Princeton sends Skeens to Concord, Charlette and Brewster ink with Yellow Jackets

PRINCETON — Princeton fans will have an opportunity to watch several of their former players continue playing at the next level.

Jarad Skeens (LB/TE), David Brewster (TE/DE) and Brandon Charette (WR/DB) signed their National Letter of Intent on Wednesday during a ceremony at the Princeton Senior High School library.

“I’m going to miss all of them,” Princeton head coach Ted Spadaro said. “I love a day like today. I’m real proud of them. Then again, you get to think about losing them.

“At times, I get emotional about that kind of thing, because they’ve been with me all this time. I wish them well and I know they’ll do well. They have what it takes to get to the next level.”

Skeens will be staying closest to home as he is set to continue his career at Concord while Brewster and Charette signed to play at West Virginia State.

“It’s awesome,” Skeens said. “It’s been a dream of mine since I was a little kid. I’m just glad I’m finally here.”

Brewster and Charette agreed.

“It’s always been my dream to play on Saturday’s,” Brewster said. “I’ve watched college football on TV that’s something I’ve wanted to do. Going to West Virginia State has made me happy.”

Charette added, “I’m pretty excited. It’s official, now that I have a chance to do something I like. I love football.”

• • •

A four-year starter for Princeton, Skeens will be leaving a team who made a playoff appearance once in his four years for a team coming off an NCAA Division II playoff berth and a WVIAC championship.

Those were two big reasons he chose the Mountain Lions.

“I had a few other schools in the West Virginia Conference recruiting me, but two things that really caught my mind was they won the conference this year which a great achievement and it’s near home,” Skeens said. “I love it here and I don’t really want to leave around here.”

With just a short trip on West Virginia Route 20, Skeens won’t be far from his family.

“It means a lot,” he said. “They’ve been watching me since second grade. Now that I’m still around here, they can all still come. It means a lot.”

The 5-foot-10, 220-pounder will be part of Concord’s defensive unit after leading the Tigers in tackles the past two seasons.

“It means a lot that I can go into a successful defense,” Skeens said. “I’m going into a good scheme with good coaches and I can learn a lot.”

Skeens should have little problem fitting in with Lions, but his former coach and team will miss his productivity on the defensive side.

“Jarad was a starter on this team since he was a freshmen,” Spadaro said. “When you get young men that have two years of experience, you feel lucky. In our case, we had him for all four year.

“I’m real proud of him. He played middle linebacker and tight end. He was a leader on defense and team captain. When you get kids that you can depend and can do the things Jarad did, its hard to replace.”

While Skeens will be starting a new adventure at Concord, he won’t forget his time at Princeton.

“I learned to work hard and always be disciplined and stay humble,” he said. “I’ve progressed so much from my ninth grade year until now. It’s from those coaches. It means a lot.”

• • •

Brewster’s dream of playing on Saturday’s nearly stopped before it started. The 6-foot-5, 240-pounder had to have his gallbladder removed and missed five games during the season.

“I did worry because I missed five games,” Brewster said. “I worried that I wouldn’t be able to play again. That’s why I’ve been trying to play basketball. When West Virginia State called, my face light up.”

Spadaro added, “It’s unusual to have a tight end as big as David. He didn’t get to play the 10 game schedule because we found out in the early part of the season that he had to have his gallbladder removed. For a young kid, it really hurt him.

“Not the physical part as it is the mental part of him not getting to play. For him to sign today, that makes it up for all the time he missed.”

Brewster, who played for Spadaro for two and half years, sees the Yellow Jackets as a perfect fit for him.

“What made me we want to go was there offense is really starting to click,” he said. “Another reason is my friend is going there and it’s not going to be that to hard to go up there. It is a new environment to play in. It’s really going to be great for me.”

While he won’t be down the road from his family, he will be less than a couple hour drive away.

“It’s close to my family,” Brewster said. “I really didn’t want to go to far away. It’s like 100 miles away so I can come in on the weekends and maybe have my mom do my laundry when I miss her.”

The short trip on the West Virginia Turnpike will allow his friends and family watch his games too.

“That’s really great,” Brewster added. “It’s not that far away. They can come when they want. It’ll be really great to have them up there and supporting me.”

Although Brewster is excited to start at the next level, he will have found memories of being a Tiger.

“It’s been really great time at Princeton. I’ll remember this for the rest of my life,” he said.

• • •

When standing next to Skeens or Brewster, Charette stands out. He is the smallest of the three Princeton standouts, but that hasn’t stopped him from making an impact on the field.

“Brandon had the biggest heart on the team,” Spadaro said. “One of the smaller players on the team — he might be 150 pounds. When he came to play on Friday night, he put it on the line for us. I’m really proud of him.

“He’s come such a long way in this game. He didn’t know for sure if he was going to play. A word of encouragement here and there causing him to take that extra step forward. We’re real proud that he stayed with us.”

The 5-foot-10, 150-pound Charette is glad he stayed too.

“You develop a strong friendship with your teammates,” he said. “The work ethic makes it a character building sport. Through football, it bettered me as a person. I’m glad [I stuck with it].”

Like Brewster, Charette picked West Virginia State because of its close to home.

“It’s in another area,” Charette added. “It’s got some new things to try out and experience. It’s not to far from home so I get that home feeling. That really played a big role. ...I can always come back here and visit family and friends.”

Unlike most players who know few if any players on the team they’re going to, Charette will have one of his good friends in Brewster with him in Institute.

“It’s like an advantage to a start in meeting new people,” Charette said. “I have him to fall back on. I will know someone when I get up there.”

— Contact Jonathan Greene

at jgreene@bdtonline.com

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