By HUNTER O. LYLE
lyleoleanstar@gmail.com
DUKE CENTER, PA – Entering his sophomore season, Ryan Schenfield was poised for growth.
As a freshman, he had studied from the sidelines as a third string quarterback, watching the senior-laden Otto-Eldred football team show the young core the ropes. Coming back to the gridiron for year No. 2, he followed the natural progression up to second string, sitting one spot behind the Terrors’ star and driving force, Shane Magee.
However, when catastrophe struck and Magee left the field with a season-ending injury, all eyes fell on Schenfield.
“Honestly, I was a little scared at first. I thought I was going in for a couple plays to give (Magee) a little break,” said Schenfield, “but then I learned he broke his collar bone and I was a little shook.”
Since the last snap of last year, everyone knew Magee would be ‘the guy’ next time the Terrors took the field. Boasting equal parts power, speed and IQ, and training as the man under center his whole career, he could be counted on to find targets downfield as well as burst from the pocket when pressure was imminent. Through the first three weeks of the season, he had racked up 736 passing yards on a 65.4 percent completion rate, 509 rushing yards with an average of 10.8 per carry and had amassed a team-high 12 touchdowns.
Although the wins were yet to come, the Magee-led system was producing. However, against Kane in Week 4, the Terrors blew a tire.
On O-E’s third drive of the game, Magee scrambled out of the pocket and down the sideline, eventually finishing the play by taking what looked to be a routine hit. But just a few moments later, head coach Eric Rees knew something was wrong.
“The play itself looked pretty innocuous, like there wasn’t much to it, but he’s a tough kid so when he gets up and is asking to get out of the ball game, I knew something was wrong,” said Rees, who took over the head coaching position this season. “He tried to go back to the huddle and couldn’t.”
With their top guy out, the team was distraught, so much so that Rees was forced to call a timeout and circle the wagons to try to reset their focus. Ultimately having to press on, Schenfield stepped up.
Put into an almost impossible position and with limited reps up until then, Schenfield fared well, closing out the Terrors’ 56-24 loss to the Wolves with eight completed passes on 13 attempts for 83 yards. He tallied his first two varsity passing touchdowns, only threw one interception and ran the ball into the endzone once as a part of his 38 rushing yards.
“(When I came in) I was a little sad (for Magee) but it felt like I stepped into the game in the second half, got my head straight,” said Schenfield. “I just played it on from there.”
Flash forward a week, one full of practice and development when not in the midst of battle, and Schenfield showed improvement, having what Rees called “the best week of practice” he’s ever had at QB.
In their Region 4 matchup against Bucktail the following Friday, Schenfield conducted the offense to a 50-8 win that saw him throw for 193 yards and three passing touchdowns. Favoring the long ball, he went 5-for-6 while under center, averaging 25.2 yards per completion alongside his 63 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown.
“I feel like we kind of looked at Bucktail as an easier game and I played to my fullest,” said Schenfield, who led O-E to their second win over the now 0-4 Bucks. “I go in with full confidence every week. Sometimes I doubt myself, especially in practice, but in games I try not to. I have to keep that straight mindset.”
While Schenfield showed potential in both games, his story will be one of continued development. However, with just four games in the regular season, Rees believes the same gameplan is still in place, favoring tweaks and adjustments rather than a complete overhaul.
“When Ryan feels it, he feels it. He’s starting to kind of develop that (mindset) but he still kind of has that young unsureness about himself but I feel like he’s going to be a pretty special player for us in the future. This year, we’re just hoping to get him to the point where he can run the offense efficiently and where he can kind of take control of it,” said Rees. “Could I say we’re going to run more screens? Sure, but that’s not what our offense is built about. Could I say we’re going to change our pass schemes? Not really. We still feel like we have explosive guys on the edge that we want to give opportunities to. So we’re not really going to change much of what we do. Our offense is our offense, our plays are our plays and we’re going to run it the way we have it.”
O-E opens the final stretch with a home game against Region 4-leading Cameron County (4-2) on Friday. Beyond that lies back-to-back games in hostile territory against Port Allegany (6-0) and Smethport (1-5) on Saturday, Oct. 11 and Friday, Oct. 17 before their season finale against Ridgway (2-4) on Friday, Oct. 24. Confident in their ability to adapt and survive, the Terrors aren’t ready to give up on a second consecutive playoff berth just yet.
“Our future is still in our hands. If we take care of business against (Cameron County) and take care of business against Smethport, we can go into that Ridgway game, Week 10, with a chance to qualify for the playoffs,” said Rees. “That’s all I can ask for at this point.”
