- tening to Johnson's words as they whizzed by him in his bemused state. It took him a few moments to gather his thoughts, but eventually he re- joined the conversation. "I just said, 'Coach Johnson I have one question: Can I accept right now?' " Dowrey's father, the offensive coor- dinator at Handley, said he was even more shocked. "We try really hard around this house to keep things in perspective, to not get ahead of ourselves," Derek Dowrey Sr. said. "[But] walking to our car after [the meeting] was over, I said to my family, 'Can we just forget about keeping things in perspective for right now?' "I was just bouncing off the wall. It was such a wonderful experience." Although he already had received an offer from West Virginia and was about to hear from Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech, Dowrey accepted Penn State's offer without hesitation. He said he "had no second favorites. In my mind, it was Penn State and everyone else." his attention to his final high school football season. And when injuries hit his team, Dowrey, a four-year starter, became the go-to man. Playing the nose tackle position on defense, he dominated centers and guards. On offense, the Judges almost always ran behind him at guard. And when that didn't work, "we just hand- ed him the ball," Dowrey Sr. said. "He did pretty well, actually. He broke one for 40 or 50 yards." He also averaged nearly 7 yards per carry, though he was mostly used as a lead blocker. "It was basically like having a guard in the backfield," his father said. All the while, his golden locks con- tinued to grow. He began growing his hair during his sophomore year and didn't cut it until Feb. 10 in front of an assembly at his high school. The local news station was there to cover it. "It was a bigger deal than what I wanted it to be," said Dowrey, now with a shaven head. "[But] I figured it would be for a pretty good cause." Ohio offensive lineman Anthony Stanko keeps on truckin' – all the way to University Park IN FOR THE LONG HAUL BY TIM OWEN Blue White Contributor A nthony Stanko's football coach calls him "a truck guy." Stanko's first set of wheels was a maroon 1977 Chevy Scottsdale, complete with a jacked-up 9-inch lift kit and 35-inch tires. It could have come straight from "The Dukes of Hazzard," and Stanko would have driven it forever, but rising gas prices eventually com- pelled him to trade it in. These days, he drives a 1999 GMC Sierra. He's still a truck guy. "I do pride myself on my trucks," said Stanko of Warren, Ohio. "I try to keep them up to date and make them as nice as I can." Dick Angle, his coach at Howland High, said Stanko's love of four-by- fours matches not only his personal- ity but his physical stature and play- ing style. Standing 6-foot-5 and weighing more than 300 pounds, Stanko was a road- grading All-State offensive lineman throughout his high school career. Aside from the first game of his fresh- man season, he never missed a start. He was as dependable for Howland as his Chevy was for him. But as was the case with a lot of ve- hicles from the 1970s, Stanko need- ed some time to get warmed up. "As a freshman, he started at right guard for us, and like all freshmen who are going against 18- and 19-year-old seniors, he struggled a little bit," An- gle said. "But he improved from our first game all the way to the last game." As soon as he finished his freshman year, Stanko began following a strict diet and workout plan. Said Angle, "We worked very hard with him on keeping his weight down and rearranging it more into muscle rather than body fat." Two years later, Stanko began haul- ing in scholarship offers from schools across the country, and he received recognition as one of the best offensive W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M

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