According to the NCAA, only about 6.5 percent of high school football players move on to play in college.
Of that number, an even smaller percentage receive full scholarships to play football.
This year, two Haddonfield seniors were part of that small group that accepted a scholarship to play football at Division I schools.
Justin Falcone and Jake Walter each signed National Letters of Intent on Wednesday, Feb. 3 to play college football for NCAA Division I schools. Falcone accepted a scholarship offer to play as an offensive lineman at Bucknell University. Walter similarly accepted an offer to continue his football career as a defensive lineman at the College of William and Mary.
Even though both Falcone and Walter are going to be part of the exclusive group of high school football players who received scholarships to play college football, it was not an easy journey for either of them. In fact, both players went through a time when they weren’t sure if an offer was on the table.
Despite injury, William and Mary sticks with Walter
For Walter, William and Mary had been on his radar since his junior year. William and Mary recruiters had been to Haddonfield in the past recruiting former Bulldawg Tyler Klaus, now a tight end for the Tribe. It was during the 2014 season when their attention began shifting to Walter.
“They started coming in after my junior season,” Walter said. “They were my first offer. They came in a couple times.”
Walter received a scholarship offer from William and Mary last spring. He went down to check out the school during the summer.
“I couldn’t get a feel because students weren’t in school during the summer,” Walter said. “But the campus was awesome and I loved the coaches.”
Walter made a verbal commitment to go to William and Mary on Oct. 2. Later that night, Walter took the field with the Bulldawgs at home against Collingswood. During the game, Walter tore his right ACL, ending his high school career and putting his future in jeopardy.
The following week, Walter asked Haddonfield head coach Frank DeLano to call William and Mary to see if it would stick with its scholarship offer. William and Mary coaches were scheduled to see Walter play in Haddonfield’s next game against Woodbury.
Not only did William and Mary keep its offer to Walter, but it also kept its commitment to come to Haddonfield’s next game and spend time talking to Walter about the program.
“That’s when you know you picked a school for all of the right reasons,” DeLano said. “They said ‘We’ll be up this weekend to see you.’”
DeLano added he was proud of the way Walter handled himself following the injury.
“When you’re in a wheelchair, watching your team play, you find out a lot about yourself and what you are made of,” DeLano said. “Credit his maturity, credit his growth and trying to be supportive of his friends and teammates when a part of him may have been a little jealous that they still got to play high school football.”
Big senior season pays off
for Falcone
For Falcone, there was a time when he wasn’t sure if he would get to play Division I football. Falcone was a late bloomer for the Bulldawgs and had a career year as an anchor for Haddonfield’s offensive line in 2015. However, before the season, he drew little interest from schools.
“I didn’t get a lot of interest early,” Falcone said. “I wasn’t sure if I was even going to play college football at the beginning of the season.”
DeLano said Falcone came to Haddonfield’s training camp during the summer as an improved player.
“He’s consistently growing, he’s become a student of the game and his play has escalated on the field,” DeLano said.
As the 2015 season wore on, Division I schools such as Lafayette, Lehigh and Penn began taking an interest in Falcone. However, Bucknell took a particular interest.
“He had some other opportunities, whether it be academic scholarships or other opportunities to play for another football team,” DeLano said. “Bucknell was very adamant that Justin was going to be a big part of its future.”
Falcone was really excited to find out Bucknell’s assistant offensive line coach was Darnell Stapleton, a former NFL player and member of the Super Bowl XLIII champion Pittsburgh Steelers. Falcone said the prospect of working with a former NFL lineman attracted him to Bucknell.
“I just thought it would be a really cool experience to learn from someone who’s been at the highest level of the game,” he said.
The wait for an offer was excruciating for Falcone. As signing day grew closer, Falcone continued to wait. On Jan. 27, exactly one week before the signing period opened, Falcone finally received an offer from the Bison.
“(Bucknell head coach Joe Susan) sent me a text and said ‘I just offered him a scholarship,’” DeLano said. “He was actually supposed to go up to Monmouth the following weekend. Those plans changed.”
“It was so surreal,” Falcone said. “It hasn’t hit me yet. It’s really fresh. It hasn’t even been a month.”
Ready to tackle
Division I competition
After going through the ups and downs in the recruiting process, and having both faced periods of uncertainty, Falcone and Walter made their college commitments official on Feb. 3.
Both are now looking excitedly ahead to their future on the college gridiron. Walter said his rehab from the torn ACL is progressing well and he is on track to be ready for training camp.
“I just finished my physical therapy this past Monday, so I should be good to go in July,” Walter said.
Falcone thinks everything will truly hit him once he heads off to college in the summer. He acknowledged his experience playing at Bucknell will be completely different than his experience at Haddonfield.
“You really got to get down there and experience everything before it really sinks in,” Falcone said. “College football is definitely a whole lot different than high school.”
DeLano has seen about 50 players move on to play in college in his 14 years at Haddonfield. He emphasized how proud he was of both of his former players and feels both are going to be successful at their respective schools.
“These guys both picked great fits,” DeLano said. “They’re going to flourish both academically and athletically.”
