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Sports |
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| Clancy bided his time; now starts at QB for Shepherd |
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| By Josh Land, Times Staff Writer |
Thursday, September 24, 2009 |
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When former Westminster quarterback Kevin Clancy left M&T Bank Stadium after the 2005 Class 3A state football championship, he never thought it’d be his last start for nearly four years.
Following a record season that netted him Times Player of the Year honors, Clancy spent his first year at Shepherd University on the scout team. The next two seasons were spent watching from the sidelines, sending in signals to the player holding the job he wanted.
Clancy didn’t make his first college start until just four weeks ago — three years and almost nine months after the Owls fell to Gwynn Park in the state final.
“I thought I was going to play right away just because of the confidence coming out of high school, especially having the year we had that year,” Clancy said. “Learning the offense here is pretty tough. Even some other freshmen coming in, they say the same thing. It’s a big learning process and for a time, I was actually thinking about transferring.
“I just talked to my coaches and figured that I would eventually get a shot to play and I just felt like this was the best fit.”
That shot came this fall when Clancy, now a redshirt junior, beat out senior Brett Zirkle to become the Rams’ new starting quarterback.
And he hasn’t disappointed.
Clancy has been a major part of Shepherd’s 3-1 start, and ranks among West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference leaders in most passing categories. Through his first four career starts, he has completed 41 of 69 attempts for 758 yards, nine touchdowns and four interceptions.
With production like that, both Clancy and Rams coach Monte Cater are thrilled that the Westminster grad didn’t transfer. But Cater said he doesn’t blame Clancy for thinking about leaving Shepherd.
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Clancy spent his true freshman season solely as the scout-team quarterback. Even then, his teammates were impressed.
“We knew that he would be a really good quarterback in the future, as soon as he learned our Shepherd system,” said senior defensive back Layton Hersh, a Francis Scott Key grad. “You knew that he had a big arm. He would throw past our defense. You just knew that in the future, he would be our guy because he would make the plays. He would make the big plays and that’s what we’ve been missing.”
Clancy still held that position for half of his second year before being elevated to third-string on the depth chart. But he didn’t touch the field in a game. After that season, Clancy began contemplating a change.
He had originally made a verbal commitment to Division I-AA La Salle, but the coach resigned and Clancy chose to head to Division II Shepherd instead. Just two years into his career, Clancy questioned his college choice. But he also questioned a move.
“I just went through, ‘I’d have to start all over,’” Clancy said. “Even if you transfer, you still don’t know if you’re going to play. I just kind of figured, ‘I’ve been here for two years. I’m starting to get the offense down,’ and that was the hardest thing. Once you do that, you start getting reps, you can show the coaches what you can do and that’s what I did.”
Clancy decided to stay after talking about his future with coaches and with quarterback Tyler Lazear, the Rams’ last starter who had to wait a couple of years for the job.
Cater said Clancy never threatened to leave if he didn’t get playing time. The quarterback just wanted to know if he’d get a chance. Cater said he believed Clancy eventually would.
“We knew he had the tools,” Cater said. “We’re pleased with where he’s at and none of this is really a surprise. We felt like he was going to be able to be a good quarterback when he got his turn. … He’s got a strong arm and he’s got some mobility. Those are the things that are making a difference for him.”
Clancy has improved as the season has progressed and has played especially well the last two weeks. Since completing just 47.3 percent over the first two contests, he has converted 74.2 percent of his 31 attempts in wins over Fairmont State and Seton Hill.
The big play has been a constant through four games, as Clancy has six touchdown passes of at least 53 yards. In his first game, he passed for scores of 73 and 78 yards.
So Clancy isn’t only receiving a chance to play, he’s capitalizing on it, making the wait much more worthwhile.
“Down deep, I thought I could do it, but I was kind of shaky about it, just not positive,” Clancy said. “But just getting in there and doing it is bringing my confidence up a lot more. Now I’m just ready to go every week.”
Reach staff writer Josh Land at 410-857-7875 or josh.land@carrollcountytimes.com.
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