POUGHKEEPSIE, New York – When the Marist football team faces Georgetown on Saturday in our nation's capital, both teams may be seeing red regardless of the outcome.
Red is meant in a more literal than figurative sense. With 13 Maryland products on the roster, a healthy amount of Red Foxes are relishing the opportunity to play close to home, and in front of some familiar and supportive faces.
"For the kids to be able to go home and play a game in their backyard, that's something we sell in the recruiting process," head coach
Jim Parady said. "That's very important for them. We'll have a lot of nice fan support through their families, and we also have a lot of alumni in the area who will also come out and see us play."
The Marist football program joined the Pioneer Football League in 2009. Around that time, the program's recruiting base expanded, with Maryland becoming a primary focus.
| Year |
Maryland Products |
Percentage of Roster |
| 2007 |
0 |
0 |
| 2012 |
11 |
9 |
| 2017 |
13 |
12 |
Seven Red Foxes who hail from Maryland are expected to start and/or see significant playing time on Saturday: sophomore linebacker
Maliek Carr (from Baltimore), junior wide receiver
Juston Christian (Owings Mills), red-shirt junior kicker
Joe Giglio (Silver Spring), red-shirt sophomore right tackle
Aaron Jackson (Gambrills), red-shirt sophomore tight end
Jon Kanda (Clarksville), red-shirt sophomore wide receiver
Isaiah Watson (Gambrills), and red-shirt freshman cornerback
Ryan Webb (Edgewood).
"If you look at our roster and the makeup of our team, some of our best players are from down in the Maryland area," Parady said.
Parady maintains that a considerable dose of credit for successfully recruiting the area goes to special teams coordinator/linebackers coach/recruiting coordinator
Clarence Johnson. Now in his eighth season with the program, Johnson became the Red Foxes' recruiting coordinator in 2011, which led to the growth of the Maryland-to-Marist pipeline. The Red Foxes had three Maryland natives on their 2010 roster, but that number jumped to six in 2001, and 11 in 2012.
"When we started revamping our recruiting process several years back, we started identifying areas across the country that we wanted to highlight," Johnson said. "One of the areas where we thought they played good football that was under-represented was Maryland and the DMV area. We started sticking our toe in the water there, and our returns have been very, very good."
Watson credited Johnson for doing an "amazing job" recruiting the area. He said he was drawn to Marist partly due to the football program, but also for the quality of the campus and the prospects of a successful career following his collegiate experience.
"We have partnerships with IBM, and I looked at the alumni base, and we have guys working for Electronic Arts, guys who have their own companies," Watson said. "It's one family. Football played a part of it, but it's the alumni and the school itself. You can't beat this place when you come here. Even if it's snowing and freezing cold, it's a beautiful campus."
Just last week, the Red Foxes' Maryland contingent played a huge role in the team's first victory of the season, a 38-17 triumph over Stetson. Christian tied a career high with 11 receptions, and became the fifth player in program history to eclipse 2,000 career yards receiving. Carr had eight tackles, including two-and-a-half for a loss of yardage, and a strip-sack that was returned for a touchdown by teammate
Ruben Avalos III. Watson scored his first career touchdown on a reception late in the first half, which was the Red Foxes' first score of the game as they rebounded from a 14-0 deficit.
The Red Foxes will face a familiar and formidable foe in the Hoyas. This will be the 20
th meeting between the teams all-time, dating back to 1994 when both schools were members of the MAAC Football League. Georgetown is coming off a 16-10 win over Campbell in its season opener.
"Their defense, as usual, has been playing outstanding," Parady said. "Their offense gives you multiple looks and can really hurt you. They'll attack you with some option and they'll attack you through getting the ball to all of their skill guys, so you have to play very gap-sound football."
