A pair of Maryland football signees were honored this week as quarterback Malik Washington was named All-Metro Offensive Player of the Year.
Washington was also previously named Maryland’s Gatorade Player of the Year after throwing for over 2,000 yards and 24 total touchdowns to just four interceptions en route to Spalding’s third MIAA-A championship. Washington also became the all-time MIAA passing leader as he cemented a perfect 25-0 record in conference play.
“He is so relatable. I mean, he is one of those guys that can transcend. I mean, it'd be like, I'm a big music guy. So he's a guy that could be a hip hop artist, an R&B singer, a country singer. He can maybe even be one of those, what do you – folk song singers? I mean, Hootie and the Blowfish. This guy, you can't put him in a box, and that part of it, I mean, the intelligence he brings. I've recruited Malik since he was an eighth grader. I watched how he built this Spalding program with his head coach there and a lot like what we've had to do here at Maryland and it has not been easy. They have not always had all the built-in advantages that some of the other places that they would play had. And he never once wavered, man. And to me, this kid had – the sky is the limit for his talent level. He expects to come in, in the mail room and work his way up. He doesn't want it any other way. He wants to come in and learn and be a sponge. We spent every Sunday for the most part of this season where we’d watch his tape. He'd watch our games. Because after every game, when you got a guy like that committed, people would call and say, ‘Man, you don't want to go there. They suck. They're not this.’ And then he had a chance to watch every play. We didn't hide from what we put on tape and he had a chance to see and learn what this system is about or will and can be about. And I think that in itself showed me who he was. He's a special kid, man, and I'm really excited to have a chance to coach him and he was a guy that we targeted a long time ago – to come in here and help us elevate this program.”
Washington was one of two signees to be honored as defensive lineman Delmar White was named the 2024 All-Metro Defensive Player of the Year.
White finished his senior season with 34 tackles, 12 TFLs, eight sacks and a pair of forced fumbles as he was the disruptor in the trenches for Spalding. After transferring in from Chesapeake (MD) ahead of his junior year, White ended his time at Spalding totaling 91 tackles, 18.5 tackles for loss and 13 sacks in 21 games.
White suffered a torn ACL in the championship win vs. McDonogh that’s expected to sideline him through his senior wrestling season, though he’s expected to be close or at full strength once he arrives in College Park next fall. White, who finished 54-4 as a junior in wrestling, has drawn consistent high praise from the Spalding coaching staff.
White’s season was nearly perfect until it wasn’t. In the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference championship game against McDonogh, the 6-foot-1, 285-pound defensive lineman tore his ACL while playing on offense.
“He was the strongest player I’ve ever coached in 16 years,” Spalding coach Kyle Schmitt said. “He is very coachable and wants to learn everything. When he wanted to, he could take over a game. He just wouldn’t be moved.”
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