Morehart ready to prove his worth

Shillington (Pa.) Governor Mifflin junior Connor Morehart has big plans for the upcoming 2012 season.

The 6-foot-4, 270 pounder became an impact player on the Mustangs' defense in 2011, when he earned a starting spot at defensive tackle halfway through the season. In just five games, he totaled 29 tackles and nine sacks, giving plenty of BCS programs a reason to watch closely this fall.

"Last year was just defense, but I'm going both ways this year," Morehart said. "Practice has been going good so far. We lost a lot of starters, we have to replace our entire offense and we have like three starters coming back on defense, so we have to rebuild basically our entire team, but it's going good so far."

Morehart had a busy spring, picking up an offer from Rutgers while also attracting enough attention for programs like Notre Dame, Ohio State and Penn State to stop by his school. With plenty of time to go before he has to make any kind of decision, Morehart plans to take advantage of seeing a few games this fall.

"I don't have any visits planned yet, but I've been talking to Notre Dame a lot. Ohio State stopped by my school, Northwestern, Stanford. I've gotten stuff Wisconsin, Maryland.

"I'd like to visit as many schools as possible, but we'll just have to see how my schedule works out before I know for sure. I hope to be able to figure that out soon."

Growing up, the Nittany Lions and Fighting Irish were the two teams that grabbed his attention the most. Living in the heart of Penn State country, Morehart was able to see PSU play multiple times throughout his childhood, giving him all he needs to know when it comes to Beaver Stadium's atmosphere on game-day.

"I've been going to [Penn State] games since I was young, I've probably been to around 10 games, I live only about three hours away. The last game I was at was Joe Pa's 400th win. That was a pretty cool game, a great experience.

"It was actually my dream to go to Penn State ever since I was like five. My room was decorated in Penn State stuff for awhile."

Morehart's latest visit to State College was this past summer, when he participated in one of the Advanced Skills camps. It was that experience that allowed the coaching staff to get a good look at him, and from the sounds of things, he didn't disappoint.

"When I was at camp they pulled me aside with like five other guys then and showed us around. Coach O'Brien told me I can come to any game I want, so hopefully I can take them up on that offer this year."

So what does he think about the NCAA sanctions that will impact the school for the next four years?

"It is what it is. They still have great players, great coaches. You just have to deal with it and move on, but I would still take an offer from Penn State any day.

After scrimmaging Hempfield last Saturday, Morehart and his teammates will scrimmage Conestoga Valley later this evening. He's currently being recruited for offense and defense depending on the school, with Penn State mainly being interested in what he can do on the offensive side this fall.