York-Adams football players attract college attention: Delaware makes offer to Pribula

• Central York High School QB Cade Pribula has received a scholarship offer from Delaware.
• Pribula also has offers from Sacred Heart and Albany.
• York High's Dayjure Stewart and West York's Ay'Jaun Marshall also have some major offers.

The spring and summer months are typically slow for local high school football players.

Central York High School senior quarterback Cade Pribula, however, is hardly typical.

The 6-foot, 1-inch, 200-pounder has been one of the primary reasons behind the Panthers' success over the past two seasons.

As a junior, Pribula led the York-Adams League in passing after throwing for 1,811 yards and 18 touchdowns during a 6-4 season for a Central team that finished in a tie for third in the York-Adams League Division I standings.

Those totals came on the heels of an even more impressive sophomore campaign for Pribula, who threw for 2,027 yards and 18 TDs while helping the Panthers to a second-place finish in the division as well as a berth in the District 3 Class 6-A playoffs.

Now, as he prepares to enter his senior season, Pribula is hoping to help the Panthers take an even bigger leap. Before that happens, however, Pribula plans to make a difficult decision about where he intends to play at the next level.

After getting a scholarship offer from Sacred Heart University this past April, Pribula has now hauled in two more NCAA Division I offers over the past week. Last Thursday Albany, a member of the Colonial Athletic Association, offered a Pribula a full scholarship. Then Monday morning, the University of Delaware, another CAA program, offered the CY signal caller a full scholarship of its own.

“I’m just extremely grateful that some very great (Football Championship Subdivision) schools have made offers to me,” Pribula said during a phone interview Monday afternoon.

Pribula won’t have long to mull his offers before making a final commitment. The CY senior has told those three schools, in addition to a handful of others that may make offers down the line, that he plans to have a decision before the start of Central’s season in late August.

That wait will provide Pribula a chance to decide where his best fit may be. It will also allow him some time to possibly get an offer or two from a bigger school. 

“I know that I want to play at the highest level that I think I can play,” the 2017 York-Adams Division I First Team All-Star said. “So I’m still hopeful that a (Football Bowl Subdivision) school will make an offer.”

Pribula noted that there was some initial interest from the University of Maryland before the Terrapins were able to secure a commitment from another recruit from Connecticut. In this day and age, however, when commitments can change on a moment’s notice, Pribula understands that anything is possible.

York High's Dayjure Stewart: Getting an offer from Maryland would be cool for Pribula for an entirely different reason. The Terrapins have shown some interest in another Y-A standout in York High senior Dayjure Stewart. The 5-11, 190-pound Stewart, who already has offers on the table from Morgan State and Illinois State, actually went on a trip with Pribula to tour the Maryland campus earlier this year.

“I’m pretty close with Dayjure,” Pribula said. “He’s a great athlete. We’ve actually gone on some recruiting trips together and one of them was to the University of Maryland. And recently he told me that he’s still being recruited by them so I’m excited to see wherever he goes.”

Stewart was a Y-A D-I first-team all-star at wideout last season and a second-team selection at outside linebacker. He finished last season with 24 catches for 301 yards, averaging 12.5 yards per catch for the run-heavy Bearcats. He also ran the ball 55 times for 406 yards, averaging 7.4 yards per rush.

Recruiting is far from the only thing on Pribula's mind. The upcoming Central season is also highly anticipated. He’s expecting to help the school claim the Y-A D-I title this season, which he hopes can be a springboard for success in the District 3 6-A playoffs.

“We have some experience coming back,” he said. “Our running back, our cornerback, our right tackle and myself are all three-year starters. But I’m really excited about our young talent. I think you’ll see some good things out of our sophomores and a few freshmen. So I think it’s a perfect mix of players.”

Pribula also tipped his cap to Panther head coach Josh Oswalt for everything that he’s done for him, personally as well as with the team. After taking over the program from legendary head coach Brad Livingston in Pribula’s sophomore season, Oswalt has the program headed in the right direction, according to Pribula.

“We have a really strong relationship,” Pribula said of Oswalt. “There hasn’t been a week where we haven’t been in communication about the offense or about lifting or working out. He’s been a great coach and a great role model for me and my teammates and I owe a lot of my success on the field to him.”

West York's Ay'Jaun Marshall: In addition to the offers that Pribula and Stewart have received so far, West York senior running back Ay’Jaun Marshall has done his best to keep pace. The 5-10, 170-pound Bulldog standout has offers from Morgan State, Sacred Heart, Army and Navy. The Army and Navy offers are contingent on Marshall navigating the admission and nomination process at the academies 

Marshall and Pribula won’t have to wait too long to see each other this season. The Bulldogs and Panthers will square off in the opening week of the season.

“I know that Ay’Jaun has a lot of offers and that he’s a very elusive back,” Pribula said. “I expect that it will be a lot of fun to compete against him. I know it will be great competition for us as a team.”

Marshall was the Y-A D-II Offensive Player of the Year a season ago, and a first-team all-star at running back and defensive back. He rushed for 1,227 yards and averaged 7.4 yards per carry. Defensively he had 48 tackles and a 98-yard interception return for a TD.

Reach Ryan Vandersloot at sports@yorkdispatch.com.