Will any former YAIAA stars play at Beaver Stadium Saturday? Maybe more than one

If you enjoyed watching Jahiem White run the football for York High the past three years, you won't have to wait much longer to see him play again.

The true freshman will likely get playing time for West Virginia against Penn State football Saturday. The opening night matchup airs 7:30 p.m. on NBC.

"Jahiem White will play," West Virginia head coach Neal Brown said at his Aug. 21 press conference when directly asked the question.

There you have it.

It's possible two former YAIAA football stars will be playing at Beaver Stadium Friday night. Penn State's James Franklin has yet to announce a starting quarterback but it's widely expected the Nittany Lions will go with 5-star recruit Drew Allar. Still, Central York product Beau Pribula could see the field in certain packages and will likely play quarterback in the second half if the game turns into a Penn State blowout.

It was less than three years ago that Pribula and White competed against each other in a District 3 championship game. Now it'll come in a nationally televised NCAA Division I contest.

The second-leading rusher in YAIAA history, White received only one Power Five scholarship offer, likely due to his 5-foot-7 height. Still, West Virginia considered the 3-star recruit to be one of the centerpieces of its 2023 recruiting class.

White enrolled at West Virginia in January after graduating early from high school and quickly established himself as a candidate for playing time. He rushed seven times for 91 yards including a 53-yard touchdown at the Mountaineers Gold-Blue Spring Game.

"Obviously, Jahiem's a fan favorite already," Brown said to reporters after the game.

Still, spring scrimmages are very different from games against teams ranked top 10 in the country. And West Virginia has plenty of depth at running back with three returning players who got significant playing time last season (C.J. Donaldson, Jaylen Anderson and Justin Johnson).

But White is a dynamic player who can catch the ball and make plays in the open field. It's likely he lines up at slot receiver Saturday.

Related: Penn State football vs. West Virginia: Scouting report, prediction

More on White: Here's how a kid named 'Florida' became one of York County's greatest football players

"We've gotta get the ball in his hands," offensive coordinator Chad Scott, who recruited White to West Virginia, said in early August. "We're being smart about it and seeing how much he can carry and how much he can pick up on right now. When the ball is in his hands he's special so we're going to ask a lot of him. When you have a guy that talented the worst thing you can do is make him play slower than he is.

"And he's fast so we're not going to do that."

White isn't the only true freshman from York County who could make his Division I debut this weekend. Dallastown's Kenny Johnson has been "separating himself" at the University of Pittsburgh, Panthers coach Pat Narduzzi said earlier this month. Pitt hosts Wofford Saturday at 3:30 p.m. in a game televised on the ACC Network.

White and Johnson will face off Sept. 16 when West Virginia hosts Pitt in a 7:30 p.m. matchup expected to be aired on ABC.

Matt Allibone is a sports reporter for GameTimePA. He can be reached at 717-881-8221, mallibone@ydr.com or on Twitter at @bad2theallibone.

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: West Virginia football's Jahiem White should play against Penn State