Twelve high school players signed National Letters of Intent for the football team last week. All of the players will enroll in the fall and become members of the ’09 Wildcats’ team.

Head Coach Andy Talley was ecstatic about the prospect of so many returning players to lead this recruiting class.

“With 17 starters returning from a quarterfinal playoff team, this incoming class will have time to grow and mature,” Talley said. “Signing three Big 33 players indicates that we are recruiting at the highest level in the state of Pennsylvania. We believe that this recruiting class has quality depth from top to bottom. We fully expect all of these recruits to be significant contributors to our program.”

The Wildcats signed seven defensive performers: defensive backs Ronnie Akins (Lansdale, Pa.), Mark Giresi (Westerville, Ohio) and Eric Loper (Sicklerville, N.J.); linebackers Devon Bridges, (Upper Marlboro, Md.) Patrick Haggerty, (Shillington, Pa.) defensive linemen Tamai Young (Ewing, N.J.) and Rakim Cox (San Diego, Calif.).

The five offensive recruits consisted of linemen Josh Bucci (Beaver, Pa.) and Daniel Shirey (Feasterville, Pa.), wide receivers Kenny Miles (Buena, N.J.) and Joe Price (Havertown, PA) and tight end Brennan Erbeznik (Santa Monica, Calif.).

Pennsylvania natives accounted for five of the recruits, followed by New Jersey with three signings and California with two. Maryland and Ohio rounded out the recruiting class with one player each. Of the wide receivers, Miles seems poised to do well at ‘Nova, as he set records at both his high school and his home state as well. He set records in points scored (149) for South Jersey, along with two Cape Atlantic League records for 17 touchdowns in one season and 24 touchdowns in his career. Malvern Prep standout Price broke some school and league records as well, as his 939 receiving yards stood atop of the all-time stats at the end of the season.

The team also gained a versatile player in Akins, who played wide receiver, running back and defensive back at his school, accounting for 975 receiving yards as well as 925 rushing yards in his career.

All of the other recruits were standouts at their respective programs.