QBs to spread wealth at Empire Challenge
Team Long Island quarterback #4 Tyler Heuer of Oceanside High School takes a snap during practice held at Shuart Stadium, located on the campus of Hofstra University. (June 18, 2011) Credit: James Escher
For quarterback Tyler Heuer of Oceanside, tonight's Empire Challenge isn't really much of a challenge. At least as far as the playbook is concerned.
Of course, he'll wear the Velcro-snap wrist band with the plays inserted in a see-through compartment, because that's what quarterbacks do in this age of complex offenses. But Heuer will only have to check the terminology, which is new. The plays themselves are old news.
With spread advocate Russ Cellan of Freeport the Long Island coach and another spread devotee, Rob Hoss of Sayville, as the offensive coordinator, Heuer had a shorter learning curve for the offense than the other Long Island quarterback, Stephen Skon of Lindenhurst, because Oceanside was a spread team.
"I was familiar with the offense from the beginning," said Heuer, who was named starter for Tuesday's charity all-star game against New York City, and will play the first two series. "They just used different names for the plays, but everything else was similar."
Skon, who admitted he had to cram in a lot of learning into a few days because his Bulldogs did not run the spread, will play the second two series and then, according to quarterbacks coach Dave Shanahan of Glenn, "We'll go with the hot hand. Both of our quarterbacks can scoot and make plays with their legs. Tyler is a well-polished quarterback who is very smart and can make plays on the run. Stephen has a big-time arm."
Heuer threw for 2,179 yards and 34 touchdowns in 2010 and hopes to compete for a starting job this fall at C.W. Post. He had another advantage over Skon: His favorite receiver at Oceanside, Gene Garay, is also on the Long Island team. "Without a doubt, I'll be looking for him," Heuer said.
But he'll have plenty of other options. Wide receiver Seiddrik Ervin of Lawrence impressed coaches with his speed. Brian Kensil of St. Anthony's impressed with his size (6-6) and hands. Running backs Derelle Hunter (St. John the Baptist) and Travis Lock (Lawrence) have breakaway speed and moves. "It's awesome," Heuer said of having so many choices when he makes his reads. "We've got all the best guys on Long Island here and it's a lot of fun."
Said Skon: "Everybody can make a play. It's definitely fun with so many weapons. It's a step up from a regular high school team."
One interesting wrinkle for defensive tackle Ryan Sloan of Bellport is that he will be trying to sack Christ the King quarterback Terrel Hunt, who is one of three City players who will join Sloan at Syracuse in the fall. "I'm prepared to get double-teamed," Sloan said with a laugh.
Sloan said he befriended Hunt when they were teammates in the Upstate-Downstate all-star game. "We were friends then, but we're enemies now," Sloan said. "Even though this is an all-star game, I'm not taking it lightly."
