Center was no snap for Stony Brook's Lisi

When projected starting center Phil Vournazos went down with a knee injury on the third day of training camp in August, Stony Brook University football coach Chuck Priore had to make a snap decision on the senior's replacement.

Fiore turned the job over to Mike Lisi, and the 6-2, 280-pound all-Long Island freshman from Carey has excelled, starting 10 of 11 games. The next is the biggest, Saturday against Albany in the first round of the FCS playoffs at LaValle Stadium.

Snapping a football is no easy task. For Lisi, it was the ultimate case of practice making it almost perfect. After mishandling the ball prompted some grumbling from Priore, Lisi took it upon himself to really get down to business. He made 1,000 snaps.

"Snap, snap, snap, for three hours, that's the type of kid he is," Priore said. "It took him the whole spring, all summer practicing it. He's a focused kid. Mike got thrown in the starting job and I could honestly say I did not know how it would turn out. Although I knew he was a competitive kid, that position is extremely difficult from the shoulders up."

Said Lisi, "My expectation was just to get in and learn the system and be a backup for Phil. I kind of stepped in summer camp and just went on from there. Spring ball was really rough for me. Snapping and stepping, simple stuff, was really hard for me."

Lisi played some center for Carey, but the position is much more complex at the college level in terms of technique and assignments. "I think it's probably the most difficult job to snap the ball and then go block," said quarterback Kyle Essington, who began the year as the backup himself. "He is the captain of the offensive line. He makes the first calls; it all starts with him. He has a lot on his plate.

"After lifting in the weight room, he'd bring a ball and we'd practice and practice and practice. Before practice, we'd get probably a hundred snaps; after practice, additional snaps. Just seeing him around campus, he'd grab a ball and just practice snaps. I think that's the most crucial part of the offense, getting that ball securely and not turning it over. It has to become second nature, and I think he's done a tremendous job."

Lisi did not start his career as a center. "I was a fullback up to seventh grade," he said. "I was a big kid and got moved to the line. Eighth, ninth grade, I started to really like it. Now I love the position. You don't get too much credit for it, but once you make a bad snap, fumbled snap under center, all the blame's on you pretty much. You never get any glory for it."

He did receive some after the Gardner-Webb game Nov. 12, earning Big South Freshman of the Week honors after the team rushed for 315 yards and seven touchdowns in a 76-28 victory.

There's also the potential of playing at the next level. Former SBU center Paul Fenaroli was in camp with the Falcons and briefly on the practice squad with the Packers. Priore said Lisi is "probably better than Paul right now at the same time. They are similar kids. Relentless."