13 hours Ago
For Mervo football and track star Justin DeVaughn, there’s plenty of work left and memories to be made in his final month of high school. But the senior can’t stop thinking about what’s coming next.DeVaughn’s hard work, dedication and gifted natural talent — in athletics and the classroom — earned him a scholarship to play football at Maryland.
He leaves for College Park two days after graduation day.“All I’m thinking about is the next level because I can’t wait to do what I do,” he says boldly.His four years at Mervo had been filled with highs and lows, which have helped shape who he is today.
Two teammates have died. In his freshman year, while DeVaughn was on the JV team, beloved senior leader Elijah Gorham died after suffering injuries during a game. The following year, his first on varsity, Jeremiah Brogden was shot and killed at the school on the afternoon of the Mustangs’ first game.
DeVaughn grew stronger. His breakthrough junior football season at wide receiver was capped by the winning touchdown in the Class 4A state title game. In track, he won his third state title in the 55 hurdles during the indoor season and looks to cap his high school career by defending last spring’s outdoor 4A state titles in the 110 and 300 hurdles.
DeVaughn maintains a 3.2 grade point average and is still weighing his college major, interested in graphic design and engineering.Note: Questions and answers have been edited for brevity and clarity.
With graduation approaching, what do you want to get out of your last days at Mervo?You only get one senior year, so I’m hoping to make more memories with my team, friends, family. It’s just been a good ride, so before graduation I want to get some more work in, have fun and finish out the track season with a state championship.What are your goals as you close out your track career?This year, I’m basically trying to double it, go back and win the 110 and 300 hurdles again and hopefully bring my team together for us to win a state title as a team.
We’ve come up short every year by a few points, but that’s our plan this year. We got a unit and we’re trying to bring it all together to win that state championship.What was it like bringing home the state title in football in your junior year?Being on that field my freshman year — I watched because I was on junior varsity — and I was thinking I want to get back there.
I made it my goal, I wanted to go back to that stadium. And then stepping on the field my junior year, it felt unreal. It was real foggy and you couldn’t even see the other team across the field at all.
I just focused on what I needed to do, stay calm, catch the ball and I ended up scoring the game-winning touchdown. I have no words. It was a crazy experience.
And then my senior year, I was grateful to step back on that field two years in a row and even though we came up short, I was still grateful that we made it to that game.What do you recall about the day you committed to Maryland last summer?It was a long day. Right at the church I gave coach [Michael Locksley] a call and I was like ‘Yeah, we’re going to make this happen, most definitely.
’ Before that, I was talking with my parents and they were like ‘Do you like what you see?’ Everything that I saw I liked — how they treated me, everything about the visit and me being part of the team. I really felt like I was part of the team. I had been visiting down there almost since my freshman year when my brother [Vaughn DeVaughn III] was getting recruited by them, so I had been around.
That day is very special to me because once I committed, it made me realize I’m really at this moment and I had never seen myself here before. The feeling was great.Did you think back to all the hard work you put in to get where you are?When I think back like that, I always think about any any football or track practices that killed me or times when the team had to get together and fix a lot of stuff.
It wasn’t an easy journey at all. Things happened in life that could have sidetracked me and messed me up, like my sophomore year when my teammate ended up getting shot and killed. So that year was real mental for all of us.
Going on to my 11th grade year, everything blossomed for me and the team. We used that stuff as fuel and ended up going to the state championship. So thinking about all that, it wasn’t easy at all.
Justin DeVaughn, a football and track standout for the Mervo Mustangs has decided on the Maryland Terrapins as his university of choice. (Karl Merton Ferron/Staff)What do you believe you will bring to the Maryland program? Maryland, they’re going to get the best out of me. I can’t wait to get down there.
I’ve been watching their practices and it makes me want to showcase my talent even more. They’re going to get it all out of me for real. They’re going to get the speed, the catches, route running.
I’ll be there for the team, be a leader and be who I am.With everything you’ve accomplished, what kind of impact do you feel you have made from a leadership standpoint here at Mervo?It’s definitely been a big movement and I never expected it. As soon as the scholarship offers came in, I never looked at it as me influencing younger kids until they started saying it to me and it opened my eyes and reminded me of who I am sometimes.
One little word somebody saying something, you’re doing good so good at what you do, I want to be like you ...
I tell them the same thing focus on school and everything will come together.Have a news tip? Contact Glenn Graham at [email protected], 410-332-6636 and x.
com/GlennGrahamSun..
