By Chris Dokish

Pennsylvania’s football recruiting class of 2010 has not yet started their junior years, but the class is already taking shape as one of the better ones in a long time. Canon-McMillan linebacker Mike Hull, Aliquippa quarterback Rasheem Jones, Hampton linebacker Jordan Paskorz, Pittsburgh Central Catholic cornerback D.J. Myers, Woodland Hills defensive lineman Rich Gray and Trinity defensive end Kenny Wilkins are just some of the WPIAL juniors that should get major attention from colleges this season. Statewide, Philadelphia area speedster Corey Brown already has verbal offers from Pitt, Penn State, Illinois and Rutgers, and Manheim Central  linebacker/defensive end Dakota Royer has been on the national radar since he was a ninth grader. Both will be staking a claim as the best 2010 prospect in the state.

But both Brown and Royer could get competition from an unlikely source. Sto-Rox High School in McKees Rocks is not known for producing D-1 talent, but that will change with rising junior quarterback PAUL JONES. The 6’2” 215 pound Jones already has good size, but that’s just the beginning of his many positive traits, both on and off the field.

“He has the strongest arm I’ve been around and I’ve been coaching for 21 years,” says Sto-Rox head coach John Ruscitto. “He can make all the throws a quarterback needs to make already. He can throw the deep out, but he also has the touch to throw a screen pass to the fullback.”

The humble Jones, who passed for 1,850 yards and 20 touchdowns last season, is clearly surprised by all of the sudden attention he gained after a strong summer camp season, but Ruscitto says his star has everything under control.

“He’s a quality person,” says Ruscitto. “A better person than a player and that’s saying something. He’s a great leader, very smart, very funny, comes from a great family, and is close to 90 percent in the classroom. He’s once in a lifetime.”

Ruscitto is new to all of the attention himself.

“I’ve been coaching for 21 years and I never had a Division 1 player before,” he laughs. “Now I have two.”

The second is the main target for Jones, 6’4 ½” 200 pound wide receiver ANDREW CARSWELL.

“He has good speed and the excellent size, obviously,” says Ruscitto, “but his main asset is his football smarts. He really knows how to play the game. A lot of players have all the physical talent, but they don’t know how to play. That’s not the case with Andrew.”

None of the rising juniors can receive written offers until September, but Jones and Carswell already have verbal offers from Pitt, where they both excelled at a recent summer camp, and Jones also has an offer from Cincinnati. There will be many more for both.

Jones claims to be wide open and when asked what he’s looking for in a college, he only says, “Education and where I can play the fastest.”

Jones and Carswell are friends and that also may come into play, according to Jones, who says, “Andrew and I are definitely going to play together in college.”