Laurel's Bushong Rides Out Irene

Late August can be a brutal time of year for college football players in this area.

The humidity of the Mid-Atlantic, on top of temperatures that reach nearly 100 degrees, can make preparation for the upcoming season about as fun as studying for a calculus test while your friends are out having fun.

But Laurel's Andy Bushong and his college teammates got a break this month with below average temperatures and several days of rain.

The Reservoir High graduate even got three days off from practice this past weekend. But there was a catch: they had to ride out Hurricane Irene as students at Salisbury on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

The team did not practice Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Bushong said. Classes begin Wednesday at the school.

Bushong said freshman who live on campus were asked to leave before the storm. Bushong went to an off-campus apartment. "It was not so bad here," the Laurel resident, who did not lose power at the place he was staying, said Monday night. "I heard it was worse at home in Laurel as trees fell down."

Bushong, a reserve last year as a freshman as the Sea Gulls were 7-3 overall, played four years of football and baseball and two of basketball at Reservoir.

He hopes to see more playing time this year for Salisbury under head coach Sherman Wood, a former coach at Bowie State. The team returned to practice Monday.

"Right now I am behind a senior captain and junior on the depth chart at slot," said Bushong, who figures to see action on special teams for Salisbury.

Coming out of high school he looked into the football programs at Division III McDaniel and Stevenson and also considered being a walk-on at Division I-AA Towson.

"When I came down to visit I liked all of the coaches at Salisbury. They made it sound really good. It is a very good program and very organized," said Bushong, who is studying Exercise Science.

The Sea Gulls open the season at home Saturday at 1 p.m. against The Apprentice School of southeast Virginia.

This year's Salisbury team includes Atholton High grad Kalvin Seamonson, a transfer quarterback from the University of Maryland. "I think we will be even better. We have a lot of returning players. The team chemistry is very good. We should be going further," Bushong said.

Other local players on the pre-season roster include Atholton High grad Nick Aloi; Ryan Raines, a freshman defensive back; and Reservoir grad Bryce Boring, a sophomore defensive back. Aloi is one the players listed ahead of Bushong on the depth chart.

Bushong's brother, Dan, played football and baseball at Reservoir. He no longer plays sports but has attended Frostburg and Howard Community College and may enter Salisbury early next year.

Their cousin, Shawn Bushong, played football briefly at Auburn. Their mother, Lynne, is a teacher at Forest Ridge Elementary in the North Laurel section of Howard County.