RB Aaron Young in no rush to make commitment
One of Penn State’s top remaining targets in the Class of 2019 kicked off his season Saturday, as three-star running back Aaron Young and his Coatesville teammates earned a big 37-6 win over Harrisburg.
Last year, Coatesville made it all the way to the PIAA Class 6A semi-finals. The Red Raiders held a 28-10 lead over St. Joseph’s Prep early in the second half, but ultimately came up short in one of the season’s most entertaining games, losing 53-49. While the loss certainly hurt, it gave Young and those that returned all the motivation they needed during the offseason.
“It felt great to get back out there,” said Young. “We worked really hard this summer. We’ve had a lot to keep us motivated trying to revenge that St. Joe’s loss. We knew we were really going to need some young guys to step up this year. We have some young receivers that didn’t play much last year. They stepped up a lot. Our line looked pretty good, too, so now we just have to keep improving. We can still get better at everything.”
Young finished the game with 83 yards rushing and one passing touchdown, which came late in the second quarter to put his team up 23-6 at the half. While he didn’t put up the gaudy numbers that you sometimes see at this level, it was his ability to consistently make something out of nothing that has schools pushing for his signature.
Officially, Young is considering Arkansas, Michigan State and Northwestern, but many believe that Penn State and Rutgers are the two schools that have separated themselves from the pack. It looked as if Young, who stands at 5-10, 197 pounds, was going to commit to one of those programs in recent weeks, but he has since decided to take a step back and re-evaluate.
“My original goal was to make a decision before my first game, but the closer I got to that, I just didn’t feel like I was ready yet,” said Young. “There’s no reason to rush it just because you wanted to have it over with. So, I’m going to take my time with this. One thing I’m looking forward to doing is going to a few games and getting around some of the commits at each school.”
While nothing is set at the moment, Young said that he has discussed an official visit to Penn State for the game against Ohio State at the end of September.
“I FaceTimed with them a couple times recently,” he said. “When I do that, I usually talk to a couple coaches, so I’m becoming more comfortable with them. Obviously, they’ve been asking a lot about where I am in the process, things like that. We’ve also been talking about when I’m going to get back there for a game. We’ve been talking about me possibly taking an official visit there. Nothing is set, but we did discuss the Ohio State game. We’ll see what happens.”
Young’s brother, Avery, is also part of the current roster at Rutgers. He said that he’s been speaking with both his brother and the Rutgers coaching staff regularly over the past month.
“I’ve been close with everyone at Rutgers for a real long time. We probably talk everyday,” said Young. “I talk to my brother a lot, too. It’s been good to get his take on everything. I know he’s really happy with everything. He feels like he could get some playing time this season. But with the entire staff up there, we’ve been talking for a real long time now, so it’s a comfortable feeling there.”
Coatesville will host Middletown South from New Jersey this Thursday, Aug. 30, before hosting another Mid-Penn Commonwealth powerhouse, Cumberland Valley, Sept. 7.
Last season, Young totaled more than 1,600 yards rushing, scoring 31 touchdowns. He’s currently the 30th-ranked running back and the ninth-ranked player in Pennsylvania for the Class of 2019.