DeMatha Catholic High School football coach Bill McGregor has had a lot of great players in his 27 years on the job, and a good many of them have chosen to take the two-minute car ride down U.S. Route 1 to continue their careers at this university.

Saturday is the final home game for former Stags Edwin Williams and Jeff Allen, but the DeMatha connection will still be strong after Williams and Allen leave.

Cornerback Anthony Wiseman, who was played on the same team as Allen for the last eight years, will be a senior next season. Safety Kenny Tate was one of the Terps’ top recruits last year. DeMatha senior offensive lineman Pete DeSouza, a 6-foot-7, 305-pounder, has verbally committed. He is a rivals.com three-star recruit.

When talking to McGregor about Allen on Tuesday, the conversation turned to the Terp program and coach Ralph Friedgen. The DeMatha coach said when one of his players chooses the Terps, he knows the player will be treated right during a critical time in his young life.

“Coach Friedgen is so committed, so dedicated, so loyal to his players,” McGregor said. “He’s a little bit old school but still new school.”

McGregor mentioned the long history of his players coming to this university dating back to when he took over in the early 1980s. It’s clear that as long as Friedgen and his assistants maintain a presence at the school that is practically in their backyard, the relationship will continue.

“I wish all my kids would have the opportunity to play at the University of Maryland,” McGregor said. “It’s been that way for years.”

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