Two highly touted St. Joseph recruits, Louis Acceus and Joshua Fedd-Jackson, committed to North Carolina State on Sunday.
The praise just kept coming from Augie Hoffmann on Sunday afternoon.
First, the St. Joseph (Mont.) football coach raved about his star senior linebacker Louis Acceus.
Next, the Green Knights' third-year man gushed about star senior offensive lineman Joshua Fedd-Jackson.
Roughly six weeks after both helped lead St. Joseph to the Non-Public, Group 3 state title at MetLife Stadium, the pair of standout Green Knights both offered their verbal commitments to North Carolina State.
"Listen, Louis is what every high school kid should try to be like," Hoffmann said of Acceus, last year's NJ.com Defensive Player of the Year. "I firmly believe that. He's as humble as they come. He's a hard worker. He's one of the best we've had here."
"And Josh, you knew the minute he stepped on campus he was going to be a Division I football player. He's done such a phenomenal job preparing himself in the classroom and his work ethic is second to none. I'll tell you what, N.C. State got a steal with him, because a lot of people missed on him. He's as tough and nasty as they come. When the pads go on and the chinstraps buckle, he's the last guy you want to go against. ... He's going to be special."
Together, Acceus and Fedd-Jackson had major hands in St. Joseph finished 9-2 and capturing its first state title since 2013. The Green Knights finished No. 1 in NJ.com's final Top 20, the third time they have accomplished the feat in the last six years.
Acceus, a 6-foot, 215-pound, hard-hitting linebacker, finished with a team-high 101 tackles, including 14 for losses, 6.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and one interception. In the Green Knights' 26-17 win over DePaul in the Non-Public, Group 3 final, he had eight tackles, an interception and tipped another that led to another pick.
<iframe src='//www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/4786581/581be67af5605e073c7c7f71' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreen></iframe>
Acceus doubled up as one of the state's premiere two-way players, ending the season with 862 rushing yards and nine touchdowns. In NJ.com's Todderick Hunt's latest Top 50 recruits, Acceus came in at No. 10 in New Jersey.
"Louis came in as a sophomore as was part of my first team as a head coach," Hoffmann said. "These seniors, in 2013, they're coming off being one of the best teams in the country and arguably the best coach in the state [Tony Karcich] retires. These guys have this new, unproven coach and Lou started the minute he got here. Played every down. And he morphed into what he is today. I'm indebted to him because of his work ethic and his belief in the program and the vision I had as a head coach. He was one of the guys I leaned on to be a leader."
Fedd-Jackson, listed at 6-foot-2, 305 pounds, was the Green Knights' starting right tackle and helped anchor a line that also included Penn State commit Robert Martin. Protecting QB Nick Patti and opening up running lanes for Acceus, Jordan Scott and Isaiah Hopkinson, Fedd-Jackson helped St. Joseph account for 4,135 yards of total offense last season (375.9 per game), including 2,395 yards rushing.
Fedd-Jackson was rated as New Jersey's 21st-best recruit by Hunt.
"These two guys are very close," Hoffmann said. "This group of seniors... we're lucky to have such a tight-knit group of kids. Lou and Josh have similar work mentalities and they became close the last two years. They were recruited by a lot of the same schools. N.C. State planned their visit at the same time, which was smart on their part. The comfort level was there and they looked at like, 'Hey, we could be together the next 4-5 years. Why not?'."