Camp trips helped Eastern junior

Eli Woodard had a solid sophomore football season for Eastern, but he increased his profile during the off-season by going camping.

During the summer, he attended one-day football camps at Rutgers, Ohio State, and Notre Dame. And not coincidentally, the 6-foot, 175-pound Eastern junior says he has earned scholarship offers from all three schools. In addition, he has a fourth offer from Purdue.

"It was a great way to see the schools and have them see me," Woodard said.

Even though he is being recruited as a cornerback, Woodard also will take on receiver duties this season. Woodard said his best time in the 40-yard dash is 4.48 seconds.

"He has great ability," Eastern coach Dan Spittal said of Woodard. "He can shut down receivers, and he's going to help us on offense."

Woodard wasn't a starter at the beginning of last year. He made his first start in the sixth game of the season, a 20-14 loss to then-unbeaten Paul VI. He quickly became a playmaker on defense.

Woodard ended with 32 tackles, 21 breakups, two interceptions, and two forced fumbles.

That he already has scholarship offers would seem to take the pressure off Woodard, but he says it has had the opposite effect.

"It puts more pressure on me," he said. "You want to live up to all of it."

Right now, recruiting isn't foremost on Woodard's mind. He is intent on having Eastern improve on last year's 1-9 record.

"We should be a lot better this year," he said. "We have some talented, experienced players."

One of those is Woodard, who hopes to build on his successful summer this fall.

Contact staff writer Marc Narducci at 856-779-3225, mnarducci@phillynews.com, or @sjnard on Twitter.