When Mario Sturdivant was younger, he thought of himself as a wide receiver. He had no
idea he would be a record-breaking quarterback.The North Rowan High School senior became Rowan County’s
career total offense and passing leader three weeks ago. His impressive totals have since
reached 6,716 total yards, including 5,877 through the air. He’s amassed those
numbers in three years as the Cavaliers’ starting QB plus some rushing yards in a
back-up role as a freshman.
The lanky, 6-foot-3, 165-pound
Sturdivant amazingly never played quarterback until he got to high school.
“I played football my
sixth-grade year (Rowan Youth FootballLeague). I played free safety. I didn’t play
seventh or eighth grade,” said the young senior, who didn’t turn 17 untilOct. 3.
“In the back yard, I always
played receiver. I was taller than the guys. I’d just run and tell them to throw it
up. Receiver is what I always wanted to play until I got to high school,” Sturdivant
explained.
However, another former star North
quarterback, BobbyMyers had watched Sturdivant pitch in Little League baseball, and he
liked his throwing arm.
“I didn’t know who he
was. I didn’t have a clue,” said North head coach Roger Secreast. “Bobby
told me he thought there was an athlete over there (at North Rowan Middle) that could be a
quarterback. We talked to him, and Bobby talked to him. Ed Suber (former star receiver for
North), his cousin, talked to him a little bit. ... Just from encouraging him to come out,
he came out his ninth-grade year. We didn’t have any idea what he could do, but he
was an athlete. That’s what we always try to get in our particular offense, one of
our best athletes. He’s turned out to be the best the county’s had. Bobby had a
pretty good eye.”
Myers, now coaching at North
Davidson, also had a pretty good eye for receivers, setting a county single-season record
of 1,472 yards in 1978. He held that record until 1993, when Mitch Ellis, now a star at
Catawba College, broke it. Ellis’ 2,358 yards in 1994 now stands as the record for
one season.
Sturdivant’s best passing
season, 2,154 yards in 1997, fell short of Ellis’ records, but Ellis started only two
seasons. Sturdivant surpassed Ellis’ 5,822 yards total offense and 5,581 yards
passing last month.
Sturdivant admitted he was aware
of Ellis’ records, but didn’t think he had a shot at it.
“I had a slow start this year
the first three games,” he pointed out, listing his yardage for those contests.
“Then when I read it in the paper before we played Lexington, I said, ‘Something
can’t be right.’ Alfonzo (Miller, star wide receiver) said, ‘You’re
about to break the record tonight. Get us the ball, and we’ll do everything we
can.’ Alfonzo had a big night. Dre (Andre Byrd), Chris (Phillips) and Graham (Hosch)
had a big night. I give all the credit to them. Without the receivers, you can’t get
nothing.
“I never thought about it
(Ellis’ records),” he continued. “But as it started getting down to where I
could actually be ahead of Rowan County in passing, that’s when it became one of my
biggest goals. My biggest goals were to take us as far as we can in the playoffs, break
his record and do my best every game.”
North finishes its regular season
at East Davidson in a contest that will decide which team gets the 2A Central Carolina
Conference’s No. 3 seed and a berth in the state playoffs.
“I’m in a must-win
situation to keep my season going,” said Sturdivant. “I’m going to do
whatever it takes to win the game so we can have one more game next week. I’m coming
into the game to get my team in the playoffs. That’s what I’m going to do, and
I’m not going to let nobody stop me.”
Coach Secreast thinks Sturdivant
has unlimited potential, possibly as a wide receiver in college, because he’s so
young.
“Mario’s only going to
be 17 when he graduates from high school. He started to school early.He’s just now
started to mature physically. Greg Yeldell (now a sophomore starter at Indiana) was the
same way,” said the North coach.
“The big handicap for Mario
being recruited solely as a quarterback has been his weight. Most of the quarterbacks the
Division I schools get are at least 180 to 185 pounds. Some of the smaller schools are
hoping that he’s not recruited,” added Secreast.
Sturdivant lists Maryland and Wake
Forest as the schools that have shown the most interest in him, and lists North Carolina
and North Carolina State as other Atlantic Coast Conference schools that have recruited
him.
“The ACC, that’s
probably where I will wind up,” he said.
“I think somebody will
recruit him as a quarterback and somebody will recruit him as an athlete,” said
Secreast. “He’s going to do fine. I think somebody will take him. He’s got
to pull his test scores up.”
Sturdivant plans to take the SAT
for the second time on Saturday.
“I took it one time. I
didn’t do as well as I thought I could do. I know I can improve my score by at least
200 points. If I take it seriously, I think I can get 900,” he said.
It will take at least an 820 for
Sturdivant to qualify for an NCAA scholarship.
Sturdivant says he’s got a
2.6 grade-point average, but adds, “I messed up my freshman year. Ever since I
started playing football and knowing I could go to college, my grades have been good. My
freshman year, I was just doing enough to get by.”
Secreast, whose coached two other
future college quarterbacks, Ellis and Carvie Kepley (Wingate graduate), says of his
latest star, “He’s a very coachable kid. He’s done everything we’ve
ever asked him to do. He sees things real well, and he’s made a lot of good
suggestions this year. We do things he suggests.”
Sturdivant is glad Secreast made
him a quarterback instead of a wide receiver, because “I can make the play every
single time I handle the ball.” |
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