At 6’3 and 245 pounds George Bento is versatile athlete displaying strength and speed with the ability to play multiple positions.
Bento is listed as a linebacker, but will play a lot of defensive end and defensive line for first year Head Coach Jamar Chaney at 8A St. Lucie West High School in Port St. Lucie Florida.
He will also line up at tight end on offense and play some long snapper if needed.
Bento who transferred to St. Lucie West Centennial High School in Port St. Lucie Florida is getting a lot recruiting interest from BCS and FCS NCAA Division 1 Football Programs.
“George is definitely fast enough, quick enough and strong enough to play linebacker at the 8A Florida level, but his hand moves, strength and quickness make him almost unstoppable at defensive end or three technique, college coaches really like his game.” – Coach Chaney
Bento who played on the defensive line and offensive line at 6A Jensen Beach before transferring will have the benefit of playing next to one of the upcoming dominant rising junior lineman in the area.
“At Jensen Beach I was the biggest guy on the starting defensive line, now I have a very athletic, 340 pound teammate, teams are going to have to double and triple team him so I am going to get to create a lot of havoc if I only have one lineman to beat. Teams are going to really have a hard time stopping us.” – says Bento
Recently Bento was named to the TC Palm Scripps “On the Cusp” pre spring top player list ranking him as one of the top 18 players in the region.
The recruiting class on the Treasure Coast of Florida may be in the best in recent history with 6 players already receiving offers from Power 5 Football Schools.
He was also invited to the NUC All American North South Game played in Daytona Beach Florida in December 2017.
The Treasure Coast used to be the part of the Florida East Coast that recruiters would pass over because of its location between Miami and Orlando. Not anymore!
As a junior, Bento had been a star player on defense for Jensen Beach, starting on both sides of the ball since the 10th grade. He also started on all special teams and played Lacrosse at Jensen Beach.
Bento turned into a defensive star at Jensen Beach in his junior year, compiling 49 tackles, 15 tackles for a loss, 8 sacks, 20 quarter back hurries, 2 pass deflections and 1 forced fumble in just 9 games as primarily an interior defensive lineman.
His stats going into his senior year place him among the top returning defensive line players in the area.
Taking his talents to 8A St. Lucie West was a bold move that he hopes will help his football development as a high school player and a college football recruit.
“I am very excited to be here at St. Lucie West Centennial High School, we have a lot of coaches with college experience and we have a lot of players on our team to make our practices more competitive, we did not have enough players at Jensen Beach to have competitive practices last year.”
St. Lucie West is one of the largest schools in the area and plays against some of the best schools in the state including powerhouse schools Vero Beach, Treasure Coast & Ft. Pierce Central.
St. Lucie West is coached by former NFL player and St. Lucie West graduate Jamar Chaney. Chaney played linebacker in college football at Mississippi State where he was an All SEC player and MVP of the Senior Bowl. He spent five years in the NFL playing for the Eagles, Falcons, Broncos and Raiders.
At St. Lucie West George will be moving to linebacker under the guidance of Coach Chaney and his staff.
The move to linebacker for Bento is a testament to his athleticism. Bento who runs a 4.85 forty yard dash and has a 4.65, 5-10-5 shuttle is quick for his size. He also has a 30+ inch vertical jump and a broad jump over 8’6”.
Bento is also very strong compared to high school standards with a 315 bench press, 405 squat and 245 power clean.
His strength numbers are only going to go up heading into his senior season.
At the college level Bento is projected to be a run stop linebacker or defensive end/3 technique defensive lineman, he could also play tight end on offense.
If he can progress and have success at linebacker in his senior year at St. Lucie West Centennial his recruiting interests are likely to rise gaining more interest at bigger programs.
There are over 60+ BCS & FCS football programs that have shown interest in Bento since his sophomore season.
“There are a lot of schools that are coming to see George and his teams this spring at Centennial, I think he is going to get a lot of offers really soon.” – Coach Chaney
This spring George has been invited to numerous junior days and summer camps.
“After the spring, I am going to sit down with my family and Coach Chaney to discuss the camps that I plan to attend this summer, I want to make sure to go the camps at the college teams that are the most interested in offering me a scholarship or who have already offered me a scholarship, there is only so much we can do and still train for the season.” – says Bento
Last fall after his junior season George was invited to an unofficial visit at Georgia Tech where he attended a game against Virginia and was able to take a tour of the football facilities and program.
Last summer before his junior season, George had the opportunity to attend the All Poly Football Camp near Salt Lake City, Utah. George is of Polynesian ancestry and was able to connect with his Polynesian roots and participate in a great football camp with some of the top players in the country.
The camp was attended by over 100 college coaches and George did extremely well impressing coaches from schools like Utah, Colorado, Arizona State, Idaho, Hawaii and Fresno State.
He was able to make unofficial visits to Utah and Weber State on his trip to the All Poly camp.
He plans to attend the same camp next summer taking unofficial visits to Colorado, Colorado State, Colorado Mesa and Colorado State Pueblo.
He has also been contacted with letters and emails from Kansas, USC, Kentucky, Louisville, Cincinnati, Tulsa, Alabama Birmingham and many others.
Right now, USF, UCF, Georgia Southern, Coastal Carolina, Appalachian State & Mercer are some of the schools that have shown the most interest, but George is open to learning more about other schools and programs.
He holds offers from a few schools including NCAA D2 powerhouse Colorado Mesa.
George was invited to participate in 2017 Nike Opening Regional.
He was also invited to Rivals Camp Series and the Blue Grey All American Combine and the NUC All American Combine.
His goal is to find the right program fit for his education and football. George is interested in majoring in General Studies with an interest in Environmental Studies has a 3.2 GPA.
For more information please visit: http://www.georgebento.com
Follow George on Twitter: https://twitter.com/george_da_boii
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