VIDEO: Manchester High Athletes Sign With Big Time Football Colleges

Andrew Isaacs and Marquis Little, a pair of stars on the Manchester High School football team, wasted little time Wednesday kicking off National Signing Day by each signing offers of a full scholarship from major Division 1 football powerhouses. 

Isaacs, a 6-3 and 215 pound tight end and linebacker, signed with University of Maryland, where he intends to play tight end; Isaacs had been receiving scholarship offers from major college football programs since his sophomore year in high school and originally committed to Boston College, but said he chose Maryland as his final destination because of the school's broadcasting program. 

Little, MHS' starting quarterback and a linebacker on defense, signed with Boston College. At 6-3 and 220 pounds, Boston College intends to use Little at linebacker. 

"Today's the culmination of a lot of hard work," said Isaacs. "It's relieving to sign the paper and know for a fact that I'm going to college at a Division 1 school. It's just a happy moment, a proud moment." 

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Little said that he felt "blessed" because Wednesday was proof that all his hard work through high school had payed off. 

"I'm looking forward to being around new people, new teammates and gaining my knowledge of football," Little said.  

Manchester High Football Coach Marco Pizzoferrato noted Isaacs and Little's dedication and determination throughout their high school careers, both to football and education. Pizzoferrato said both were outstanding students and mainstays on both the high school's honor roll and in the school's weight room. 

"There's no guarantee that they were going to be able to get those scholarships, but they carried on for these past four years," Pizzoferrato said. "They carried on for these past four years and got themselves to this point."

The last MHS grad to earn a Division 1 football scholarship was Seth DeValve, who two years ago was signed by Princeton. Devalve played quarterback at MHS but is a wide receiver in college. Last season he caught 20 passes including his first-ever college TD, against Harvard.

"They're better people than they are football players," Athletic Director Lindsey Boutilier said of Isaacs and Little. "They're awesome leaders, they're awesome kids, they're exactly what you would want in a student athlete."