TE Talks About Official Trip

Oradell (N.J.) Bergen Catholic tight end Sam Johnson took his first official visit this past weekend. So how did it go?

"I had a lot of fun," said the 6-foot-4, 235-pounder of his trip to Boston College to watch the Eagles defeat Stanford 34-17. "I saw a great game."

The Eagles trailed for Johnson's services prior to the visit, but that has changed since.

"I'm still looking at Rutgers and Syracuse, although Rutgers is almost out of it now," he said. "I've been to Rutgers plenty of times but I'm concerned about their start. I like the coaches there and still think they can turn it around, but I expected them to beat Villanova and Buffalo. I want to win football games and go to bowl games. Syracuse is also 0-2 so BC is looking good right now. I go to Syracuse on Oct. 4 for their game against Pitt. I'll decide after that."

So what did he like about BC?

"The atmosphere was really great and I like that everything is within walking distance, that it's not a city campus or too spread out," he said. "I also liked the players and closeness of the team. They all get along very well. I was hosted by Augie Hoffmann who is from Jersey and spent a lot of time talking with Vinny Ciurciu and Greg Toal. I know Greg's younger brother and all of those guys are from Jersey. It felt like home."

However, a trip to Syracuse will ne needed.

"If I liked BC that much, I'll probably like Syracuse the same way," he said. "That's why I need to see both and decide after that. The BC visit was a great one and if Syracuse isn't as nice, then we'll see."

Johnson is being recruited as a tight end by both Rutgers and Syracuse and as an h-back by the Eagles.

"I kinda like the h-back deal because coach (Dana) Bible was telling me it's more challenging," he said. "You need to know both the tight end and fullback positions and you line up all over. J.P. Comella had four catches in the first half and lined up in the slot and at wideout as well as at fullback. But I'm more comfortable as a tight end, so I want to see how Syracuse uses them in their offense. I don't have a problem blocking, but I want to catch the ball too."