For the first time in program history, Penn State has a Mr. PA Football player. Running back Saquon Barkley, one of the top additions to the Class of 2015, was named the AAA/AAAA recipient of the Mr. PA Football award for 2014 Saturday night. Over 90,000 votes were cast through the voting process. As it turned out, Penn State head coach James Franklin was on hand as a speaker and got to witness the presentation in person.
Class AAA/AAAA winner is Saquon Barkley @saquonb21 pic.twitter.com/FNhX4nea52
— mrpafootball.com (@mrpafootball) February 22, 2015
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As previously noted, the Mr. PA Football award is relatively new, so it may not be a complete shock to know this si the first time Penn State has had a winner of the award joining the program. Barkley ended up beating out his fellow Class of 2015 teammate Andre Robinson. Other finalists for the Class AAA/AAAA award were Pittsburgh commits Ben Dinucci (QB) and Jordan Whitehead (WR) as well as Michigan-bound Jon Runyan Jr.
“Our success at Penn State is about relationships. You can be unbelievably challenging and demanding of someone if you love them hard enough,” Franklin said to all of the finalists for the awards. “Compete in everything you do – on the football field, in the classroom, in the community. You, your family, your community worked hard to put you where you are. Make sure you have it all. Work hard in class. Have [a] positive impact.”
Running back Dominick Bragalone, heading to Lehigh, was named the Class A/AA Mr. PA Football for 2014.
First awarded in 2010, Mr. Pennsylvania players have gone on to play for Pittsburgh (Tyler Boyd), West Virginia (Rushel Shell), Ohio State (Noah Spence), Alabama (Robert Foster), Virginia Tech (Andrew Ford) and Arizona State (DeAndre Scott).
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