TRAVERSE CITY -- Jake Carra hasn't always been on time for school during his high school career at Traverse City Central.
But, it's been for good reason.
"Max Walker, Alex Fancy and I, since our freshman year we got to got to school late because we were working out," Carra said.
As members of the football team, the group would lift weights four days a week for their first couple of years of high school during the offseason. When coach Tom Passinault took over last year, the weight training was cut to three days a week with runs on the opposite days.
"In the mornings, I usually get up at 6:10 a.m. and we start (the workout) at 6:30," Carra said.
Now, Carra is reaping the rewards of his tardiness.
As a senior offensive lineman for the Trojans, Carra is being recruited by a number of schools in the state and the Midwest.
"Really, I'm looking at anywhere I can get money to play," Carra said. "Eastern Michigan is probably my top Division 1 school. They're really interested in me."
Michigan State, Central Michigan and Ball State are also possibilities, as well some Division 1-AA and Division 2 schools.
"He's been aggressive about going to a couple of combines and attracting the college coaches himself," Trojans coach Tom Passinault said. "Right now, both sides are trying to figure out at what level he fits."
Despite playing tackle for Central, the 275-pound Carra will switch to guard when he goes to college.
"I'm not 6-foot-5," Carra said. "I'm only 6-2, 6-3, so I'm switching down to guard."
This summer, Carra has also been working out several times a week at the school to get ready for the upcoming season.
And, he's attended camps at a number of colleges, as well as a Nike camp in Columbus, Ohio.
"You just want to go out and do your best," Carra said of the camp experience. "There are some huge kids there and you want to see where you stack up against them."
How does Carra stack up? He said in one-on-one drills against defensive line recruits, he's 12-4 at camps this summer.
The success at the camps have Carra looking towards his collegiate future.
"It's just starting to set in," Carra said of playing college football. "It's going to be a lot of hard work for four years of your life, getting up at 5 a.m. every day for workouts. But, it's definitely going to be worth it."
Not bad, considering Carra got a late start getting into the game.
"I wasn't allowed to play football until seventh grade, because I was too big for football," Carra said. "It didn't hit me until seventh, eighth, ninth grade, but then I realized I'm big enough to get this done."
As for the recruiting process, Carra said things really picked up after last fall, when TC Central went 5-4 and just missed the playoffs.
"After my sophomore year I made a couple of visits, but it picked up after last season," Carra said. "That's when I started getting letters every day."
The biggest outpouring of mail came from Eastern Michigan, which sent nine letters in one day to the Carra residence.
"I went down there for junior day and I got a letter from every one of their coaches thanking me for coming," Carra said. "It makes you feel good. All your hard work is paying off."
Now, Carra is hoping to get the recruiting process done and over with. He said Eastern Michigan could offer him something in the next few weeks.
"I'd like to have this done earlier, but if it comes to the point where I need to send my first two game tapes, I will," Carra said.
When Carra finalizes the recruiting process, he'll join a recent fraternity of TC Central linemen who have gone on to play collegiate football.
Michigan freshman Rocko Khoury played three years for Central before transferring to TC West for his senior season. Nick Rademacher walked on at Central Michigan as an offensive lineman and Derek Drelles is at Hillsdale.
"Our strength program is one of the best, and that's directly attributed to Doug Gle," Passinault said. "He knows what it takes to get these athletes ready for college."
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