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Prep's Darby signs to play at Georgetown

Thursday, February, 07 By Jean DePlacido
Correspondent

St. John's Prep quarterback Scott Darby has signed a letter of intent to play for Georgetown University.

The school offered the perfect combination of athletics and academics that Darby was looking for. The situation was ideal for the 6-foot-3, 210-pounder, who had been highly recruited by such schools as Harvard and Brown.

The St. John's Prep captain and three-year starter from Tewksbury will be the third former Eagle on the Hoyas' roster next year, joining junior linebacker Travis Zorilla and sophomore linebacker Jon Cassidy.

"I stayed with Cassidy when I went to Georgetown for my official visit," said Darby, a Catholic Conference all-star this past season. "He was a senior captain (at the Prep) my sophomore year and was very welcoming."

Georgetown fielded a young team last fall, playing many freshmen and sophomores while going 1-9 under second-year coach Kevin Kelly. The Hoyas were in need of a quarterback for this coming season | part of what attracted Darby to the school football-wise.

"The opportunity to play early (at quarterback) was appealing," said Darby. "Their biggest need is quarterback, and they are taking in three recruits. There is a very good chance one of us will start, because (last year's) starter graduated and they moved two others to receiver."

St. John's Prep football coach Jim O'Leary thinks this is a perfect fit for Darby, who threw for 939 yards and 11 touchdowns as a junior.

"He has been an outstanding four-year player for us. It is very rare to have the same quarterback three years in a row," said O'Leary.

"Scott is near the top in a lot of categories, and he is a very quiet leader. He always stands in there whether he is successful or not. He has all the size, quickness, and skills to do the job in college.

Colleges are allowed to come visit potential recruits once a week, said O'Leary, and noted that Georgetown quarterbacks coach Jim Miceli, who recruits in New England, was there every week to see Darby.

"There's no question the opportunity is there for Scott," said O'Leary. "He had other choices, and was very heavily recruited by Harvard. In fact, he was their No. 1 (recruit) until their two quarterbacks decided to take the spring semester off (from college) to come back to play next fall."

Georgetown, said O'Leary, is a need-based scholarship school and will give Scott the maximum amount he qualifies for." An excellent student, Darby has a 3.8 GPA and very high scores on his college boards.

Darby said he likes the Hoyas system, which is similar to what the Eagles like to do offensively.

"They spread the field wide open, use the option and go out of the shotgun. Plus, any quarterback loves the fact they like to throw the ball around," said Darby, who is thinking about majoring in business and perhaps minoring in journalism.

"I think having played for St. John's is going to give me an advantage. Once basketball season is over, I intend to train vigorously. I believe I am up to the challenge."

O'Leary thinks Darby's calmness under pressure will help him next year. It was never more evident as in the Thanksgiving Day game against arch rival Xaverian, when the Darby engineered his team's final drive to give the Eagles a thrilling comeback win, 21-17.

"We had under two minutes when we got the ball back, and Scott was standing next to me like he always did on the sidelines. I said it was time for him to go into the record books, and he quietly said, "Let's do it, Coach'," O'Leary remembered.

"He's very competitive and plays hard all the time. No matter what happens, Scott remains focused."