Newsday Athlete of the Week is Mepham QB Nick Honerkamp

Mepham quarterback Nick Honerkamp has been waiting to show people what he can do on a varsity football field since he was a youngster.

Honerkamp, who made his first varsity start for Mepham in a 28-7 loss against Sewanhaka on April 17, knew he would need three games of film to send to college coaches.

Well, the 6-foot, 175-pounder certainly put an exclamation point on that film last week.

Honerkamp rushed for five touchdowns and threw for two more as the Pirates defeated Glen Cove, 63-30, in a Week 3 game on Sept. 25. He had 135 yards rushing on 11 carries, and was 6 of 9 passing for 151 yards in the first half alone.

"I’ve been playing football my whole life," said Honerkamp, Newsday’s Athlete of the Week. "It’s never been about seeing how many touchdowns I can score.

"The offensive line played great. I don’t think I was pressured one time, and my receivers blocked for me and caught the ball well."

Mepham coach Anthony Cracco has some great memories from the game, but one stood out in particular.

Honerkamp, who transferred to Mepham from St. Anthony’s in March of 2020, had thrown a beautiful touchdown pass early in the game that was called back because of a Mepham penalty.

But on the very next play Honerkamp took advantage of some key blocks and scored on a 40-yard run.

"He hits the open field and makes a couple guys miss, then runs by a few [defenders] and he makes it look easy, but it wasn’t for sure," Cracco said. "It was a wow moment."

Honerkamp has had a bunch of wow moments in his first three games for Mepham, which hosted MacArthur on Saturday. (Both teams were tied at 3-0 with Garden City atop the Nassau Conference II standings after Week 3. But Mepham lost Saturday, 47-21.)

The Bellmore product entered Week 4 with 359 yards rushing on 30 carries with nine touchdowns, and is 14 of 22 passing for 381 yards and four touchdowns and two interceptions in the Pirates’ multiple spread offense that averaged 49.3 points per game in their first three contests.

"Nick has shown a tremendous amount of growth from the spring until now," Cracco said. "He has a lot of positive attributes.

"He’s really coachable, and he’s gotten better and better. Did I think he would score seven touchdowns in a half? Not in my wildest dreams."

The Pirates and Honerkamp still have the second half of the regular season remaining, as well as dreams of their own.

"I’d like to go anywhere I could to play football in college," Honerkamp said. "But, honestly, I want to go deep into the playoffs — go as far as we can — and win it all. That’s what I’m focusing on right now."

All while putting on a show.