Penn State football’s most recent recruiting win is on the brink of joining the lineage.
Bishop Hendricken High School, located in Warwick, Rhode Island, has won 20 state championships, and several Division I and even NFL talent have helped it get there.
Will Black went from Bishop Hendricken to Boston College before spending a decade in the NFL, winning a Super Bowl with the New York Giants in the 2011 season.
Xavier Truss won two national titles at Georgia and is now with the New Orleans Saints.
But there’s one player that Bishop Hendricken head coach Keith Croft feels Elijah Guertin is reminiscent of, and it’s a player who happened to be a first-round draft pick.
Most Penn State fans will remember Kwity Paye from his time at the Michigan.
By the time Paye was done in Ann Arbor, he was a multi-time all-Big Ten performer and one of the top prospects in the 2021 Draft.
He ended up going No. 21 in 2021 to the Indianapolis Colts, and it will be a while before we know if Guertin is first-round material.
But the guy who coached both of them feels there are similarities.
“They’re a little bit different athletically,” Croft told Nittany Sports Now, “But I think when you ask me what stands out about Elijah, it’s a lot of it was very similar to Kwity. It’s a lot of physical attributes in terms of his size, his speed, his ability to jump, being a track athlete, like those things jump off the chat at you. No matter where you go in the country, his numbers are off the chart, and I think that’s what college coaches love.”
Indeed, Guertin’s numbers jump off the page.
A wrist injury limited him to five games last season, but Guertin made the most of his time, ending the year with 20 tackles (four tackles for loss) and two sacks, helping Bishop Hendricken to another state title.
Guertin is a mountain, standing at 6-foot-5 and 255 pounds (Paye is 6-foot-3, 265), and, like Paye, Guertin stars on the track & field team.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Paye was a state champion in the long jump at Bishop Hendricken, and Guertin became a state qualifier in both the 110-meter and 300-meter hurdles as a sophomore, placing third in the 110.
Penn State knows what quality play on the edge looks like.
In the past three draft classes alone, Penn State has sent Chop Robinson, Adisa Isaac, Abdul Carter and Dani Dennis-Sutton to the NFL, with Robinson and Carter each going in the first round.
PSU also had a guy named Micah Parsons, who was pretty good.
Under first-year head coach Matt Campbell, Penn State will have a position coach who specializes in edge rushers, which could be big in recruiting.
Whereas in the past, Penn State had one assistant in charge of the defensive line, PSU now has Ikaika Malloe, who will coach the interior linemen, and Christian Smith, who will coach the edge rushers.
Penn State has two edge rushers committed to its 2027 recruiting with Guertin joining Carter Blattner, a three-star from Allendale, New Jersey.
Guertin is a big fan of Campbell.
“He told me the other night when I asked him,” Croft said, “I said,’ He sounds like a really good guy.'” And he said,” Coach, he was just a great guy.’ He goes, ‘That’s my guy.’ So clearly, you know, his ability as a recruiter to connect with kids like Elijah have really made a difference.”
For Croft, Guertin is the type of player and person who can make a difference at Penn State.
“He’s a great kid,” Croft said, “and I know every coach you interview probably says that, but I am really happy for him. He’s again, you know, I don’t want to make comparisons, but we had Kwity here; he was a very high-level recruit, too. And you never heard a kid say anything bad about Kwity, and it’s the same with Elijah. Everybody on the team likes him. He’s a lot of our you know Xavier Trust who went here and played for Georgia, and he’s now with the Saints. Same thing, good teammate. Everybody liked him. These are the type of kids. Listen, kids who go to Penn State and Ohio State and Michigan like those big-time programs. They’re recruiting high-level kids. And Elijah is just a high-level kid.”
