LUMBERTON — It was love at first sight for Lumberton senior offensive lineman Pete Townsend when looking at where he would like to continue his football career.
Townsend, surrounded by his parents and coaches, signed his letter of intent to play for Elon University. He verbally committed on Jan. 10 following an official visit to the Division I university, but set his decision in stone on Wednesday morning.
“Just one visit. It took one visit and I fell in love,” Townsend said.
Townsend’s fit when trying to find the right college was based on surrounding himself with like-minded people, and he felt that Elon, who offered him a scholarship on Dec. 3, fit the mold.
“I just tried to be myself and tell them my interests and what I want as part of a football team,” Townsend said. “I thought the people at Elon were just like me. People that are intellectuals, very athletic and good people that push hard.”
“He’s ready to come in and compete with Elon right now,” Lumberton coach Mike Setzer said. “He’s a self-motivated human being.”
Townsend got off to a slow start on the recruiting trail and it wasn’t until October that Elon started showing interest in him.
“In the recruiting world, so many people now want to only come chase kids from big time programs or winning programs,” Setzer said. “I felt like, as far as our program, a lot of pressure was on his back.”
With the pressure on, Townsend delivered as a leader and a player for the Pirates in his senior campaign, helping the team claim an appearance in the state playoffs for the first time in three years.
“Last year he seemed to look for a little more guidance, but this year he was pulling people along,” Setzer said. “We put a new offense in last year so he had to look for some guidance, but this year it was just another coach on the field.”
Lumberton’s offense behind the blocking of Townsend had success with running back Troy Mitchell, who rushed for 1,500 yards and 17 touchdowns, and under the operation of freshman quarterback Braylan Grice, who threw for over 1,300 yards and rushed for nearly 500 yards.
“Without him, it wouldn’t have been possible. He was our most consistent o(ffensive) lineman,” Setzer said. “Everyone knew that we were going through 71’s side.
“Pete’s guidance was able to help out a young quarterback.”
Townsend, the son of Amanda Colletti and Ronnie Townsend, will join Elon for summer workouts in June.
