People say that peer pressure usually isn't a good thing for most kids growing up in high school.

For Northampton's Kyle George, it may have been the best thing to ever happen to him.

As George entered his junior year at Northampton, a few of his friends who were becoming seniors decided to join the football team for one last ride. George decided to hop on the train with them, and as they say, the rest is history.

After setting three school records for receiving in a season, as well as two school records for catches and yards in a game, the two-sport athlete made a valiant case to become this year's Male Athlete of the Year in Northampton.

For a player who only played one year of football in seventh grade prior to his junior year, George's story points to a quick rise in a short amount of time.

"My only experience putting on the pads before was suiting up for the NAA in seventh grade and that season was only, like two months long," he said. "If it wasn't for my friends going out for football their senior year, I probably wouldn't have went out."

George split time his junior year as a wide receiver on the junior varsity and varsity squads, but his ability started to shine through. Along with his passing mate, quarterback Nick Cook, they cranked out 15 touchdowns their first year together on JV in limited action.

"We were having at least two touchdowns a game when I was playing JV," said George of him and Cook. "I'd split some time on varsity as well, so I didn't play the entire JV season. I knew that I had some potential to do good things my senior year as I got more serious in football, but never did I think I would set records."

His 2012 season set schools records for a receiver with touchdowns (9), receptions (41) and receiving yards (908). He also set single game records against Parkland in the third game of the season, hauling a school-record 10 catches for 166 yards.

Obviously, Northampton's new-look offense, which was heavily oriented to the passing game helped George's cause, but it's not everyday that players with limited football experience go out and become forces on the gridiron.

"It really wasn't until the fifth game of the season where Duke Helm, who does a lot of the stats around the Valley, called me and told me of the records I was on pace to break," said George. "That's when stuff started to sink in about what was going on.

"It was pretty cool to have the media call me up and talk to me about how we were doing. People from around town would say, 'You're that receiver,' and they'd tell me to keep it up. It was all pretty cool."

As a life-long basketball player, the one down side to football was a nagging injury that helped curtail his shooting touch in the winter last season on the Kids varsity basketball team, leading him to a down mark of averaging nearly seven points a game, along with seven rebounds.

But whatever happened to George his senior year was all worth it in the end, despite the Kids struggling to a 2-9 record over the course of a season.

"I hope my story gets more kids to go out and play football," he said. "Sometimes when I go out to the park and shoot, I'll see other kids playing basketball and I'll ask them if they play anything else. I encourage them to play football because the experience I had and the friends I made will always be with me."

As George moves on to attend Temple next month, the question is if he has any friends there that are going to be trying out for the football team.

"I may just walk-on myself," he said. "I'm not sure if I want to just focus on school or give football another shot."

History says it may be worth it.