West Haven High School Football Players to Compete at Collegiate Level

Written by Susan Misur

WEST HAVEN, CT — West Haven High School’s football team this year will see three seniors graduate and continue playing at the collegiate level, with two moving on to the University of New Haven and the third heading to Southern Connecticut State University.

Marquis Lockhart, a defensive end and linebacker, starts classes at UNH this fall, with plans to major in computer engineering, while Drew Highsmith, a defensive back, will be studying biology at UNH in hopes of becoming an athletic trainer.

Adrian Jaynes, a middle linebacker, will be on a sports management career track at SCSU to pursue a goal of eventually working with a football team, and may also minor in music production.

• To sign up for West Haven breaking news alerts and more, click here.

The happy news underscores the team’s growing emphasis on post-high school plans, whether those plans include athletics at a university or not.

Head Coach Rich Boshea said he’s pleased that eight out of this year’s 11 seniors are continuing their education in college and that another will attend a trade school.

The team’s coaches are increasing efforts in assisting the student-athletes with identifying either a career or continuing education pathway after graduating WHHS.

This year for the first time, coaches set up a two-day SAT class for junior football players. They also continued keeping a close eye on the student-athletes’ grades and working with their teachers, as they have in the past. And employees from Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin Company, mentor football players and assist in the team’s charitable efforts with the Wounded Warrior Project in a program that began last year.

Highsmith, who attended Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School, a New Haven magnet school, said he came back to his hometown school of WHHS for his senior year specifically because of his interest in UNH.

WHHS and the West Haven Public School District have a partnership with UNH that enables WHHS students to receive a UNH half-tuition scholarship. Highsmith had already played with the WHHS football team for his entire high school career because Co-op students from West Haven can play for the WHHS team.

“I had a few options for college football, but when I visited UNH, I liked the whole environment. I went to football camp there in the summer and talked with coaches. And I met the UNH track coaches, too,” said Highsmith, who won the 4X200 indoor track relay state title this winter for WHHS with three other track team student-athletes and will also be a part of the UNH track team. “Money-wise it’s very beneficial coming to West Haven High School because of the UNH scholarship.”

Lockhart said the WHHS STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) Department played a role in helping him finalize his college plans. He’s taken WHHS STEM classes (even making a miniature digital scoreboard this year in his digital electronics class) and earned a free spot at a UNH summer engineering academy last year.

“I chose UNH because it has a good engineering program, and it helped that they’re a top DII school for football,” Lockhart said. “Plus, I live down the road from UNH, so I’ve been familiar with the school for a long time. I’m really looking forward to the STEM classes. I used the 3-D printer there for the summer session when we built robots, so I’m pretty excited for that—and for the school’s blue turf field.”

For Jayne, out-of-state schools were compelling options, but he was in contact with the SCSU football coaches toward the end of recruiting season and was offered a spot on the team. The financial aid package clinched the deal for him.

The three Blue Devils have played football together since they were youngsters, since they all played for the West Haven Seahawks. Then they joined the WHHS team as soon as they were freshmen.

“We could all relate to each other because we’ve played together for a long time. It’s been easier for everyone to come in and connect,” Jaynes said. “I’ll miss the bus rides coming home with the team from a win. Those are the fun times you get to enjoy and that we’ll miss when we graduate.”

But there’s a lot to look forward to in college, they said, like mentoring from an older member of their football teams and support from new coaches, as well as being active in school clubs and intramural sports teams and focusing on classes in their chosen majors.

“I definitely am excited for my biology major, and I look to grow in that field and learn more to get ready for my career,” Highsmith added.

Boshea said Highsmith, Lockhart and Jaynes have shown great leadership on and off the field, noting that Lockhart was named a National Football Foundation Scholar Athlete last month, an award requiring excellence in the classroom and involvement in school and the community.

“We had a small group of seniors this year, but they did a good job leading us to play-offs and doing what they have to do in the classroom,” Boshea said. “Drew, Marquis and Adrian all picked schools where they can play and contribute to their teams. We’ll miss them next year and hope to hear about their accomplishments in college.”

Contributed Photo:

West Haven High School senior football players (from left) Drew Highsmith, Adrian Jaynes and Marquis Lockhart, with Head Coach Rich Boshea, announce what colleges they will attend and play football for next fall.