Jay Connell, a standout lineman for the Leesburg Yellow Jackets, said he will sign a full football scholarship today to attend New Mexico Highlands University.
The Cowboys a NAIA Division I School were ranked 15th in the nation this year after a 9-2 record.
Connell, 18, is a 6-foot-2, 240 pounder who has played guard for Leesburg for three years. Last year the Jackets finished the year 1-9.
"It will be a change for me. I haven't won many games in high School," Connell said. "It will be good to win."
Highlands recruiter Don Widmann, a Fruitland Park resident, said the cowboys will probably use Connell at strong guard.
"We're a passing team," Widmann said. "We want some big lineman to get those big animals off our quarterback."
At quarterback, the cowboys have Brian Ainsworth. The pass happy player made the NAIA Kodak All-American team at quarterback. Highlands is coached by Pat Darbro.
"They offered me a full scholarship," Connell said. "I couldn't pass it up."
Connell said he had begun to worry about getting a scholarship. Two of his lineman teammates - Joe Cornelius and Glenn Burley-had already signed with Liberty University in Virginia.
"I was beginning to wonder," Connell said. "I had a lot of schools interested in me, but nobody was giving me anything. The smaller schools couldn't give me financial aid."
The Scholarship with Highlands happened kind of suddenly.
"They wanted me to send them a film and said they let me know," Connell said. "A week later they called back."
The paperwork for the Scholarship came in the mail Friday-needing only Connell's signature.
New Mexico Highlands is located in Las Vegas, N.M., which is about the size of Leesburg, according to Widmann. The Cowboys are in the Rocky Mountain Conference, and the school has an enrollment of about 4,000. The four-year school attracts a lot of transfer students from California Junior College system.
Connell was on the All-Area football team as a junior and was one of the area's top offensive lineman.
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Daily Commercial
April 2, 1988
Article provided by:
Carver Heights Quarterback Club
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