Pallotti Grad Thompson Ready For Football Season

This has been a very busy summer for Raffi Correa, a rising senior at St. Vincent Pallotti High in Laurel.

And it figures to get even more hectic in the coming days.

Correa, a Laurel resident, has played this summer for the Maryland Sting, a travel baseball team that included fellow Pallotti players Corey Dirks, Johnny Maloney and Matt DeFrank.

The team was coached by Jim DeFrank, the father of Johnny, and played in tournaments in Virginia, North Carolina and Delaware.

Correa also took part in a 7-on-7 football event at Towson University with Pallotti and was also part of a weekend football camp with the Panthers at Salisbury University.

A two-year starter at quarterback, Correa may have a new challenge for his football position when Pallotti begins practice Wednesday at 9 a.m. under new head coach Ben Thompson in West Laurel. A 1993 Pallotti grad, Thompson is a former assistant at Old Mill High in Millersville.

Trey Busick, a rising sophomore, is transferring from Mount St. Joseph's to play for the Panthers this fall. Correa and Busick split time at quarterback last month as Pallotti won five of six games at the 7-on-7 event at Towson.

"We will probably split time" in pre-season practice, Correa said. "We will battle it out." Correa added there is a chance he could see action at wide receiver on offense, something he has talked to Thompson about.

Thompson told Patch on Saturday that both Correa and Busick will see time at quarterback this season for the Panthers, no matter who wins the No. 1 spot. The top spot "is definitely open. Rafi and Trey will both get time at quarterback," Thompson said.

The new head coach, who takes over for Pat Courtemanche (who resigned after last season for family reasons), said he expects about 50-55 players in the program to come out Wednesday, with about 30 on the varsity team and 20-25 for junior varsity.

Other key transfers in addition to Busick are brothers Michael and Demetrius Johnson of North County High in Anne Arundel County. Michael will be a senior linebacker/tight end and his brother is a rising sophomore wide receiver.

Another newcomer is rising senior Michael Ezerike, 6-foot-2 player who played last season for Laurel as an offensive lineman/linebacker. Thompson said Ezirike attended Pallotti High as a freshman.

Pallotti has a scrimmage Aug. 20 at Wheaton High and Howard High will also take part. The Panthers begin regular-season play at St. John's Catholic of Frederick in September.

Correa has not decided on a college but may try to play both football and baseball at Salisbury, a Division III school. He has met the head coach of each program on the Eastern Shore.

Correa played outfield, first base and pitcher this summer for the Sting while Maloney played shortstop, Dirks was a pitcher and catcher and DeFrank saw action at pitcher and third. The team took second in three tournaments and got to play at Ripken Stadium in Aberdeen, the home of an Orioles' farm team.

DeFrank and Maloney are considering Division III Virginia Wesleyan for baseball.

The Pallotti football team will move up to the B division of the MIAA from the C level this season. Last year the Panthers were 5-6 overall in the C division.

"To be honest, we are going to surprise a lot of people," Correa said. "At Towson we did really well. There were a bunch of good teams" in the July one-day event.

Correa said Thompson is strict in his approach to the game.

In other football notes, rising junior Allen Hall of Pallotti gained honors at a IMG Madden Football Academy summer camp in Florida, according to Thompson. Hall is a wideout and defensive back.

Derek Pittman, a 2011 Pallotti grad, is expected to be a freshman lineman on the roster of Towson this season as a preferred walk-on. Towson begins the season Sept. 3 against Morgan State.