Jon Abbate may be the top linebacker in the state of
Georgia this year. He has 114 tackles, 16 tackles for loss, and 5 sacks on his
8-0 Harrison
team. What's even more amazing about those numbers is that as good as Harrison
is, Abbate rarely sees a full 3 quarters of action in games. The vast majority
of his numbers are accumulated in the 1st half of ball games that Harrison has
won by an average of 33-4. Harrison has pitched 6 shutouts on the season thus
far.
Abbate is starting to gain some recognition from around the
country and offers are starting to come in, including one from the #18 ranked
team in the country Bowling Green. "Bowling Green and UAB are my 2 D1
offers so far, and Wofford and Georgia Southern have offered me now too. Some of
the other schools that I'm looking at are North Carolina, Wake Forest,
Tennessee, Florida, and Clemson. North Carolina would probably be my favorite
out of that group."
As good as Abbate is on the field, he's even stronger off the
field, and I'm not talking about his 400 pound bench press. He's a 3.2 student
with a qualifying SAT score already. But Curtis Bunn of the AJC showed us what
really matters most in a feature story he did on Abbate and his family. It is
linked below and well worth the read.
Curtis Bunn, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Emotional
moments show Abbate's true strength