The United States serves as a field for just over one million high school football players. Out of that large number of athletes, close to 8,000 have the privilege of advancing to play collegiate football at a Division I or Division II university. On Feb. 3, 2016, the day designated by the NCAA as the National Letter of Intent signing day, one of Delphi Community High School’s own athletes earned his spot in that prestigious group.

Garrett Clark, a 6’3”, 270 lb senior, recently signed his National Letter of Intent to attend St. Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, Indiana. Clark intends to play football for the Pumas as a defensive tackle. St. Joseph’s College competes in NCAA Division II athletics and belongs to the Great Lakes Valley Conference.  

Delphi head coach, Josh Strasser, was nothing but pleased for Clark. “St. Joe is gaining a hard-working, very loyal team player who they can expect to be an immediate return for the next couple of years.”

Clark’s decision to attend St. Joe’s was not a difficult one. “It seemed like the best opportunity to further both my educational and athletic career.” As a Puma, Garrett is also happy to know that he will be sharing the field with another Delphi Alumni, Tyler Ross. Ross, a former high school teammate of Clark’s, graduated from DCHS in 2015.

Last season for Delphi, Clark grabbed 49 tackles and served as a team leader in both caused fumbles (2) and blocked field goal attempts (1). Clark’s presence, both on the offensive and defensive side of the ball, will be missed by the Oracles. “We will greatly miss his ability to stop the run and also the level of intensity he brought to the game,” said coach Strasser.

As an Oracle, Clark was a two-time all area and all Hoosier conference selection, along with being selected to the  2015-2016 2A AP All-State team.