Football

Syracuse football freshmen: Ellison, Dungey, Keller, Clark, Ealey

Syracuse football freshman move-in day is Sunday, and Scott Shafer welcomes a crop of 26 — including early enrollee Matt Keller — onto the team. Here’s a brief look at the fourth five of the group.

Reminder: Original Class of 2015 commit Brandon Ginnetti will arrive in January as part of the Class of 2016 and Trey Dunkelberger is a junior college transfer, so he won’t be included in the freshman class. All physical measurements are according to Scout.

Daivon Ellison, cornerback, Don Bosco (New Jersey) Prep

While sites list him as a corner, Ellison prides himself on being able to be versatile. His ability to play safety as well could help a rebuilding Syracuse secondary and he’ll be able to move quickly at 5-foot-9, 180 pounds. He’s close friends with fellow commit Dontae Strickland and the only player listed at his position of four at the time of his verbal to eventually stay with the Orange.

Eric Dungey, quarterback, Lakeridge (Oregon) High School



Dungey is the lone commit to the west of Illinois in the class, and throws himself into a crowded quarterback carousel that includes starter Terrel Hunt, sophomore AJ Long, sophomore Austin Wilson, walk-on sophomore Zack Mahoney and freshman Kenterius Womack.

The 6-foot-4, 190-pounder is the top signal-caller in the state of Oregon, per Scout, and threw for 2,395 yards on a 61.6-percent completion rate in his senior season, according to MaxPreps. He added 22 passing touchdowns and 15 on the ground, tallying 982 yards on 142 carries.

Matt Keller, long-snapper, Penn Manor (Pennsylvania) High School

Keller enrolled early at Syracuse and has been on campus since January. According to Kohl’s, which sponsors camps for kicking, punting and snapping, Keller is the No. 1 prospect in the Class of 2015. With the departure of stalwart Sam Rodgers, Keller will likely start ahead of Keith Mitsuuchi and Nathan Hines as Shafer will surely want to get the most out of a long-snapper’s scholarship.

Steven Clark, defensive tackle, Brindlee Mountain (Alabama) High School

At one point, it seemed as if Clark would flip his verbal from Syracuse to Florida. But he stayed true to the Orange and will join the group of three freshmen defensive tackles that will push this year’s redshirt freshmen for playing time on a depleted line. Clark is 6-foot-3, 290 pounds and was recruited as an offensive lineman by the Gators, but looks to be classified on the defensive line by SU.

Amir Ealey, defensive end, Coatesville Area (Pennsylvania) High School

Ealey played some tight end in high school, picking up five touchdowns on 650 receiving yards in his senior season, according to MaxPreps. But at Syracuse, he’ll join a defensive line that lost a couple players and gained Luke Arciniega, who switched positions. He was the second of five consecutive defensive linemen to commit, with Clark committing before Ealey and Qaadir Sheppard, Kenny Carter and Jake Pickard following.





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