The Montclair High grad is less than two months away from arriving at the Southern Connecticut State University campus, where he will continue his academic and football career as a member of the Owls.

"Ever since I visited Southern Connecticut, I’ve wanted to go back," said Green, who chose SCSU over Maine and Old Dominion, which is starting a football program this year and will play its first game in 2009. "Everything about Southern Connecticut felt right. I know I made the right choice."

Today, Green will touch down on the Rutgers University campus as a member of the North squad for Monday night’s 30th New Jersey North-South All-Star Football Classic, a showcase game for graduated seniors. Green and his teammates will live in dorms, practicing two to three times each day while getting a taste of the college life.

The time at RU will be a bit of a tease for Green.

"I’m definitely excited to get down there and get going on Thursday. [The experience] is only going to fire me up more for college life," Green said Tuesday afternoon, while on his way to a workout at MHS. "We’ll wake up, eat breakfast, hit the field together for practice and follow a similar schedule the rest of the day."

Green, who led the Mounties to the North 1, Group 4 State sectional final against East Orange Campus as a running back and inside linebacker last autumn, is slated to play linebacker on Monday night. He hopes to show the North coaches during the next few days that he can play on both sides of the ball. And receive a different jersey number more apt for a dual role while he’s at it.

"I’m No. 55 on the roster right now, but hopefully I can change that," Green said with a laugh. "What’s more important is that I run the ball in the game because the Southern Connecticut coaches recruited me as a running back and they are planning on coming down to see me."

MHS coach Ed Lebida is confident Green will thrive in the backfield, regardless of whether it happens Monday night or during the course of his college career.

"Tahron is very agile for a back his size and he has incredible hands, which are so important in a one-back scheme," said Lebida. "Whichever position he plays, the game is a great opportunity for people around the state to see Tahron play. I think he is one of the top players in New Jersey."

Green said he is looking forward to playing with Akeem Cunningham Monday night. The East Orange Campus wide receiver and cornerback, who is bound for N.C. State, created plenty of headaches for Green and his Montclair High teammates in the Jaguars’ 31-13 win during the State final.

"Akeem is one of the great athletes on the North team," Green said. "I’m also getting back together with [West Essex’s] Anthony Hayek, who was a teammate of mine on the Montclair Cobras when we were younger. It’s going to be a great game."

Once Green settles in at Southern Connecticut, he plans on majoring in exercise science. The major studies the effects of exercise and physical activity on people in order to optimize physical and mental health. Green suffered several injuries while playing for MHS, the last an ankle sprain early in the first quarter of the final against East Orange, sidelining him for the rest of the game.

"I hope that I can learn what makes the body tick so I can get to a point where I’m as physically fit as possible and be able to reduce my injuries," he said.

But Green’s deeper reason for choosing the major is related to his brother, Gary Green, who starred on the 2002 State champion Mountie gridiron squad. Gary Green suffered a spinal injury during the second football game of his freshman year at the University of New Haven.

He remains paralyzed with limited use of his limbs.

"I saw all of the therapy Gary has gone through and continues to go through, and it became something that interested me," said Green. "If I can learn enough so that one day I can help my brother continue to get better, then it’s all worth it."