Athlete of the week is Oceanside's Heuer
Oceanside Sailors quarterback Tyler Heuer (4) drops back to pass during the first quarter in the game against the East Meadow Jets at Oceanside High School. (Oct. 2, 2010) Credit: Christopher Pasatieri
Tyler Heuer
Oceanside football
Tyler Heuer hadn't even been born the last time an Oceanside quarterback threw five touchdown passes in a game. Nearly 22 years after the fact, Heuer passed for six last Saturday.
He one-upped his school's most famous football alum, former Dolphin and Jet Jay Fiedler, in a 48-7 win over East Meadow, earning Newsday's Athlete of the Week honors.
Fiedler set Oceanside's TD record when he threw for five scores Oct. 8, 1988, against Port Washington. That wasn't something that crossed Heuer's mind during the game, and he was made aware of a record that had been around longer than BlackBerrys and DVRs only after throwing for his sixth score and returning to the sideline.
Records and repeating his performance aren't on the forefront of the senior's mind right now. Not to say it's not possible. Heuer, who has 18 touchdown passes through five games after throwing three in a 41-17 win over Farmingdale Friday night, has a shot at passing the Nassau record of 30 in a season set by Freeport's Randy Mills in 2003. But he says winning is a much more important goal.
"I'm not going for that ," Heuer said. "We go for wins. Not for records. And that's our game plan. To win."
The mentality is working well for the Sailors, off to a 5-0 start. It's their best start since 1977, which also was the last time they brought home a Nassau title.
Heuer sings the praises of his offensive linemen and credits them for giving him great pass protection and freeing him up to throw.
"The defensive line of East Meadow is a lot bigger than us," Heuer said. "Our offensive line really held them off and did a great job."
Heuer plans to continue playing football in college. He hopes to generate interest from schools such as UMass, Stony Brook and Holy Cross.
Before there's talk of scholarships, though, Heuer knows there's a long season in a tough conference. He takes a week-to-week approach, thinking about the next game instead of the playoffs, which are much further down the road.
"The county is a long ways away," Heuer said. "We still have the rest of the season to play."
But he's quick to mention the confidence he has in his teammates: "I think we're a dangerous team."
