EMMAUS, Pa. — The visual would be deceiving: A young man driving alone with no cargo except his luggage and his dreams.
But in the heart and soul of Sone Ntoh, his trip to Baltimore Ravens’ rookie training camp Friday is one crowded ride.
As Ntoh, a former Emmaus High and Monmouth University star running back made his way to Owings Mills, Maryland — with a stop at Harvard in between — he did so thanking more people than he could almost mention.
“And all the people who gave me rides, took me to practice, took me places. All that support led me to where I am today.”Sone Ntoh, former Emmaus High football star
“I’m so thankful for this opportunity,” said the 5-feet-11, 225-pound Ntoh, who signed a free agent contract shortly after the NFL Draft last weekend.
“But for me, I’m more so thinking about everybody who helped me get there. My friends I grew up playing with. My parents and my sister. My teammates at Emmaus and coach [Harold] Fairclough.
“And all the people who gave me rides, took me to practice, took me places. All that support led me to where I am today.”
Where Ntoh is today is on the doorstep of the dream of every little boy who ever played tackle football in the back yard with his buddies — a chance to make an NFL team.
Shot at NFL not a given
What the scouts saw in Ntoh was a bruising running back with 4.5-second speed in the 40-yard dash who churns out yardage and has a nose for the end zone.
In 23 games over two seasons at Monmouth, Ntoh rushed 165 times for 898 yards and 39 touchdowns.
Translated: almost every fourth rushing attempt resulted in a score.
“My career at Harvard didn’t go the way I wanted it to."Emmaus High School graduate Sone Ntoh
Ntoh averaged 7.3 yards per attempt, with a long of 92 yards in 2023, then averaged 4.5 yards with a long of 64 yards in 2024.
The honors poured in: First team Colonial Athletic Association all-star and an Associated Press honorable mention FCS All-American.
But Ntoh’s shot at the NFL wasn’t a given.
After a stellar career for the Emmaus Green Hornets, where he totaled 2,924 yards rushing and 46 touchdowns, Ntoh, a 2019 high school graduate, enrolled at Harvard.
While Ntoh earned a bachelor's degree in psychology at the prestigious university, he would grade his football experience there with a D — as in disappointing.
Playing in only 19 games over three seasons with the Crimson, he rushed 106 times for 370 yards and three touchdowns.
“My career at Harvard didn’t go the way I wanted it to,” Ntoh said. “I didn’t score a touchdown my senior year.
“I was just looking for another chance to make an impact or at least play. That’s how I ended up at Monmouth.”
'Be a good teammate'
At Ravens rookie camp this weekend, Ntoh will be surrounded by challenges.
The running backs in front of him are led by Pro Bowler Derrick Henry, who rushed for nearly 2,000 yards with 16 touchdowns last season. Justice Hill and Keaton Mitchell are the others.
In his favor: The Ravens did not draft a running back. But Ntoh’s main focus is making the team any way he can.
“It was one of my agents, T.J. Linta. He said, ‘You’re going to Baltimore.’”Emmaus High School graduate Sone Ntoh
“I’ve got my opportunity now and will make the most of it,” he said. “If not as a running back, then on special teams. I will go in and attack this process and keep looking to attack it.
"I will pay attention to detail and be a good teammate.”
On the final day of the NFL Draft, Sone Ntoh was surrounded by supporters.
His parents, Marshall and Nandi, who emigrated from Cameroon, and Emmaus teammates Izaiah McPherson and brothers Tim and Zach Higgins were there.
The group flipped back and forth between watching the draft and NBA playoffs. When Ntoh was not drafted in the sixth round, his phone rang.
“It was one of my agents, T.J. Linta,” Ntoh said. “He said, ‘You’re going to Baltimore.’”
This weekend, Sone Ntoh gets his shot at a football dream. Opportunity has knocked. He plans to answer it only one way:
By tearing the door off the hinges.
