ESPN RISE

Paxton Queen, LB, Riverdale Baptist: Riverdale Baptist (Upper Marlboro, Md.) is one of the smallest high schools in Maryland, but its girls' basketball program is nationally recognized and its football program has been steadily on the rise in recent years.

With an improved football program comes increased college interest for this school of 250 students.

One player receiving interest is the 6-foot, 200-pound outside linebacker Queen.

"When he straps the helmet on his demeanor just changes. He just refuses to lose," head coach Bob Shields said. "He was pretty dominant for us last year. We only gave up nine points per game last year."

Queen recorded 68 tackles for a Riverdale team that went 8-3 and won the National Association of Christian Athletes (NACA) championship last season.

Shields said Queen will likely move to inside linebacker for his senior season.

"The special thing about him is the intensity he brings," Shields said. "He runs to daylight and fills the hole in a very physical fashion."

Vince Snarsky, ATH, Loyola: The 5-foot-9, 190-pound Snarsky played defensive back, running back and receiver for the Dons last season.

"He's a durable, tough kid," Loyola head coach Brian Abbott said. "He's got the skill of a running back, receiver and defensive back, but he's got the strength and power of a linebacker."

Snarsky will be a three-year two-way player for Loyola as the team begins its hunt for a fourth straight Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A conference championship.

For his senior year, Snarsky is expected to be the team's starting running back, filling the spot of the graduated Terence Garvin.

"You want him around the ball. You want him touching the ball. You want him around where he can make the tackle. He's just a good, hard-nosed football player," Abbott said. "He was born to be a football player."

Greg Pheabus, LB, North Hagerstown: Pheabus is a 6-foot, 185-pound linebacker who earned Hagerstown Herald-Mail First Team along with All-Monocacy Valley Athletic League (MVAL) Piedmont conference honors last season.

The junior finished the season with 121 tackles, including a school-record 22 tackles for loss. The previous record was 12, set by Chad Carter in 1995.

Pheabus earned North Hagerstown's defensive player of the week six times last season.

His best game came against Allegany (Cumberland, Md.). The junior recorded 20 tackles (three for loss) and one sack.

Pheabus holds North Hagerstown's record for the most tackles for loss in a career with 28.5, surpassing Carter's record of 20 that was set in 1994-'95. Carter is currently sixth on the Hubs career list of career sacks with 11.

Chris Pitsenberger, LB, Good Counsel: Jelani Jenkins may have gotten all the attention last season, but Pitsenberger had one of his best games on a national stage.

Pitsenberger led the Falcons in tackles during the Oct. 2 game against DeMatha that was televised on ESPN2.

The 5-foot-11, 215-pound junior recorded 11.5 tackles in the game.

On the season, Pitsenberger recorded 72 tackles (15 for loss) and earned Montgomery Gazette first-team honors.

Adrian Coxson, WR, City College: After three years of Tavon Austin's getting most of the college's recruiting interest, there was speculation as to who would be the next big prospect to emerge out of Baltimore.

City College's 6-foot-2, 195-pound Coxson did not delay in giving an answer to that question.

As a junior, Coxson made 34 catches for 821 yards and nine touchdowns, earning Small School All-State second-team honors.

The junior's recruiting slowly built momentum, and at the time of his commitment to Penn State, Coxson held more than 11 offers.

Coxson does a little of everything for City College.

In addition to playing wide receiver, Coxson returned nine punts for 207 yards and returned one kickoff for a touchdown. He also had three interceptions on defense.

Click HERE for a complete list of players profiled. Interested in having your profile on ESPNRISE/MDVarsity.com? Click here to fill out the Player Prospect Form and e-mail it to Mike Loveday. All information on the form will be verified through coaches. We will be profiling athletes throughout the winter and spring.

Mike Loveday covers high school sports for ESPNRISE.com. Mike can be reached at Michael.Loveday@espn.com.