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Source: The Robesonian
PEMBROKE — Marlin Locklear and Jojo Blanks both had highly decorated careers during their time on the Purnell Swett football team.
That success has led to the continuation of their football careers at the college level.
Locklear will attend Central Carolina Sports Academy in Greensboro, while Blanks has already enrolled at ASA Institute in Brooklyn, N.Y.
“I went to their graduation party on Saturday and I was just as proud as I could be,” said Rams head coach Mark Heil.
Locklear, a three-time member of the Robesonian’s All-County team and two-time Two Rivers Conference first-team selection, was one of three Purne ll Swett players to rush for over 1,000 yards during the 2008 season.
In a 56-36 win over Pine Forest in Oct. 2008, Locklear rushed for 175 yards on 24 carries, while amassing a school-record six touchdowns.
“He’ll have the opportunity to transfer to a Division II school, maybe Division I-AA,” Heil said. “We feel fortunate that he will be able to attend CCSA, because it just wasn’t working out anywhere else.”
At CCSA, students are given the opportunity to choose between two routes of postgraduate education. They can take the"prep school route and attend classes at the academy, or the junior college route, in which they take classes at a local community college and receive tutoring through the academy.
“Marlin has struggled in the classroom, but he’s such a smart kid,” Heil said. “I know he’ll do fine.”
Blanks was Swett's first player selected to the Shrine Bowl since Western Carolina receiver and former Ram Marquell Pittman was chosen in 2005.
Blanks is a two-time Two Rivers Conference and The Robesonian defensive player of the year.
ASA is an 18-month junior college that offers six intercollegiate programs. The school is adding football for the first time in the fall.
“JoJo has had just such a difficult senior season,” Heil said. “He had the injuries and still was able to come back and help us. Then when he went to the Shrine Bowl, we found out he was hurt again and that he had to have another operation.”
Blanks will be attending ASA on a full scholarship.
“I’m not worried about him one bit,” Heil said. "He has the toughness to handle anything — whether it’s Brooklyn or Afghanistan.
In all, six players from the 2008 Rams team will be playing college fo otball in the fall. Malachi Jacobs, an offensive and defensive lineman, earned a scholarship to Greensboro College, while Matt Locklear will play at Methodist in Fayetteville.
Robert Cole, a wide receiver, plans to walk-on at The University of North Carolina at Pembroke. Wide receiver D’Anteaus Williams received a full scholarship to play at Livingstone College in Salisbury.
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