by The Midview Middie’s were dealt a gut punch opening weekend against Rocky River as Senior starting quarterback Ethan Surdock went down to season ending injury. Surdock had worked his tail off in the offseason, attending several camps and putting in the work to become one of the elite players in the SWC. Sadly, it took just one play to end all of that. We put Surdock in our prayers right away and all signs point to a full recovery.
Since then, the road has been bumpy for Midview, but they have shown serious signs of improvement as of late. The best weapon Midview has is speed, I said it last year, and I will say it again, this is a quick team. Between Mason Kucera, Bryce Newton and Connor Awad, they have three of the fastest players in the SWC.
Marc Reed who stepped in for the injured Surdock has improved each time out as well and appears to be settling into the starting role nicely. Reed is a quarterback playing in a linebackers body and has the determination needed to continue to learn and become good at the position.
All of this came together Friday night versus Amherst with a 45-7 victory. The Middies showed how scary good they can be when they put it all together. Mason Kucera went off for 4 total touchdowns and over 200 total yards.
Head Coach Luke Beal had this to say about Kucera, “Mason has a number of qualities that make him an integral part of our offense. Not only does he have great speed and the ability to make people miss tackles, but his versatility allows us to get him the ball in a variety of ways. Offensively, we want to try to get the ball in Mason’s hands often and he is equally effective running out of the backfield and catching passes as a wide receiver. Mason has also returned a punt for a touchdown this season and he rarely comes off the field on defense.”
Coach Beal went on to talk about the contribution of Connor Awad as well, “Connor Awad has been doing a great job for us on both sides of the ball. We knew going into the season that he would be a great possession receiver, but he increased his speed in the off-season which has allowed him to develop into a big play threat as well.”
Now, Bryce Newton may be a little banged up, but when he comes back he just adds another weapon to this loaded Middie attack. “Newton is another big play receiver for us, but he has been injured the last two weeks, so we have really had to rely on Connor. “, said coach Beal.
And what about Marc Reed? It is not easy to step into such a high-profile, high-pressure role, but he is making serious strides. Coach Beal was quick to comment on the improvement of Reed and his evolution from runner to passer, “Marc Reed has been getting more and more confident each week as our starting QB. He has always been a solid runner, but lately he has been throwing the ball equally well and he has had high completion percentages in our last few games.”
This weekend the Middies will host the highly ranked Avon Lake Shoremen who are coming off of a stunning loss to Berea-Midpark.
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