Doug Doughty

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• Top 50 Virginia high school football prospects

Before receiving a voice-mail from Bayside High School football coach Darnell Moore, I did not remember where Bayside quarterback E.J. Manuel ranked on The Roanoke Times’ list of the top 25 juniors in Virginia.

When I returned his call, the first thing Moore said was, “I’ve been talking to coaches and they can’t believe there are five quarterbacks in this class coming up that could better than [Manuel] is.”

Who said there were?

Manuel (6 foot 5, 210 pounds) was the 15th-rated prospect overall but that put him behind fellow quarterbacks Mike Glennon from Westfield (No. 4), Casey Turner from Great Bridge (No. 9), Matthew Hurdle from Highland Springs (No. 11) and Tommy Reamon Jr. from Gloucester (No. 14).

So, actually, there were four quarterbacks rated ahead of Manuel.

“I’m kind of biased,” Moore said, “but he’s an excellent prospect.”

Moore should know something about quarterbacks, having coached one of the best to have come through the Virginia high-school ranks, Aaron Sparrow, at Woodrow Wilson High School in Portsmouth.

Sparrow was rated the No. 1 prospect in Virginia in 1990. He signed with UVa but failed to meet NCAA eligibility guidelines and enrolled at Norfolk State, where he passed for 8,743 yards in his career.

It doesn’t sound as if Manuel will have any problems qualifying.

“He’s an honor-roll student,” Moore said. “He’s entered in the math-science academy, which means he takes special classes. Matter of fact, some of the classes he takes, like pathology, are a fourth-year med student class.

“He’s already completed 13 core courses. He’ll have 19 core courses at the end of the school year.”

Moore said Manuel will end the year with a 3.0 or 3.1 grade-point average and scored 960 on the PSAT as a ninth-grader. He took the SAT for the first time last month.

Bayside was 5-5 this past season. According to Moore, that included a double-overtime loss, an overtime loss and another four-point loss.

Manuel completed 137 of 244 passes (56.1 percent) for 1,973 yards and 15 touchdowns, as compared to seven interceptions. He rushed for 435 yards and five touchdowns.

“He’s 6-4 and ¾ [inches] and I’m talking real height,” Moore said. “I’m sure he’d run a 4.5.”

Moore said Manuel already has offers from Maryland, Virginia Tech, Virginia and Duke.

“Just recently, I’ve talked to Penn State and Miami and, from what they’re saying, I believe they’re going to offer,” Moore said.

Moore is also recommending Marquell Thomas, a 6-3, 183-pound junior wide receiver and defensive back. Thomas had 10 interceptions this past season and “he’ll run a 4.5 or better,” but a grade-point average in the 2.0 range will need some work.

JAMES MADISON, William and Mary and Richmond traditionally have gotten most of the Division I-AA headlines in Virginia, but two other I-AA programs that recruited very well this season were Hampton and Liberty.

Liberty has received a lot of attention recently, stemming from the addition of four former UVa players, but I-AA playoff participant Hampton should not be overlooked, as it frequently is on this side of the state.

Going into signing day, the top uncommitted player on The Roanoke Times list was 35th-rated Dennis Mathis, a running back from Phoebus High School in Hampton. Hampton University signed Mathis and undersized Hampton High School linebacker Jacobi Fenner, who was 56th on the list.

Hampton coach Mike Smith said Fenner 95-9, 190) reminds him of Myron Newsome, another former Crabber linebacker who went to junior college before transferring to Virginia Tech, where he enjoyed a successful career.

Both Fenner and Mathis, who rushed for 2,138 yards and 21 touchdowns, were first-team All-Group AAA choices.

Other top 100 signees whose commitments previously had not been reported by The Roanoke Times or on roanoke.com:

No. 56 Justin McCracken, who passed for 2,610 yards and 32 touchdowns in leading Richlands to the Group AA Division 4, signed with Liberty.

No. 63 Haroon Brown, who rushed for nearly 500 yards in four playoff games for Group AAA Division 5 champion Phoebus, signed with Maryland.

No. 64 Dyrri McCain, a second-team All-Group AAA wide receiver from Maury High School in Norfolk, also signed with Hampton.

No. 75 Colin Pehanick, an all-purpose threat for private-school champ for St. Anne’s-Belfield of Charlottesville, is projected as a free safety by Richmond.

No. 78 Larandale Lee, an All-Peninsula District defensive back from Heritage High School in Newport News, signed with Liberty

No. 86 Eric Church, named first-team All-Group as a utility player, signed with VMI. Church (6-2, 220) had 136 tackles, including 23 for loss, as a linebacker. He also converted six of eight field-goal attempts.

No. 89 Ryan Estep, a first-team All-Tidewater place-kicker, signed with Norfolk State.

No. 91 Kenneth Hall, a second-team All-Group A offensive lineman from King William, committed to Division III Christopher Newport despite interest from some Division I-AA programs.

SEE THE Roanoke Times’ list of the top 100 football prospects in the state and their destinations