East Carolina assistant coach Rick Smith was scouting a player at Eastern Alamance High School last season, but afterwards approached Cedar Ridge coach Lou Geary instead.

“I saw him (Smith) at halftime and he was going to his car,'' Lou Geary said. “He said, 'Who's No. 33 coach?' I said, 'That's my son Jake.' He said, 'I don't know where he's going to play (in college), but he's going to play somewhere.' ''

Smith would help make the prophecy come true by convincing ECU head coach Skip Holtz that the younger Geary was worthy of a scholarship offer. That came last April when Geary, a 6-foot-2½, 220-pound linebacker, was on campus for the Pirates' Junior Day. Geary accepted soon afterwards to the delight of his father.

“When we went to East Carolina for junior day, we had no idea Skip Holtz was going to offer him a scholarship,'' Lou Geary said. “We were just like, 'Wow!'

“I remember coming up, too, wanting to play football at a big school. I would have given my right arm to do that. We all felt like East Carolina was a good school. We have been going down to Greenville to watch games, like last year against West Virginia. Their school is second to none and it seems like they're all good people. We felt like we could trust them.''

Jacob Geary has been part of his father's varsity squad since his freshman season at Cedar Ridge, which opened in 2002 and serves the city of Hillsborough. He began his rookie year at Cedar Ridge on the junior varsity, but played just one game before earning a promotion to the varsity where he lettered as a fullback.

The following year Geary was a starter at fullback and middle linebacker. As a junior, he racked up 133 tackles and had nine sacks on defense. In one game last season against Burlington Cummings, Geary was in on 21 tackles and returned a fumble for a touchdown.

Through the first half of the 2009 season, Geary had recorded 50 tackles and an interception.

“Jake isn't your five-star guy,'' Lou Geary said. “He doesn't show off and he's very humble. But he can play the game. He likes to hit and sometimes it scares me because he's pretty violent.

“He has wanted to play football since he was a pee wee. He's developed a mentality to be successful and do whatever it takes to be the player the coaches want him to be. Plus, he's a good kid and a good student. He's carrying a 3.5 grade point average into his senior year.''

A large number of schools have inquired about Geary, although only ECU and Western Carolina have offered at this point. But regardless of who else contacts him, Lou Geary said his son will remain committed to the Pirates.

“Letters don't mean anything, I know, but he's got two shoe boxes full of letters from places like Ohio State, UCLA, Stanford, you name it,'' Lou Geary said. “And he's still getting letters from everyone.

“But he's really happy about East Carolina, and so are his mother and I. That's where we're planning on sending him for the next four years. I'm sure you've seen over the years kids changing their minds and switching schools after they've committed. We don't want to go that way. Jacob is loyal and he's excited about working hard to become a standout linebacker for the Pirates.''

Geary isn't just a stellar football player. He's also a track and field star who was state runner-up in the discus last year. He was also an accomplished wrestler, but has given up that sport to concentrate on his football training.

The Pirates now have 11 commitments for their Recruiting Class of 2010. Geary is the third linebacker prospect to join the class.