Garden Spot senior All-Star Rob Barrett is heading to Bloomsburg (gsfootball.com photo)
LANCASTER – A pair Garden Spot senior standouts will continue their football careers in the PSAC.
Thumper o-lineman Rob Barrett is heading to Bloomsburg and speedy multi-purpose back/d-back Ryan Connell has committed to Clarion.
Barrett is slated to play offensive tackle or guard for Bloom; Connell will likely play safety for Clarion.
Both players helped Garden Spot go 7-4 last season – the Spartans’ last in Section 2 before they go down to Section 3 for the next cycle.
Garden Spot was in the section race right up until the end – the Hail Mary loss to Lampeter-Strasburg derailed their section title hopes – and went to the District 3 “AAA” playoffs, where the Spartans fell to Conrad Weiser in a first-round game.
Barrett was a key cog on a line that helped produce one of the top offensive output numbers in the league.
Garden Spot piled up 2,014 rushing yards and 1,756 passing yards, good for 342.7 yards per game – fifth-best in the L-L League.
Barrett helped keep record-setting QB John Armbrust on his feet; the senior signal-caller passed for 1,668 yards and a school-record (and league-leading) 29 touchdown passes – 19 of those went to All-Star WR Connor Schlegel.
Barrett, a 6-3, 300-pounder, was a Pennsylvania Football News “AAA” Second-Team All-State pick as an offensive lineman, and he was an L-L League Section 2 First-Team All-Star selection as an offensive tackle.
Bloomsburg went 5-2 in the PSAC and 9-2 overall last season under longtime coach Danny Hale.
Barrett will join several other L-L League alums on Bloom’s roster: LB Ryan Feldman (McCaskey), RB Brody Myers (Ephrata), OL Matt Feiler (Lampeter-Strasburg), WR Kyle Fisher (Cocalico), TE Mark Daniels (Wilson) and LB Bryan McCall (Warwick).
Garden Spot senior Ryan Connell is heading to Clarion (gsfootball.com photo)
Connell was a jack-of-all-trades player on offense in his senior season for the Spartans. He caught 11 passes for 128 yards and had three TD grabs. And when leading rusher Dakoda Leid went down with an injury, Connell slid in as the feature back and carried 80 times for 531 yards (6.6 per tote) and he had five TD runs.
Connell, a 5-8, 160-pounder, had an outstanding season from his DB spot, registering 68 tackles with four sacks, four pass break-ups and five interceptions.
He was a Pennsylvania Football News Third-Team “AAA” All-State pick at d-back, and he was an L-L League Section 2 First-Team pick at defensive back and an Honorable Mention pick at running back.
Clarion went 2-5 in the PSAC and 3-8 overall last season under coach Jay Foster.
Connell will join his former prep teammate, Vinnie Heffner, who plays d-tackle for Clarion. Former Cocalico standout Ben Brugger and former Manheim Township standout Adam Bostick both also play d-tackle for the Golden Eagles.
Ephrata senior Tim Murray, who rushed for 638 yards and caught 40 passes for 529 yards for the Mountaineers this past season, has also committed to Clarion.
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