Northeast High's Barnes a rising star at Penn State

STATE COLLEGE - Philadelphian Deion Barnes stands 6-4 and weighs 246 pounds. Judging from his frame, compared with his soft-spokenness, one might think the redshirt freshman Nittany Lion is a gentle giant.

Then one sees the defensive end's Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Week Award and his team-leading five tackles for loss and four sacks and probably thinks otherwise.

"Deion works hard every day and he brings a great passion to us," said senior defensive end Sean Stanley, whom Barnes describes as the guy on the team he looks up to the most.

Barnes was a Daily News first-team All-City defensive lineman for his senior season at Northeast High and a second-team all-state player before joining the Nittany Lions as a four-star recruit according to Rivals.com.

While at Northeast, he was on the first Vikings team to win a Public League championship since 1983, and clocked 85 tackles, 25 tackles for loss and 13 sacks in his senior season.

Now, while sharing time with redshirt senior Pete Massaro but usually starting, he has been a force on Penn State's veteran defensive line, which takes on the host Purdue Boilermakers in the Lions' next game, on Saturday.

Teammates have been quick to praise Barnes' character throughout the year, as well as what he brings to the gridiron.

"I hang out with Deion a lot," sophomore cornerback Adrian Amos said. "He's in my apartment a lot. Deion's a good guy, Philly guy . . . just a good all-around person, and he competes very competitively."

Barnes said he proved something to the coaching staff in the summer to rise on the depth chart on a line that starts two seniors (Stanley and Jordan Hill) and a junior (DaQuan Jones).

"I think I proved that I could get the concept of the defense down and play at a fast pace all the time and be able to pass rush to make a difference in the game," Barnes said. "I think they were comfortable in me doing that, so that's what they wanted to do."

Barnes did not start in Penn State's (5-3, 3-1 Big Ten) most recent game against Ohio State, but he said that was because defensive line coach Larry Johnson wanted a rotation with him, Massaro and fellow redshirt freshman Anthony Zettel to keep the ends fresh. However, he still saw action and recorded a tackle.

On the season, Barnes has 17 tackles and has forced two fumbles, a number that ties him for the team lead with star linebacker Gerald Hodges. For the most part, the coaching staff has certainly proved Barnes' statement that it is comfortable sending him out there against the burly Big Ten offensive lines.

"Deion has been a very productive player, and he's very athletic, he's big, he's rangy and he's very instinctive player," coach Bill O'Brien said.

"That's what I like about him. He understands things that he sees offensively. He can think about how he's going to react before it even happens so he's able to react faster."