Tom Savage is garnering even more national publicity as his high school season wears on. Earlier this month, Sports Illustrated released an article on the gunslinger, and this week, Tom is on the cover of the latest edition of the “ESPN Rise” magazine, which covers high school sports from across the country. Here is the latest article, and here are some nice tidbits to encourage everyone to read it:

As a precaution, Savage visited the doctor that weekend and received the dismal news he had broken the sesamoid bone in his left foot. He came into school on Monday wearing a protective boot.

At first glance, it appeared Savage’s season was finished. But what happened next exemplified his toughness and team-first attitude, two integral traits that have helped the Rutgers-bound signal-caller become one of the nation’s top recruits. Now a senior, the 6-foot-5, 220-pounder, who participated in the prestigious Elite 11 quarterback camp this summer, is rated Pennsylvania’s No. 1 quarterback and the nation’s No. 8 signal-caller in the ESPNU 150.

After the loss to North Penn, Savage was forced to miss the following game against nationally ranked Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, N.J.), which dominated the Lions, 56-7. But the next week against Bonner, there was Savage racking up 178 passing yards and three touchdown tosses in a 33-8 Lions victory.

“I knew deep down inside that I could seriously hurt it, but I just really wanted to play,” Savage says.

A lot more went into Savage’s remarkable comeback than just suiting up. He wore the boot the entire previous week except for the 20 minutes of practice he was allowed to participate. Come game time, metal plates were placed in his shoe, which was then taped up so he couldn’t bend and injure the foot even more.

After his dramatic comeback performance against Bonner, Savage then passed for 190 yards and two scores against North Catholic. But in the next game against Roman Catholic, Savage’s injury-induced lack of mobility caught up to him. Teams figured out that he couldn’t move and began sending blitzes in waves. One Roman Catholic defender crushed Savage on a blitz and knocked him out of the game with a concussion.

At that point, O’Hara head coach Danny Algeo decided his star quarterback was at serious risk if he continued to play, so he sat him out for the next four weeks. But once again, Savage made sure he’d see the field as he returned in time to guide O’Hara in the PCL Red Division playoffs. He threw a touchdown pass in a first-round win over La Salle, but the Lions bowed out to St. Joe’s Prep in the semifinals, ending a season that had started with such high hopes.

Despite missing five games and playing only the season opener at full health, Savage still copped All-Catholic League honorable mention honors from the Philadelphia Daily News after passing for 809 yards and eight touchdowns while rushing for three more scores. He also earned enormous respect from his teammates by playing through pain for the good of the team.

Now that sounds like a leader to me. Is there anybody out there that isn’t waiting for the day this kid arrives on campus? For me, that day can’t come soon enough.

And an extra reminder: you can catch the Cardinal O’Hara vs St. Joes Prep game tonight at 6:00 PM on ESPNU. The Philadelphia Inquirer has a nice preview of the match-up. Savage’s stud junior teammate, Corey Brown, is still out with a torn MCL and will not play for O’Hara.