Mount Carmel Area's Trevor Demko picks West Virginia

Mount Carmel Area defensive end Trevor Demko, who will be a senior this season, has made a verbal committment to accept a football scholarship to the University of West Virginia.

Demko, 6-6 and 225 pounds, visited Pitt and West Virginia last weekend and made his decision early this week, according to Mount Carmel Area head football coach Bob Chesney, who was Demko's defensive coordinator the past two seasons under former head coach Mike Brennan.

Demko had 70 tackles last season, including nine sacks, one for a safety. In addition, he recovered two fumbles, one of which he returned for a touchdown.

"West Virginia just felt right," Demko said Wednesday night. He visited Pitt and West Virginia on the weekend, came home and sat on things for a day or so and made his decision, he said.

"Trevor is 6-foot-6 with a wingspan," Chesney said. "Right now, the colleges are starting to go to that type of defensive player. They're getting away from the shorter, 295-pound, 300-pound kids. Another trend is that they want to get kids who have the frame and build it themselves. That describes Trevor."

Demko played at 215 pounds last season and should put on even more weight before his senior season starts next month, according to Chesney.

"They just want me to gain some weight and bulk up," Demko said. "With strength comes speed, too."

Speed is something Demko has now. He was timed at 4.8 in the 40 by the West Virginia staff, which impressed them for his size.

"Trevor's been through a whole dichotomy of changes since he's been with us," Chesney said. "He came to us as a quarterback, then we changed him to tight end, and last year he played (offensive) tackle and defensive end. Obviously, he'll stay at tackle and defensive end this year.

"Trevor made some gigantic plays which saved us some games last year," Chesney added. "His return of the fumble for a touchdown against Central at the start of the second half probably saved that game. He also really forced a lot of plays in the Selinsgrove game which helped us shut them out."

Pitt, Temple and Rutgers were all mulling offering scholarships to Demko, according to Chesney, and the University of Akron and Division I-AA national champion Richmond had already offered him scholarships. The University of Connecticut and several Ivy League schools were also after him.

Demko has a 98 scholastic average and is currently ranked sixth in his class, according to Chesney.

"Trevor is an excellent citizen. He has really good character and comes from a super family, and when colleges can find someone with Trevor's ability along with the character background he has, they really jump," the coach said.

Another big plus for West Virginia was the presence of Frackville native and former Cardinal Brennan coach Bill Kirelawich on the Mountaineers' staff. Kirelawich is defensive line coach, has been at West Virginia for 31 years and is the only coach on the staff to be there through the coaching regimes of Don Nehlen, Rich Rodriguez and present head coach Bill Stewart.

"You have to know Kirelawich," Chesney said. "I've known Bill for 40 years. He's a player's coach and very down to earth. When he came here and saw that Trevor was really 6-6, he got really excited."

According to Chesney, Demko also liked the fact that the school wasn't too far away, making it reasonable for his family to come see him play.

"Their facilities are as good as anyone else's, and they've had a lot of program success," Chesney said. "He liked the feeling when he went there. Trevor was comfortable. I told him, whatever decision he made, 'If you smile when you say it, it's a fit. If you don't, then maybe you have doubts and it isn't a fit.'"

Demko said he wanted to get the decision behind him and concentrate on the season ahead.

"I want to take a leadership role and show the other guys that if you work hard, good things can happen to you," Demko said. "I also can play at a hundred percent without worrying about getting dinged up. There's some security about it."

"We're extremely happy for him," Chesney said. "He was ecstatic and the coaches at West Virginia were very happy. Now he can concentrate on his senior season and his studies and not have it hanging over him. He wants to go out this season and show their coaches that they didn't make a mistake."

Demko also plays baseball for the Red Tornadoes. He is a son of Tom and Peggy Demko, Kulpmont.

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