Marcus Minor (Photo: 247Sports)
DeMatha Catholic (Hyattsville, Md.) lost its top running back, Anthony McFarland, when he went down with a broken leg before the Stags’ first game of the season.
DeMatha’s running game is still in good shape, though, in large part because of Marcus Minor.
On Friday, when the No. 5-ranked Stags needed to grind out some offense, they ran Myles Miree and Khory Spruill behind their 6-5, 290-pound senior left tackle and Minor delivered, helping lead them to a 35-7 defeat of Bishop McDevitt (Harrisburg, Pa.).
Minor didn’t make the American Family Insurance Preseason ALL-USA team, but he’s putting himself in position to make the American Family Insurance Postseason squad.
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“He’s been a three-year starter for us,” DeMatha coach Elijah Brooks said. “The one thing that really stands out for Marcus is how versatile he is. As a sophomore, he started as a guard and as a junior and senior, he has started at tackle. It’s because he moves well for a lineman. A lot of times linemen have heavy feet, but he has really good feet. He almost moves like a tight end. He’s able to get on defenders in space and get to the next level as a blocker, which is very valuable for us.”
On one big run by Miree against McDevitt, Minor pancaked one defender, then turned around and blocked another player.
“He is extremely passionate about his position,” Brooks said. “Good linemen take great pride in how many pancakes they can get or any additional blocks they get. Anything that can make the team successful, that’s what Marcus is about.”
Brooks said Minor surprised him when he committed to Maryland last month over Miami.
“It came down to Miami and Maryland,” Brooks said. “He really developed a good relationship with (Miami offensive line) coach Stacy Searels when (Searels) had been at Virginia Tech and they were the first to offer him. When Searels went to Miami, they maintained a good relationship. Honestly, I thought that was where he was going to go until late and he decided on Maryland.”
By committing to the Terps, Minor can stay close to home and he already has plenty of friends at Maryland.
“Including walk-ons, we already have six (DeMatha) guys there and Marcus will make it seven,” Brooks said.