Plymouth-Whitemarsh Alum Da'Rel Scott On Fast Track to NFL Success

As was the case so often during his time at both Maryland and Plymouth-Whitemarsh High School, Da’Rel Scott looked to be in full gear almost immediately after receiving the handoff.

Scott had just exploded for a 61-yard touchdown run the last time he touched the ball, so, just one drive later, Maryland, now backed up its own 9-yard line, once again turned to Scott. The running back responded by taking the handoff from quarterback Danny O’Brien, angling towards the left sideline before finding a crease in the middle of East Carolina’s defensive line, sharply cutting back towards the middle of the field and bursting through the middle of the Pirates for a 91-yard touchdown, easily blazing by three East Carolina defenders along the way.

The touchdown, which ended up coming on the second to last carry of Scott’s college career, helped propel the Terrapins cruse to a 51-20 win against the Pirates in last season’s Military Bowl. Scott finished the game with 200 rushing yards on just 13 carries. The yards were both a career-best as well as a Maryland bowl game record.

A big-play threat with tremendous speed, capable of scoring any time he touched the ball, the 5-foot-11, 210 pound Scott ended his Terrapins career as the seventh-leading rusher in school history (2,401 yards) and now hopes that same speed and big-play ability will enable him to have similar success in the NFL.

Scott, who was among the fastest players in this year’s NFL draft, was selected by the New York Giants in the seventh round of April’s draft. He ran the 40-yard dash in 4.34 seconds at the NFL Scouting Combine in February, tying for the second-best time, including the best time among running backs, at the event, which featured the top players in the draft.

With the Giants, Scott is hoping to carve out a role as a third-down back behind veteran running backs Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs.

New York began training camp in late July.

“Training camp’s going pretty good so far,” Scott said in a phone interview with Plymouth-Whitemarsh Patch. “I’m doing pretty well, pretty solid and learning the plays pretty quickly. We do have Ahmad and Brandon, but, with my speed, big-play ability and hands out of the backfield, I think I could be a third-down back to start out as a rookie.”

At Plymouth-Whitemarsh, Scott was a four-year varsity player, and three-year starter, from 2002-05, excelling at both running and at safety.

Scott, who also lettered four years in both track (sprints) and basketball at Plymouth-Whitemarsh, rushed for 2,523 yards and 38 touchdowns his senior year, both school records, while leading the Colonials to an 8-3 record and a league championship. He also racked up more than 1,200 yards as a junior, the same year he won a state championship in track with a time of 10.56 in the 100 meters.

“Da’Rel’s the best running back we’ve ever had at Plymouth-Whitemarsh,” said PW assistant athletic director Ed Swetkowski, who played for the Colonials in the early 1960’s, coached the football team from 1977-98 and has served in his current role since 1999.

“I’ve been around Plymouth-Whitemarsh since the early 1960’s and have seen them all come and seen them all go, and no one’s been better than Da’Rel.”

Swetkowski added, “He just had a combination of speed, quickness and balance. We’ve had kids that could flat-out run, but Da’Rel could change directions, too, and always, always seemed to just have an extra gear.”

With Maryland, though, Scott endured an up and down career, battling through a broken wrist as a junior, which sidelined him for two months, and decreased playing as a senior while splitting time with talented junior Davin Meggett.

Nonetheless, he still managed to finish his college career as just the fourth player in Terrapins history to accumulate at least 2,000 career rushing yards along with at least 500 career receiving yards. He also ranks second in school history in career yards per carry (5.58), fourth in career 100-yard games (8) and 14th in career touchdowns (17).

He tallied a career-best 1,133 rushing yards, along with eight rushing touchdowns, as a sophomore in 2008.

“It was definitely frustrating at times,” Scott said of his time at Maryland. “It’s something that can also be looked at as a positive, though, because the life-span of a running back is so short and my body got [preserved] some those last two years.”

Now, though, Scott will look to establish a role with the Giants, eager for the opportunity to impress coaches throughout training camp and the preseason.

And while he has modest goals for his rookie year, he has much bigger aspirations for his NFL career.

“Right now, I just want to show coaches what I can do,” Scott said. “With Ahmad and Brandon here, who are two of the toughest running backs in the NFL, I just need to work my way up and show coaches that I can be relied on. In the future, though, I obviously want to become an every-down back at some point and want to show that I’m capable of being that.”

Giants running backs coach Jerald Ingram, meanwhile, has been impressed with Scott early in training camp and is anxious to see how the young running back fares during the preseason.

“Da’Rel is doing a good job showing his speed out there on the field,” said Ingram, who has coached the Giants’ running backs since 2004. “I am happy about some of the things he’s doing….He catches the ball really well. He is a very fluid athlete. Based on what we have seen, we like him playing in space.”

He did say Scott still has questions left to answer, though, before cementing a role in New York’s backfield.

“Can he bring the physical game that we try to bring to people?” Ingram pondered. “We have a strong tradition about being tough in the backfield so I’m looking forward to seeing how he does [during the preseason].”