Tyler Korpona – Special to the Southern News
For many college football players the opportunity to play is only given after watching the game and learning from their peers so that when their time comes they’ve developed the skills to perform. On teams with limited size, competition is fierce as it promotes players to be relentless and to never stop improving.
So when a freshman becomes the leader of the offense, you have to take notice. This is the case as freshman quarterback Raymond Catapano has taken the reins of Southern’s offense. Despite this being his first year with the team, he’s poised to compete.
“Recruiting wise,” said Catapano. “Coach Lorenti told me I had a chance to compete as a freshman and that was one of the reasons I was intrigued to come here. During camp I just kept working and studying the plays and then got more and more reps.”
However, the territory comes with a lot of responsibility.
“It’s certainly a learning process,” said Head Coach Tom Godek. “An ongoing on the spot learning process. It’s definitely the hardest position in football, there’s so much to learn for all of our quarterbacks, not just Ray. It takes film, practice, game, and experience really.”
Despite the challenges, Catapano has a lot of supporters.
“I think he’s doing a good job picking up what we’ve put on his plate,” said Offensive Coordinator Chris Bergeski. “Defensively he’s getting a lot of different looks sometimes that’s a lot to handle for someone that’s coming in right out of high school.”
Nevertheless, Catapano as brought a new edge to the offense.
“He has some experience from high school,” said Godek. “Running this type of an offense in the run game or the quarterback as an option and it puts a lot of pressure on a defense when the quarterback can carry the ball. It’s just a different dimension this year that has been brought to the offense.”
Being the leader of the offense asks more of a player than to just play the game and compete. Dictating the way a play turns out beyond ones own influence adds an entirely different element to the game.
“Usually with freshman as they come in,” said teammate Shaquan Hall. “They tend to fall back under the radar, cause I’m a freshman myself. But with the Ray it’s different, he knows the role he has to play. So once he got in, he had the main leadership role.”
Hall also said he has been impressed with the playmaking abilities Catapano has demonstrated.
“Ray is a natural playmaker,” he said. “I’ve been with him. He’s a freshman, so my experience with him he just makes plays when it seems like theres no way. He just comes out and makes plays, kinda like Houdini.”
With so many supporters, Catapano has gone one step further and has found that internal drive is just as important.
“What really motivates me is trying to be the best that I can be,” said Catapano. “If I don’t have a good day at practice then I’m down on myself. But also I realize that tomorrow’s a new day and that I have to go out and improve.”
This drive is what has the coaches letting Catapano take the field and push the team forward.
“I think Ray’s really tough,” said Lorenti. “He’s got a lot of toughness to him. He likes the hard situations. He’s likes pressure, he likes being looked at and being asked to be the guy to make the play.”
Photo Credit: Pauldine Joseph
