Pitt commit Bright having a big finish to high school
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A year in Ohio might have caused some teams in Alabama’s 6A classification to forget about Cam Bright, but it didn’t take long for the Pitt linebacker commit to establish himself.
With the playoffs about to start, Bright is the defensive leader for one of the best teams in the state, and he and his teammates at Park Crossing have their sights set on big goals.
“The team we beat last Friday, they won states back-to-back,” Bright told Panther-Lair.com.
That game was two weeks ago and the opponent was Clay-Chalkville, the two-time defending Class 6A state champion. The final score was 56-17 in Park Crossing’s favor, the ninth time in 10 games that Bright and his defensive mates have held an opponent to 20 points or less.
The Thunderbirds enter the playoffs with a perfect 10-0 record - they lost to a Class 7A team in the second week of the season, but that win was forfeited after the opponent was found to have used an ineligible player - and Bright, who played at Park Crossing as a sophomore before spending his junior year at North Ridgeville in Ohio, is a big part of the team’s success. While Park Crossing is averaging 37.9 points per game on offense, the defense has been even more impressive, allowing just 12.4 points per game.
That includes three shutouts and five games that saw the opponents score six points or less. And while Park Crossing has some talented players on defense, Bright stands out. He leads the team in tackles (93), tackles for loss (19), sacks (12) and forced fumbles (5).
“I just stay in the weight room, pray before every game, go out and perform,” Bright said. “I use my speed to an advantage. Teams have been using half-backs, wing-backs and that kind of thing to double-team me, but it doesn’t really work too well.”
Bright is playing a unique role this season. He’s 6’1” and 200 pounds, but his coaches at Park Crossing use him as a stand-up pass-rushing defensive end.
“The plan was for be in the middle this year, but a coach at another school left and we got a lot of transfers,” he said. “So we got some real inside linebackers and that allowed me to move outside and play more on the line of scrimmage.
“I like it. There’s a lot more action.”
The Pitt coaches have liked what they’ve seen, too. Defensive backs coach Renaldo Hill attended the game against Clay-Chalkville and gave Bright some positive feedback.
“Coach Hill said how impressive it was at the point of attack on a 300-pound guy; he said that was really impressive,” Bright said. “I’m mostly just rushing the passer this year, but Pitt said I’ll drop into coverage more there and they want to watch film with me when I’m there on my official visit in December so we can talk about my position when I get there.”
When Bright committed over the summer, the coaches told him he fit into the “Star” linebacker position - an outside linebacker who covers the wide side of the field. It remains to be seen if that’s still the plan, but his performance this season has the Pitt coaches excited, no matter where he ends up.
“Coach (Rob) Harley checks on me daily and we get our one phone call per week, I text Coach Hill all the time, Coach (Josh) Conklin calls me sometimes and Coach (Pat) Narduzzi hits me up every game day.
“Every time Pitt’s on TV, I catch them, so I watched Penn State, Marshall and Virginia. They’re looking pretty good. They just have to finish some of the games. They’ve been in some close games.”
Park Crossing, who is one of three undefeated teams in 6A and checks in at No. 11 on the AL.com Power Poll, will take on Saraland in the first round of the playoffs tonight.