Pennsylvania
How Mizzou planted its flag in Pennsylvania recruiting
How Mizzou planted its flag in Pennsylvania recruiting
Sitting together during an official visit weekend in June, Jack Abercrombie and Tim Taggart started talking about the next wave of Pennsylvania talent.
Missouri, which anchored in its 2025 signing class with signal caller Matt Zollers, wasn’t done looking east, and Taggart had just the guy for the Tigers’ assistant offensive line coach.
Taggart recommended jumping in on Maxwell Hiller, a 6-foot-6, 300-pound sophomore offensive tackle. Taggart, the quarterbacks coach at Wyndmoor (Pa.) La Salle College High School and personal coach of Zollers, is close friends with Vinnie Williams, the offensive coordinator at Coatesville (Pa.) Coatesville Area Senior, where Hiller plays.
“You guys got to get after him now,” Taggart said then. “I remember giving three or four of their coaches all of Max’s information.”
Abercrombie offered Hiller by late October and got him on campus to Missouri for the program’s Junior Day on Jan. 18. Hiller isn’t an under-the-radar talent, ranking No. 55 nationally in the Class of 2027, but the Tigers weren’t regulars in his home state until now.
“It shows that they have good recruiting to come out all this way from Missouri all the way to PA to recruit,” Hiller said in October. “So it’s definitely great to see.”
Abercrombie rejoined the Missouri staff ahead of the 2023 season after previously serving as an offensive graduate assistant in 2020-2021. He spent the prior two seasons as the offensive line coach and run game coordinator, for only 2022, at the Virginia Military Institute.
A native of Horsham, Pennsylvania, Abercrombie played and coached collegiately in his home state, and over the past decade and a half, those connections to Pennsylvania have bled into his ability to recruit the area.
“Jack Abercrombie, he’s definitely going to be an up-and-coming coach in the near future,” Taggart said.
Abercrombie knows two staffers at La Salle College High School well in offensive line coach Mark Schmidt and defensive line coach David Sowers. Schmidt and Sowers have built success at multiple stops in Pennsylvania, leaving fingerprints across the state in coaching and recruiting.
“Jack’s a big part,” Taggart said. “Not a lot of people understand these under-the-radar coaches, younger coaches, guys that are maybe lower-end assistances. They’re the ones that have a lot of the big-time relationships and connections.
“They do a lot of the dirty work behind the scenes, where they’re studying, watching all the film of all these guys, and they’re trying to find the diamonds in the rough. They’re trying to use their connections and everything, and it’s paying off big time for programs like Mizzou.”
The eastern half of Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia, is where Missouri found Zollers as well as a trio of La Salle College High School players — Grayson McKeogh, Joey O’Brien and Gavin Sidwar.
Missouri offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Kirby Moore traveled to La Salle College High School on Tuesday to workout Sidwar, a Class of 2026 three-star quarterback, who received an offer from the Tigers after a conversation with Moore.
Moore told Sidwar he wanted to host him for a one-on-one visit this spring, making the quarterback the focal point for the Tigers in whatever weekend they decide to schedule a trip.
Missouri made it a point of emphasis to make offers more personal with players, getting on high school campuses to talk with recruits. The Tigers did that with Sidwar and McKeogh, another player Taggart put on Abercrombie’s radar this past summer.
“The thing that I think separates Missouri, apart from a lot of other programs that would be interested in kids from Pennsylvania, is the actual town,” Taggart said. “The school is located in the middle of the town, so that was one of the things for Matt. Matt saying this, ‘It feels like I’m back in Royersford, Pennsylvania.’”
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Pennsylvania
The No.1 prospect in Pennsylvania announces offer from Clemson
Clemson has extended an offer to four-star athlete Joey O’Brien, one of Pennsylvania’s top prospects in the 2026 class.
O’Brien, who plays for La Salle College High School in Wyndmoor, Pa., shared the news on social media, saying, “Beyond blessed to receive an offer from Clemson!!” Standing at 6-foot-4 and weighing 185 pounds, O’Brien is currently ranked as the No. 1 prospect in Pennsylvania and the No. 50 overall player in the 2026 class, according to 247Sports.O’Brien’s list of offers is impressive, featuring powerhouse programs like Michigan, Notre Dame, Penn State, Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, and more.
In his junior season, he showcased his versatility on both sides of the ball, recording 36 tackles, 13 pass breakups, and an interception as a defensive back. On offense, he tallied 68 receptions for 1,029 yards and 12 touchdowns, even throwing for a touchdown.
O’Brien visited Penn State during the 2024 season and received an offer from the Nittany Lions last spring when Tom Allen, now Clemson’s defensive coordinator, held the same position at Penn State.
Pennsylvania
Over 140 Pennsylvania National Guard soldiers deploying to Middle East
HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) – More than 140 Pennsylvania National Guard soldiers are deploying to the Middle East.
Soldiers with the Pennsylvania National Guard’s 3622nd Sustainment Maintenance Company participated in a deployment ceremony on Saturday morning in Harrisburg.
“We ship out tomorrow,” said U.S. Army 1st Lieutenant, Luke McCoy.
Those deploying will serve in the Middle East for one year supporting U.S. Central Command and partner forces with regional security objectives.
“We’re a maintenance company, so we’re going to be doing a lot of maintenance and a lot of electronic work, recovery operations, relations with other, with other allied nations and stuff,” McCoy explained. “So, there’s just a lot of maintenance, a lot of good stuff over there.”
Preparing for a mission like this, isn’t easy — to say the least.
“Between getting all the equipment ready that we’re sending over there and getting everyone medically and admin cleared, it’s been a work horse for us to get ready for this thing and the guys work their butts off and I can’t be more grateful now to be going over with these guys,” he added.
The hardest part about deployment for many soldiers though is getting ready to leave family, friends and loved ones.
“I’ve been in for nine years, so it’s my first one [deployment],” said Ashlee Ebling, U.S. Army Specialist. “I’m really excited to do something great, something to do a little hard with the family, leaving the daughter behind and my husband.”
There is one thing many of these soldiers will be taking advantage of while being so far away from home — technology.
“We can facetime, we can WhatsApp signal through those apps and stuff,” McCoy said. “There’s wi-fi over there so we’ll be able to talk just as like if you’re 20 feet over that way and I was facetiming you, we can do that from across the world. So, we’re lucky in that sense to our technology is going to be very great for us.”
The soldiers will fly from the Harrisburg International Airport Sunday and into Texas before they officially head overseas for their mission.
Last year Pennsylvania National Guard soldiers deployed around the world including nearly 700 to Africa, over 150 to Germany, and nearly 50 to the Middle East. In October hundreds of soldiers returned from deployments to Africa.
Founded in 1747 by Benjamin Franklin, the Pennsylvania National Guard is now one of the largest state National Guards in the United States. Since September 11, 2001, Pennsylvania National Guard Soldiers and Airmen have completed more than 43,000 individual deployments.
Pennsylvania
Plane carrying 6 crashes in Northeast Philadelphia, unleashes ‘mushroom explosion’
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A Learjet 55 carrying six people crashed in Northeast Philadelphia shortly after 6 p.m. Friday, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Operated by Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, the aircraft was traveling from Philadelphia to Tijuana, Mexico, with a planned stop at Springfield-Branson National Airport in Missouri when it went down, setting several houses ablaze near Roosevelt Mall.
Jet Rescue Air Ambulance confirmed in a LinkedIn post that there was a pediatric patient aboard who was accompanied by her mother and four other individuals. The Associated Press reported that all six on board were Mexican nationals, with the flight intended to continue to Tijuana after making a stop in Missouri.
“We are asking everyone for their thoughts and prayers for all who may have been impacted and affected by this tragedy,” Mayor Cherelle Parker said at a press conference with state and local officials. “Several dwellings and vehicles were also impacted. And so we are urging people, particularly those families who live in the surrounding area, to please stay home if possible.”
Videos posted online appear to show the aircraft falling rapidly before erupting into flames in the heavily-populated residential neighborhood near the mall. First responders rushed to the crash site where fires lit up the hazy evening sky.
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