Lineman

Pro Bowl Eagles offensive lineman Jason Peters, 29, was arrested early Saturday for allegedly blaring music and resisting arrest in Shreveport, La., Sgt. Bill Goodin of the Shreveport police department said. Police said they heard the music coming from Peters' vehicle in the downtown area, and when they approached the Eagles lineman, he refused to provide identification, leading to the resisting arrest charge, Goodin said. Peters was released on bond Saturday, police said. The amount was not disclosed.

Mike Moosbrugger, one of the offensive-line giants who powered Central Bucks East to nearly 300 yards rushing per game this past season, has made an oral commitment to attend Wake Forest University. A first-team all-area selection by The Inquirer, Moosbrugger informed the Wake Forest coaching staff of his decision while visiting the North Carolina school this weekend. "Wake Forest is a school that's up-and-coming, and I'll have a chance to play early," said Moosbrugger, who's thinking about majoring in business law. "Academically, I can be proud to have a diploma with Wake Forest on it. " Moosbrugger played nearly every down at offensive tackle this season, as the 6-foot-7, 270-pounder had to convince college coaches that he was fully recovered from the broken leg he suffered in the first game of the 1995 season.

SOME PROSPECTS milk the recruiting process for all it's worth. And then there's Jaryd "Burger" Jones-Smith, star football lineman at West Catholic High. He's rather reserved and the last thing he craves is nonstop attention. So, while 11 schools made offers, only two received visits. Final verdict: Pitt beat Virginia. "My family and I thought Pitt was the best place for me," said Jones-Smith, who announced his decision Tuesday afternoon in West's auditorium. "I'll get the best of both worlds there - sports and academics.

Penn State lineman Elijah Robinson, a graduate of Woodrow Wilson High School in Camden and a potential starter on the offense this fall, has decided to end his career as a result of a neck injury suffered in spring practice. Team physicians said Robinson was born with a tight spinal canal. As a result, impact to his head could pinch the spinal cord, resulting in temporary or permanent paralysis, according to Wayne Sebastianelli, Penn State's director of athletic medicine. "This is a big loss for the team," coach Joe Paterno said yesterday.

Eric Rittenhouse made a vow to himself that he would participate in every play as if it were his last. That's because midway through last season, he suffered a broken left ankle that sidelined him for the rest of the season. Suddenly, the 6-foot, 215-pound two-way lineman had doubts about his football future. "I was really scared when it happened," Rittenhouse said. "I finally got cleared to work out in March and I decided that I wouldn't hold anything back, because you never know when something might end. " Rittenhouse has made good on his vow. He has been a team captain and one of Eastern's leading blockers at guard and also a top defensive tackle.

Brian Gaia, a two-way lineman from Maryland, has verbally committed to play football at Penn State. Gaia, 6-3, 287 pounds, is a junior at the Gilman School in Baltimore. He is the seventh recruit to commit to the Nittany Lions. Gaia was an All-Metro pick on the offensive line by the Baltimore Sun , but he was recruited by defensive line coach Larry Johnson to play defensive tackle. Gaia also had offers from Iowa, Michigan, Rutgers, Tennessee and West Virginia, among others.

La Salle High's Patrick Hoffman, a 6-foot-4, 255-pound, two-way lineman, has made an oral commitment to play football for Navy. The senior, a second-year starter who plays guard or tackle on offense and end on defense, chose the Midshipmen over Princeton and Harvard. "It's a big relief to have the whole recruiting process finished up," he said. Hoffman's father, also Patrick, played offensive guard for Navy in the 1980s. - Rick O'Brien

Austin Johnson didn't take long to make his college decision. The 6-foot-5, 280-pound two-way lineman from St. Augustine Prep was offered a football scholarship over the weekend to Penn State and accepted it on the spot. Johnson was attending a Penn State football camp, and he didn't need a sales pitch from the Nittany Lions to make an oral commitment. "I have liked Penn State since I was young, and once I got the Penn State offer I was going to take it," Johnson said Sunday in a telephone interview.

Jamil Pollard had his own scouting report on Penn State coach Joe Paterno. "The rumors are wrong," Pollard said. "He's really active in practice. " Pollard, a junior two-way lineman from West Deptford, has committed to attend Penn State on a football scholarship. The 6-foot-4, 280-pound Pollard, an all-South Jersey selection as an offensive lineman as a junior, visited Penn State during spring workouts this past weekend. Pollard said he met briefly with the 84-year-old Paterno, but spent most of his time with defensive line coach Larry Johnson.

While at Council Rock South High, Justin Pugh received little attention from Division I-A football coaches. In fact, Syracuse was the only top-level program to offer him a scholarship. Now, after a rock-solid career with the Orangemen, Pugh, a 6-foot-4, 310-pound left tackle from Holland, Bucks County, is bound for the NFL. On Thursday night, he was selected with the No. 19 overall pick in the draft by the New York Giants. Pugh was waiting at home for a telephone call, which came around 10:15 p.m. "It was surreal," Pugh said.

SEVEN PEOPLE were hospitalized Tuesday after police say a Drexel Hill man went on a bizarre rampage spraying a fire extinguisher in Atlantic City's Public Safety Building. Tom McHugh, 29 - a former Penn State lineman who was kicked off the team in 2003 for public drunkness - had just been let out of jail at the building on disorderly-conduct charges related to one of two tangles with police Monday, police said. About 8 a.m. Tuesday, McHugh somehow got up to the fourth floor, where top Atlantic City Police administrators have offices.

Stephen Vasturia knocked down three three-pointers en route to 32 points Thursday as St. Joseph's Prep secured a berth in the state boys' basketball playoffs with a 70-42 win over Bartram at Southern. The senior scored 11 points in the first quarter. P.J. Kelly had eight assists. The Prep will enter the PIAA Class AAAA playoffs as the third seed from District 12. Inter-Ac. Germantown Academy's Greg Dotson advanced to the semifinals of the American Family Insurance high school slam dunk contest.

SEVEN PLAYERS from Inter-Ac and Catholic League schools will represent the United States this spring in 2013 Global Bowl Italy, an all-star football game. On the roster for Team Stars & Stripes, slated to meet Italy's under-19 team April 13, in Turin, are linemen Matt McLaughlin and Jack Florio, defensive back Matt Rushton and quarterback Adam Strouss, all of Episcopal Academy; wideout Matt Levy, Germantown Academy; lineman Mark Opaliski, Penn Charter; and lineman Vince LoStracco, Father Judge.

The Saturday morning nudge from his father, James Jones, would awaken 8-year-old Jaryd Jones-Smith about the time the sun was rising over his South Jersey home. Along with Jones-Smith's younger sister, Alicia, father and son would leave the Woodstown house for a weekly jog around a 3.3-mile route. "At first, it felt like torture," Jones-Smith said. "But after a while, you got used to it and it became natural. " Now a hulking, 6-foot-7, 320-pound offensive tackle at West Catholic, Jones-Smith will sign a letter of intent on Wednesday, national signing day, to accept a football scholarship to Pittsburgh.

Two of the catalysts behind Coatesville's drive to the PIAA Class AAAA state final have made commitments to Football Championship Subdivision teams. Speedy wideout and kick returner Chris Jones has committed to play at Coastal Carolina, and strong-armed quarterback Emmett Hunt, The Inquirer's player of the year in Southeastern Pennsylvania, committed to Delaware State. The 5-foot-11, 165-pound Jones, who made 71 catches for 1,490 yards and 24 touchdowns last season, opted for Coastal Carolina, in Conway, S.C., over Temple and Massachusetts.

Ten players with local connections will play in Saturday's annual East-West Shrine Game in St. Petersburg, Fla. While many of the players projected to go in the early rounds of April's NFL draft are participating in the Senior Bowl later this month, the Shrine Game has developed a reputation in recent years as a place where scouts can discover an overlooked prospect. The local players on the East team are: R.J. Dill, offensive lineman, Rutgers; Montel Harris, running back, Temple; Gerald Hodges, linebacker, Penn State; D.C. Jefferson, tight end, Rutgers; Robert McCabe, linebacker, Georgetown (Malvern Prep)

SOME PROSPECTS milk the recruiting process for all it's worth. And then there's Jaryd "Burger" Jones-Smith, star football lineman at West Catholic High. He's rather reserved and the last thing he craves is nonstop attention. So, while 11 schools made offers, only two received visits. Final verdict: Pitt beat Virginia. "My family and I thought Pitt was the best place for me," said Jones-Smith, who announced his decision Tuesday afternoon in West's auditorium. "I'll get the best of both worlds there - sports and academics.

Jaryd Jones-Smith, West Catholic's 6-foot-7, 320-pound offensive lineman, flipped a few pages in his spiral notebook on Tuesday afternoon before he found his place. Somewhere in his physics book was the short speech he wrote before he would announce his oral commitment to Pittsburgh, a school he officially visited in December with his mother. "I have a free eighth period," Jones-Smith said. "So I had a little bit of time to write it. " Jones-Smith projects to be an offensive tackle at Pittsburgh.