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Barely out of middle school, playing college football was one of the furthest things from Kyle Catterton's mind as he entered North Point as part of the school's first freshmen class.
Catterton, an eventual All-SMAC lineman, was undersized and part of a program that was three years away from fielding its first varsity team. Back then, the school's playing fields were not even ready, and the team had to practice at a nearby middle school.
"College football seemed kind of far away," he said.
But it's not so far away anymore.
Catterton recently signed to play collegiately at Virginia State University. With his signature, Catterton, who now stands 6 foot 4 and is close to 300 pounds, became the first North Point player to officially sign to take his game to the next level.
"Really, it's not any different for me," he said of his recruitment versus that of other North Point players. "It's not that significant.
"It's cool, but other people will be signing soon."
Even if he retains his modesty, the signing was significant for the program.
"I told him, not just him but the other seniors, they're starting the history of North Point football," North Point coach Ken Lane said. "He's not only the first football player, but I think he's the first athlete in the school to actually sign a letter of intent.
"I said, "No matter what happens, 30 years from now you come back and you were still the first.' We talk a lot about first with our team. He kind of does shrug it off, but I told him, 'it's important because someday you'll come back and you're always going to know that you were here. You started to get recruited and all the kids that come behind you, hopefully you've opened the door for somebody.'"
The Eagles, in their first year with seniors this past fall, went 8-3, made their first playoff appearance and earned a share of the SMAC championship. One of the key reasons for the success was the work put in by the offensive line.
The line benefited from the guidance of offensive line coach Chuck Miles who came over to join the North Point staff after many successful seasons churning out offensive linemen on Dave Bradshaw's staff at McDonough. The Eagles changed philosophies to a zone-blociking scheme in an attempt to maximize the effectiveness of their triple option offense. The result was a regular season in which the squad led the conference in rushing. The line paved the way for leading rusher Arlando Scott, who finished his campaign with over 1,400 yards and 14 touchdowns.
"Our guys picked them up great," Miles said of the new schemes the line had to learn, "and as the year went on they just got better and better ... there's no magic wand. It's just reptition and work, over and over and over working the combinations."
And Catterton's work, which included time at every spot on the line, earned him the attention of several colleges. But in the end it was Virginia State, where Miles played his college ball, that got the nod.
"I just kind of felt at home right to start with," Catterton said.
The Virginia State visit was the first, but Catterton took all five of his visits before making his decision.
"I don't think he'll have any problems," said Miles, who has been friends with the family and known Catterton his whole life. "He really liked it when he went down there."
Catterton projects to start at center, and should have the opportunity to compete for a spot early. During his time at North Point, Catterton proved to be versatile, playing at every position on the line. He logged most of his time at left tackle his senior season, and capped the year splitting time between left tackle and center in the Prince George's County-SMAC All-Star game.
"You can't coach size or height," Lane said. "He got taller every year. He's got bigger. He's in the weight room. He works hard. It means a lot when you're a running football team to be able to have a kid who can play tackle, guard and center and at some point or another he's played all of them."
Catterton started his high school career playing primarily at center during the first two years when North Point didn't have a varsity squad. If all goes to plan, he will start his college career at the same position.
"I'm going to put in the time," he said, "hit the weight room as hard as I can, try my best to earn a starting spot and take advantage of my free education."
