10/6/2020 football Edit

Holden Staes has career night vs. rival St. Pius X

Ryan Snyder • Happy Valley Insider

Recruiting Analyst

Wide receiver Liam Clifford wasn't the only future Nittany Lion to put up some of the best stats of his career this past weekend, as Class of 2022 tight end Holden Staes also had a big night against rival St. Pius X.

It's hard to consider any player with 25 scholarship offers undervalued, but Staes showed Friday why that may be the case. A three-star prospect, he totaled just eight receptions for 214 yards and two touchdowns last season, but as he explained, those stats were impacted by a major roster change just before the season.

“Last year, our all-state quarterback opted out like two weeks before the season. He’s now a freshman playing baseball at Georgia, so he didn’t want to get hurt," Staes said. "We ended up moving our running back to quarterback and basically just ran a Wildcat offense all year. We barely threw the ball. I think I finished with eight or nine catches all last year. They were all big catches, but I almost matched my total catches from last season just in this past game.”

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Penn State Nittany Lions Football Recruiting Holden Staes Class of 2022 — Holden Staes had a career-high six receptions Friday night against rival St. Pius X. (Rivals.com)

That he did. On Friday, Staes was targeted eight times, pulling in six. He finished the game with 126 yards and two touchdowns.

"It was so much fun getting the opportunity to make some big plays. I'm a team guy. I'll do whatever the team needs, but it was fun getting the chance to make a big impact," Staes said.

He may not have had the film to prove it, but his athleticism is exactly why Tyler Bowen and Penn State's coaches took little time in offering back in April. Since committing in August, not much changed in regards to his relationship with the Nittany Lion coaching staff.

“Before I committed, the relationship with Coach Bowen was super strong, and since then, we’ve only built on that. We text everyday and we FaceTime at least twice a week," Staes said. "I’m always talking to Coach [Ty] Howle and Coach [James] Franklin, too. We also have our commit Zoom every two weeks. There's also a parents Zoom every couple of weeks for the parents of the committed players, so it’s been easy to build on our relationship. I feel like we can talk about anything. Before I committed, it was all about them trying to get me to Penn State. Now, in our tight end group chat, with me, Jerry [Cross], and the coaches, we’re talking about every NBA game and NFL game, stuff like that. We have a good time.”

Staes said that all six of Penn State's Class of 2022 commits have become "pretty close now," adding that they converse almost daily. Recruiting other prospects is a major discussion point, but like most teenagers, the NBA playoffs and the start of football is another popular topic. As for who he's been personally recruiting to Penn State, Staes said there are three players nearby that he speaks with regularly.

“I talk to Damari [Alston] all the time. I’m always talking to him about Penn State and he’s real interested, too," he said. "I’m talking to Addison [Nichols] from [Greater Atlanta Christian]. We’re actually playing him this upcoming week, so I’ve been texting him a lot. I’ll definitely talk to him after the game about getting up to Penn State.

"We also played [MJ] Morris and Pace Academy last week, so I was asking him about his situation. I asked, ‘do we have a chance to get you up to Penn State for a visit?’ He said he likes Penn State a lot, loves the fans. He said there’s definitely a chance. He wants to get up there for a visit, so I told him I’d bring him with me next time I go if he can make it work. I would say those are the three guys from Georgia that I talk with the most. I’m good friends with all three of them and they all hold offers from Penn State, so it’s easy to recruit them.”

Staes is also still being recruited himself. In the weeks leading up to his commitment, his decision came down to the Big Ten's top three programs: Penn State, Michigan and Ohio State. The Wolverines and Buckeyes have since earned commitments from other players at his position, but some of the SEC's top programs haven't given up.

“For the most part, all the schools that I was considering before I committed still reach out to me. They send me a ton of mail still. I get so much mail. It’s ridiculous," Staes said. "But that doesn’t really include Michigan and Ohio State, who were the two schools I was considering the most up to my commitment. Both of those schools got two commits, both tight ends from Georgia as well. So, they don’t reach out much anymore. Other schools are definitely reaching out though. They talk to my coaches a lot. I would say Georgia and Alabama are probably the main two. Those are the two schools that push me the most right now.”

Below are all six receptions from Staes' game this past weekend, plus a few other notable plays.