Signed and delivered
JACKSON TWP — Matt Plautz and C.J. Brown, the two most prolific football players in Seneca Valley history, officially chose the schools where they hope to put up more big numbers.
On Wednesday, Plautz signed a letter of intent to play wide receiver at Monmouth (N.J.) University and Brown, a quarterback who verbally committed to the University of Maryland in April, signed as well.
Both will graduate with many school records.
The 6-foot-5, 210-pound Plautz is tops in receptions in a season (60), career receptions (111), yards receiving in a season (1,017) and career touchdown catches (13).
Brown now holds SV records for passing yards in a season (2,152), in a career (3,845) and career touchdown passes (26).
"Football is a team sport," said former SV coach Ron Butschle, who coached Plautz and Brown during their varsity careers. "But when you look at it, those two guys accounted for about 75 percent of our offense last season. I think the number of records they broke is a record in itself."
Many schools, including Division I programs, had interest in Plautz. But for various reasons, none of them was the right fit.
"Pitt, Syracuse, Northwestern, they all said they would be interested in me as a walk-on," Plautz said. "Villanova, Richmond and William and Mary were thinking about giving me a partial scholarship.
"And a lot of the bigger schools were interested in me as a tight end," he added. "There were schools that showed interest in me one day and not so much the next."
Plautz will receive a full scholarship at Monmouth, located in West Long Branch, N.J., and will be able to play the position he has excelled at the past two seasons."I visited the campus in late November," he said. "I met with the coaches and they all seemed to be on the same page as far as where I would fit in to their plans, unlike other schools I was looking at."Monmouth is a member of the Northeast Conference with Robert Morris University, Duquesne and St. Francis (Pa.), among others.The league competes at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision level, formerly known as I-AA.The school has had a football program since 1993, with Kevin Callahan serving as head coach the entire time.Callahan's resume includes an overall record of 96-66, including a 7-4 mark in 2008, and five NEC titles.The Hawks run an offense that operates almost exclusively out of the shotgun formation, something Plautz is familiar with at Seneca Valley."They don't have a very solid corps of returning wide receivers," Plautz said. "(Coach Callahan) said that if I come in and work hard, there's no reason they wouldn't play a freshman."I'm pleased with what I was able to accomplish in high school, but now it's time to take my game to another level," added Plautz.Brown (6-4, 190) didn't have second thoughts about staying true to his first decision to attend Maryland."I didn't really consider any other schools," he said. "I wanted to stand by what I told the coaches at Maryland."Though the numbers he put up at Seneca Valley are impressive, Brown's lasting memory from high school football was of his junior season, when the team made the WPIAL Quad A playoffs."That was a great thing for the school and the community," he said.The Terrapins are coming off an 8-5 season in which the team defeated Nevada in the Humanitarian Bowl.The 2009 season will be head coach Ralph Friedgen's ninth with the team. He has a career record of 64-36 at the school."We're excited about this young man being part of our football program," Friedgen said of Brown during a conference call Wednesday afternoon. "We want to help him make his dreams come true.""I'm going to be taking some summer classes at Maryland and will be part of their summer workouts," said Brown. "They aren't sure whether or not I'll be redshirted. We'll see how it goes."
