Two future Terps capped off their juco careers on a high note on Saturday afternoon as Hutchinson defeated Snow C.C. 29-27 in the NJCAA championship game.
Snow C.C. jumped out to a quick two-touchdown lead, then again a 21-10 lead with just five minutes left in the third, but Hutchinson mounted a successful fourth-quarter comeback to win their first NJCAA championship.
Inside linebacker Gereme Spraggins led the way and was a force with six tackles, including five solo. Interior lineman Aric Harris also looked more than capable of locking down the center job, showing good feet and paving the way for the ground game as Hutchinson amassed over 200 rushing yards in the win. Both will enroll later this month and will have four years to play three as Spraggins helps restock a young yet explosive inside linebacker crew. The Terps’ national, in-depth search for available impact lineman guided them to Harris as the 6-foot-4, 294-pound lineman will have every opportunity to claim the starting center job, bumping Spencer Anderson back to right tackle. Harris will begin his official visit to Maryland on Monday, June 7.
But Saturday’s victory backed the theme that head coach Mike Locksley explained when announcing his 2021 class. Spraggins and Harris give the Terps’ class ten players who have won a regional or state championship in High School, which includes the three St. Frances signees who were two-time national champions. Locksley called it “a premium” to uncover winners as they signed a largely local class sprinkled with a pair of out-of-state elite linebackers.
“I mean, not that we don't recruit guys from teams that maybe don't have great success, but winning isn't always based on the scoreboard, it's based on when you do the research on the kid and he overcomes adversity and he does great in the school and everybody from the janitor to the principal loves them. That's winning for me and you know, those are the types of kids we want to build a program with and I feel like we've taken a step in the right direction with this '21 class and I see them as being kind of the catalyst class because they're really the first full two-year cycle class we've had a chance to recruit here."
Maryland had nine early enrollees this winter while the remainder of the class is expected to enroll this month.
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