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Friday, July 23, 1999 By Mike White, Post-Gazette Sports Writer
HERSHEY -- Don Yannessa is sort of the critic, catching a sneak preview of a possible future Pitt secondary. And to him, the William Ferguson and Robb Butler show deserves a four-star rating.
Yannessa is the head coach of the Pennsylvania all-star team that will play Ohio in tomorrow night's Big 33 game at Hersheypark Stadium. He said Woodland Hills' Ferguson and Perry's Butler, both Pitt recruits, have been two of the most impressive players in practice this week.
Ferguson (5 feet 10, 180 pounds) will start at safety and Butler (6-0, 200) at cornerback for the Pennsylvania team, which is made up of 34 players who graduated from high school last month.
"Those are two guys I'd like to be around for a long time," said Yannessa, Baldwin High's coach. "Ferguson is small, but what he lacks in size, he makes up for in aggressiveness. He's going to help Pitt. And Butler is definitely going to help Pitt. He brings everything to the table you need. He's physically strong, he's quick and he's very, very athletic."
Defensive backs are a key in the Big 33 because teams must pass at least 40 percent of plays, only man-to-man single coverage is allowed and there is no blitzing or stunts.
"There's a lot of pressure on the defensive backs in this game," said Ferguson. "But then again, there's pressure every game you play."
Butler likes the pressure.
"The more pressure on me, the harder I play," Butler said.
Both Butler and Ferguson were also offensive stars in high school -- Ferguson at running back-receiver and Butler at receiver. But both will be defensive backs at Pitt.
Butler has added about 25 pounds since his senior season at Perry. He has hit the weights hard and believes taking the nutritional supplement creatine has helped. Creatine is used by some athletes with the belief that it helps build muscle mass, strength and endurance.
"I started taking it in January and I've seen a big-time improvement in me," Butler said.
Butler tried creatine because he wanted to add some weight and muscle to be what he called "the protypcial cornerback." He also thought creatine would help because he does not have a healthy diet. And he asked Pitt strength and conditioning coach Buddy Morris about creatine, and Morris suggested Butler give it a try.
"I don't get as tired from lifting weights and I recover a lot faster," Butler said of the creatine effects. "Now I can work my muscles longer."
But Butler has been bothered by a pulled groin muscle from track season. He said if it still bothers him when he gets to Pitt in a few weeks, he may request to be redshirted.
"The muscle was pulled all the way up the lower abdominal area," Butler said. "If it doesn't get better, redshirting might be the best thing. I'm only 17 years old. An extra year will let me get bigger, stronger and faster."
The other two starters in the Pennsylvania secondary will be Duquesne's Jaison Cook (Northwestern) at safety and Manheim Township's Rob Blomeier (Nebraska) at cornerback. Yannessa said Blomeier also has been impressive.
"I like my secondary," Yannessa said. "I hope I still like it around 10 o'clock Saturday night."
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What: Pennsylvania All-Stars vs. Ohio All-Stars.