Ohio State beat Notre Dame in Monday night’s national title game. It was like picking between Al-Shabaab and Boko Haram, but in this case Al-Shabaab had a local kid playing quarterback:

Will Howard is one of just two Pennsylvania kids on that roster. The other is St. Joe’s Prep product Keenan Nelson Jr., who transferred in from South Carolina.

Howard played really well in the natty. 17 for 21, 231 yards, two touchdowns, and 57 yards on 16 carries. He finished the four-game playoff sweep with eight touchdowns, two interceptions, just under 100 rushing yards, and a completion percentage in the 70s. It also helps when you have ridiculously talented guys like Jeremiah Smith and Emeka Egbuka to throw the ball to, with Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson in the backfield and future NFL players on the offensive line.

Downington East and West have produced some really good players over the years. Tyler Kroft, Pat Devlin, Kyle Lauletta, some current and former Penn State guys as well, like Drew Shelton. These stories fall through the cracks in Philly sports media because everyone is focused on the four majors, but the region does produce college football stars, and they don’t always come from the Prep or La Salle.