Despite his success on the field, Springer remains unknown in Texas

BY CHRIS COBB
The Brownsville Herald

LOS FRESNOS — December 1, 2006 — On what should be a relatively chilly Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium in Victoria, the Los Fresnos Falcons will try to become just the fourth Rio Grande Valley football team to win three playoff games at the 5A level.

It’s quite a feat, but one that wouldn’t be possible without a quarterback who’s already etched his name in the annals of Valley football history.

This season, Jeremy Springer has thrown 40 touchdowns and counting, third most in a season for a Valley player behind Mission High’s Lupe Rodriguez (50) and Koy Detmer (43). He’s compiled 3,194 yards, fourth best in the Valley’s record book and has been picked off only six times.

Not bad for a guy who’s in his first and only try at being a varsity signal caller.

“I was amazed that this is his first year at quarterback,” said Derek Long, the coach of this week’s opponent Austin Westlake after watching a few of Springer’s game films.

The 6-foot-4 senior led the Falcons to a 12-0 record and their first 5A district title this year after spending last season as a wide receiver.

“It was big change from receiver to quarterback,” Springer said. “It’s a lot of responsibility.”

But as he and Falcons’ coach Scott Ford are quick to point out, he’s been ready for that responsibility since he first put on some shoulder pads back in seventh grade.

And although he may have caught passes in the games last year, he spent 90 percent of his time in practice taking snaps, throwing balls and getting ready to become the quarterback he is today.

“He’s really pretty battle-tested even though he didn’t have the reps underneath the Friday night lights,” Ford said. “He’s done a great job of preparing himself to take the reigns. He bided his time, waited his turn and by god he was ready when it came his time.”

Now it’s his time, and he has a chance to prove himself against state powerhouse Westlake and its own star quarterback, Nick Fo-les.

By the numbers there isn’t much of a comparison.

Foles has thrown for nearly 1,000 less yards (2,231) and 15 fewer touchdowns (25) than Springer. In his defense, the Chaps don’t throw the ball as much as Los Fresnos either, so he really couldn’t have done a better job this season leading Westlake to a 9-2 rec-ord, according to his coach.

“I can’t say enough about him,” Long said. “He’s the heart and soul of this team.”

Foles is committed to play college football at Arizona State. Springer is undecided but hasn’t been pursued nearly as much as Fo-les despite having far better numbers.

Not that he cares.

“It does kind of upset me a little bit, but you just can’t worry about that stuff,” Springer said. “I’m not going to worry about it till after the season. That kind of stuff just gets in the way of the game we got this week.”

His coach, however, is a different story.

“It bothers me tremendously,” Ford said. “If Jeremy Springer was starting at Austin Westlake everybody in Texas would know who he is.”

None of that really matters to Springer as prepares to lead the Falcons into the biggest game of their lives and maybe their pro-gram’s history. Ford said it’s a great opportunity to show the state just how underrated Valley football really is.

“Everybody is going to get up Sunday morning and expect to read Westlake 60, Los Fresnos 10,” Ford said. “We’re going up there to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

They have a much better chance with one of the best Valley quarterbacks to ever put on a uniform. And whether he breaks every record and goes to one of the best football universities in the country isn’t a big deal right now. They just have to beat Westlake.

“You want to do your best out there,” Springer said. “When you break records it feels good, but it’s always team first. When you look back 20 years down the road, you’re going to look back on how your team did and that’s it.”

ccobb@brownsvilleherald.com

 Posted on Dec 01, 06 | 12:01 am