Pennsylvania high school football: Top senior linebacker recruits for the 2024 season

St. Joseph's Prep has two of the top four linebacker recruits in Pennsylvania's senior class in Cameron Smith and Anthony Sacca

St. Joseph's Prep's Anthony Sacca flies in to make a tackle during the 2023 PIAA Class 6A state championship game against North Allegheny. / Paul Burdick, SBLive Sports

The 2024 Pennsylvania high school football season is upon us, and it is time to take a look at some of highest rated recruits in the state. In this series, we will focus on the top recruits at a handful of positions for a specific graduating class.

We started with the senior quarterbacks and senior running backs, and now we focus on the other side of the ball with the top senior linebackers.

The top five linebackers in the 2025 class are all in the top 13 overall in the state of Pennsylvania with St. Joseph's Prep landing two of the top three on the list in Cameron Smith and Anthony Sacca. Penn State has commitments from two of the top four, with Imani Christian Academy's Dayshaun Burnett and Greater Latrobe's Alex Tatsch staying home to play for James Franklin and the Nittany Lions.

All rankings are based off 247Sports.com.

Top 5 senior linebacker recruits in Pennsylvania:

1. Cameron Smith, St. Joseph's Prep; 6-foot-0, 200 pounds (No. 5 overall in Pennsylvania 2025 class)
Committed to Duke

As St. Joseph's Prep took home another PIAA state title in Class 6A, Smith helped lead the charge defensively with 72 tackles, 4.5 sacks, one forced fumble and one interception.

2. Dayshaun Burnett, Imani Christian Academy; 6-foot-2.5, 215 pounds (No. 8 overall)
Committed to Penn State

The Penn State recruit was not only named the Allegheny Football Conference's Defensive Player of the Year for the second year in a row, but also garnered first teamm All-State from the Pennsylvania high school sports writers. He also plays offense for Imani Christian, accounting for almost 1,000 yards as a junior.

3. Anthony Sacca, St. Joseph's Prep; 6-foot-3, 225 pounds (No. 10 overall)
Committed to Notre Dame

Combined with Smith to help lead the defense for the Hawks, who allowed just 130 points total in 14 games last season en route to the PIAA Class 6A state title. He finished the season with 67 tackles and two interceptions.

4. Alex Tatsch, Greater Latrobe; 6-foot-2, 213 pounds (No. 11 overall)
Committed to Penn State

Chose Penn State over more than 20 other Power 5 offers after leading the Greater Latrobe defense with 111 tackles, four sacks and four interceptions as a junior.

5. Mickey Vaccarello, Peters Township; 6-foot-4, 215 pounds (No. 13 overall)
Committed to Stanford

A key piece to the Indians' defense on the way to a run to the PIAA Class 5A state championship game last season, the Cardinal recruit had 111 tackles with 13 sacks and 29 tackles for loss in his junior campaign.

Stay tuned to SBLive Pennsylvania all season long for all of your high school football coverage. You can check out our Pennsylvania high school football scoreboards all season long.

-- Ryan Isley  | ryan@scorebooklive.com | @sblivepa