Quarterback Pat Devlin earned the backup quarterback position for Downingtown High School his freshman year, not bad considering the team consisted of 107 players. Downingtown High School split into two schools following Devlin’s freshman year and he got the nod as the starter for Downingtown East as a sophomore. The 6-4, 205-pound signal caller has made the most of his opportunity each of the past two seasons.

“He’s a 6-4, very athletic quarterback with a strong arm,” Downingtown East head coach Michael Matta said. “He’s been the starter since his sophomore year. During his sophomore year he set a single game passing record against West Chester East – he threw for 511 yards in a single game. He was the backup quarterback as a freshman on a team with 107 kids, so he’s been hanging around for quite some time. He’s started as a basketball player as a sophomore and a junior. He has tremendous poise and all the tools you’re looking for as a quarterback and we’re expecting a huge senior year out of him.”

As a sophomore, Devlin completed 217 of 342 passes for 2,913 yards, 27 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He completed 147 of 231 passes for 2,237 yards, 21 touchdowns, 11 interceptions this past season. Devlin even displayed his athleticism effectively when teams took away the pass, rushing for 357 yards and 10 touchdowns last season.

“We run a spread offense,” Matta said. “We pass the ball about 50 percent of the time. We still run – we had a thousand-yard back last year as a sophomore so we still have a good running back as well. Pat actually opens things up quite a bit because other teams try to defend the pass and then we’re able to run the ball a little bit. He’s actually run the ball some. He had three games when he ran for over 100 yards this year because people try to take away the pass.”

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