Football: Broad Run Senior Linebacker Joe Walter to Play at NCAA Division II IUP Next Year

Joe Walter (#34) applies another big hit for the Spartans.

Ashburn (Feb. 10, 2011) - Broad Run High School senior Joe Walter has signed a Letter of Intent to play football next year at NCAA Division II Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP).

The Spartans captured two state titles and lost only two games while the 6-foot-1, 215-pound Walter was on the varsity roster with a 3-year record of 39-2. The hard-nosed linebacker was first team All-Dulles District this year and second team Region II.

"Joe is a tremendous football player and kid who loves contact," said Broad Run coach Matt Griffis. "He just likes to hit people, he is "Old School"."

Walter will play under new Crimson Hawks coach Curt Cignetti, a 28-year veteran assistant coach most recently at the University of Alabama and son of legendary IUP coach Frank Cignetti, who retired following the 2005 season.

IUP went 6-5 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference last season which includes the following schools: Bloomsburg, C.W. Post, California (Pa.), Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Gannon, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mercyhurst, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock and West Chester.

Walter joins two other Loudoun players who were freshmen on the Crimson Hawks roster in the fall: LB Alex Berdahl, who played at Bishop O'Connell, and OF Mike Charmo who played at Loudoun Valley.

IUP, founded in 1875, has more than 15,000 undergraduate and graduate students and is the fifth-largest university in Pennsylvania. Indiana, Pa. is located about 60 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.