Beckley lineman keeps personal rivalry going: Signing Day '07

DAILY MAIL SPORTSWRITER

HUNTINGTON - There are several reasons Micah Carter committed toMarshall.

For one, there's the obvious Beckley pipeline that has pumped outsix Marshall football players during the past 16 years. Carter is No.7.

For another, there's the offensive line tradition.

Carter, 6-foot-2, 295 pounds, will follow in the blockingfootsteps of Mike Guilliams (1996-99) and current Marshall starcenter Doug Legursky.

And don't forget MU quality control coach Shaun Sarrett. He's alsoa former Beckley High offensive lineman, who played for Kent State.

But the main reason Carter will sign his national letter-of-intent on Wednesday to play for Marshall is so he can maintain hisrivalry with Nitro High standout Chad Snodgrass.

See, Snodgrass has committed to West Virginia University.

Get the picture?

"When I heard he signed with WVU, I was leaning toward Tennessee,"said Carter, who is Marshall's only in-state recruit. "I had heard hewas leaning toward Ohio State.

"But knowing he was staying in state, I couldn't let him own WestVirginia by himself. I decided to go to Marshall then. That was it.So, now, our rivalry is going to continue with WVU and Marshall.

"We're going to have to put it aside for the North-South game.That's the one time we'll be teammates."

Otherwise, Carter and Snodgrass have been high-profile foes.

"You don't get any better without competition," said Carter.

"When we play teams like Capital, I talked trash to people acrossfrom me. I'd say, 'You're nothing, compared to Chad.' My competitionin the state was Chad and Josh Jenkins (Parkersburg).

"I looked forward to those guys. I didn't look past an opponent,but I couldn't wait to get to Chad because he was going to be thebest competition I would face.

"We played them last year (2005) when we were undefeated and I wasreal cocky. I didn't think anybody could hang with me. But, then, Iwent one-on-one with Chad and it was like facing myself. I actuallygot challenged."

Now, the challenge will carry over from high school to college.

"Everybody is excited about that," said Carter.

Speaking of excited, that's precisely what MU Coach Mark Snyderwas when he laid eyes on Carter during the Beckley native's officialvisit here two weekends ago.

Instead of the 320-pound offensive lineman Snyder expected, he sawa comparatively svelte 295-pound Carter.

"I was wrestling for a while to stay in shape, so I dropped to285," explained Carter. "I went undefeated for a while. I finished 24-3. Regionals are coming up, but I want to get back in the weight roomand build my strength back up.

"I want to get my bench press back up. It's around 400, 405 rightnow. It should be up to 425. So, I'm weighing 295 pounds right now.

"Coach Snyder wants me to come into camp around 295, 300. Theysaid it was good for me to lose that weight. I lost about 30 pounds.It was easy. My conditioning coach down here told me what to do, so Iknew it was going to be easy.

"I mean, the conditioning was a test of will power."

A teenager displaying that much mental discipline is a good sign.

"When I was wrestling, I felt the difference between then andfootball season," admitted Carter. "I was in the best shape of mylife. Everyone said that for my size, I was quick on my feet.

"That's going to be good for me with Marshall playing teams likeMiami (Fla.) that have some of the quickest defensive linemen in thenation."

And who does Marshall play against the very next week in the 2007season? Carter already knows the answer, of course.

It's Snodgrass and the Mountaineers.

That means there are two rivalries that aren't going away.

Marshall vs. WVU and Carter vs. Snodgrass.

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IN OTHER Marshall recruiting news, the Herd has added three verbalcommitments to the Class of 2007. The trio includes 6-3, 284-pounddefensive tackle Delvin Johnson from Woodruff, S.C.; 6-3, 305-pounddefensive tackle Brandon Bullock from Absegami, N.J.; and 6-5, 265-pound offensive tackle Ryan Tillman from Centreville, Va.

Johnson made an official visit to MU last weekend.

"Coach Snyder never pressured me, but he was to the point insaying how much they wanted me," Johnson told Rivals.com, arecruiting Web site.

"During the weekend he offered me a full scholarship to playfootball at Marshall. That was big for me."

Johnson also was considering South Carolina, Clemson, Maryland,Tennessee State and South Carolina State.

Bullock also was highly recruited. According to Rivals, the NewJersey native had scholarship offers from Cincinnati, Rutgers,Syracuse, Temple and New Mexico State. He also made an official visitto MU last weekend.

"I had my mind made up that it was going to be Marshall about twoweeks ago," Bullock told Rivals. "They have been the only school onmy mind. The loyalty they have shown me goes beyond any otherschool."

Tillman is a Hargrave Military School product.

Marshall recruiting A look at reported verbal commitments toMarshalls 2007 football recruiting class: Player Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown School Dequan Bembry CB 5-10 175 Hawkinsville, Ga.Hawkinsville HS John Bruhin OL 6-4 305 Powell, Tenn. PowellHS Brandon Bullock DT 6-3 305 Absegami, N.J. Absegami HSMark Cann QB 6-4 210 Landrum, S.C. Landrum HS Micah Carter OL 6-2 295 Beckley Beckley HS Vinny Curry DE 6-4 252 Cincinnati Harmony Prep School Terrell Edwards RB 6-0 205 Mobile, Ala. UMS-Wright HS Montel Glasco DT 6-3 280 Westfield, N.J. Lackawanna (Pa.) CC Sergio Glenn OT 6-6 325 Winston-Salem, N.C. North Forsyth HS Kellen Harris LB 6-2 205Sharon, Pa. Sharon HS Corey Hart LB 6-1 205 Loachapoka,Ala. Loachapoka HS Delvin Johnson DT 6-3 284 Woodruff, S.C.Woodruff HS Johnny Jones DE 6-5 250 Clewiston, Fla. Clewiston HS Darius Marshall RB 5-10 188 Milledgeville, Ga. Baldwin HS Shane Moore DT 6-2 280 Greensboro, N.C. NEGuilford HS Franchez Pitts SS 6-3 198 Loachapoka, Ala. Loachapoka HS Chris Smith QB 6-3 220 South Point, Ohio South Point HS Ryan Tillman OT 6-5 265 Centreville, Va. Hargrave (Va.) Acad. C.J. Wood OT 6-4 275 Gainesville, Ga. Gainesville HS