Owls Hoops and Gridiron Standout Looking to Play at the Next Level
HIGHLAND PARK, NJ—This past season, Highland Park athletics was looking to inject a new spirit into its football and boys basketball programs with new coaches, new philosophies, and new attitudes. The Owls, which decided to cancel their 2018 football season after one game, returned to the gridiron and finished the 2019 season. Meanwhile, the boys basketball team was looking to continue improving after a near .500 season the year before.
With the departure of the likes of Romelo Haskins and Chad Ghee to graduation, and the transfer of Donovan Crawford to North Brunswick, more was expected for incoming seniors such as Dylan Darkwah. Darkwah did his best not to disappoint. Although this year’s Owls struggled to finish with a 3-21 overall mark, Darkwah was second on the team in scoring with 262 total points in 24 games, or an average of 10.9 points per game.
Darkwah was also a bright spot on the football field for the Owls. He and fellow running back, Michael Adamcyk-Zapor spearheaded Highland Park’s rushing attack. He scored two touchdowns in a loss at St. Thomas Aquinas including a kickoff return for a score and a TD reception. He almost had a scoring run in a loss at Spotswood while having five tackles and an interception versus Dunellen, and another interception against Metuchen.
Two years ago, Darkwah also played baseball as a sophomore. He excelled the most on the hardwood though as he played three seasons on the varsity boys basketball team at Highland Park. Over those three seasons, Darkwah scored 477 points in 54 games for an average of 8.8 points per game at Highland Park. Now, Darkwah is moving on to the next level by recently announcing to attend Penn State-Altoona this fall.
Benefitting from the altruistic play of Crawford as a junior, Darkwah flourished as a finisher both down low and in transition. Even though Crawford didn’t return, Darkwah still managed to find a way to be a bright spot while mentoring the likes of junior and the team’s leading scorer Ben Micklaus this past season. Over his three seasons at Highland Park, Darkwah made 162 field goals, 17 threes, and 65 free throws according to stats compiled at NJ.com.
Darkwah also compiled 60 rebounds, 40 steals, 24 blocks, and 12 assists in 19 games as a junior. He had a career high 10 boards in a 55-54 loss at home to Perth Amboy Tech this past season on January 7th. He had three other games with 8 rebounds this season while grabbing 9 in two more contests a year ago. Darkwah scored 10 or more points in 28 games during his career. He scored in double figures 15 times in 2019-20 and 12 double digit scoring games as a junior. He scored almost half his points as a sophomore in a 69-51 victory at South Amboy on February 5, 2018.
Scoring a career high 18 points for the Owls in a 62-55 loss at Calvary Christian this past season on January 15th, Darkwah connected on 7 field goals and made four free throws. Darkwah scored 17 points on three other occasions as well including once as a junior in a 76-69 loss to Sayreville in the 2019 GMCT Boys Play-In round at the Bomb Shelter on February 9th. He made 6 field goals and five free throws in that contest while also collecting 5 rebounds, 6 steals, 3 assists, and 2 blocks.
Moving on to PSU-Altoona, Darkwah will be looking to join a men’s basketball program that finished 16-12 this past season including an 11-9 mark in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference. The Lions reached the semifinal round of the AMCC Tournament, and lost in the opening round of the ECAC Division III Championship. The team doubled its win total from 2018-19 when the Lions finished 8-17 overall including a 6-12 mark in the AMCC.
Congratulations Dylan, and best wishes for success at the next level.