Zuzek helps motivate West Catholic teammates

NO HORRIFIC nightmares. No disturbing flashbacks. Actually, not even a hint of thought.

That's Jake Zuzek's story, and since he goes 6-3, 290, and has been known to display ornery tendencies, good luck in trying to prevent him from sticking to it.

There's no getting around it. Zuzek and West Catholic did fall in stake-to-the-heart fashion - 35-34, in double overtime - to Wilmington last Dec. 13 in Hershey in the PIAA Class AA football final.

But this is 2009 and "Enjoy the Show" still serves as a pretty reasonable battle cry, despite two losses so far, and Zuzek's fires are burning as brightly as ever. White hot, even.

"We have unfinished business in Hershey," he said. "That's our motivation for this whole season."

He continued, "We have a chance to be just as good as last year's team. People don't think so because we lost three guys [quarterback Curtis Drake, rushers Rob Hollomon and Raymond Maples] who people thought were the whole team. But we do and we're out to prove that."

Zuzek, a senior who plays guard and defensive tackle, talked yesterday before the start of practice at West's new home away from home, a field behind St. Louis Church, in Yeadon, that's not full length.

Those players with cars, like Zuzek, arrive first, and then the other kids pour out of a school bus maybe 20 minutes later.

When calisthenics begin, Zuzek is a front-and-center guy. No surprise there, as he's not only a 4-year starter but a leader from the vocal and example standpoints, as well.

Sometimes, as he noted with a laugh, he also tries to coach the Burrs.

"I'm always telling coach [Brian] Fluck, 'Run behind me,' " Zuzek said. "Well, he was coaching from upstairs in the first couple games, so then I was telling [assistant Albie Crosby]. I want that responsibility of trying to help us make plays."

Thinking back to '08, it's still hard to believe the state-title trophy did not wind up at 45th and Chestnut.

While posting 14 wins in 16 games, the Burrs roared to 775 points (48.4 average) and never scored fewer than 26. If only they'd upped that total to 777...

Wilmington opened the second OT with a seven-spot. Maples then ran 2 yards for a West TD and Fluck decided to go for the win. On a left-side keeper, Drake, who's already making headway as a Penn State receiver, was stopped short of the goal line.

Today, somewhere, at least one Burr is still probably crying.

"It was rough, no doubt," Zuzek said. "After about 3 weeks, I moved on. Time to start getting ready for this season.

"The first week around school was hard. There wasn't much joking around. You could tell something bad happened."

While Bishop McDevitt is 6-0 overall, West is again an overwhelming favorite to capture Catholic League and District 12 honors. Quarterback Jarred Evans, rushers Joshua Mathis and Brandon Hollomon (Rob's brother) and receivers Quran Kent, Jaelen Strong-Rankin and Jim Lynch already have enjoyed some '08-ish moments behind center Dom DiGalbo, guards Zuzek and Marcus Burwell and tackles Erik Harper and Rodney Linder.

There also has been frustration. At least for Zuzek.

"Mental mistakes have been killing us," he said. "One play a missed block prevents a TD. The next it's a bad route. And then we always have too many penalties. We talk about it again and again.

"The only thing that's stopping us is us."

"Stopping" being a relative term. West is averaging 32.5 points and last week rang up 62 on Kennedy-Kenrick.

"I felt bad for them," Zuzek said, "because we were coming off that [nonleague] loss to Archbishop Wood. We were angry because everyone knew it shouldn't have happened.

"As long as we keep cutting down the mental mistakes, by the end of the season we're going to be just like last year - hittin' on all cylinders."

Zuzek, a non-Catholic who lives in Brookhaven, would have attended Sun Valley if not for West. He met Fluck after starring in an all-star game for eighth-graders and opted to become a Burr, in part, "because of coach Fluck's track record of getting his players into the better college programs."

Thanks to a 3.8 GPA, Zuzek ranked 23rd in his class as junior year ended. He wants to pursue sports medicine and early interest is coming from Villanova and Bucknell.

His main adjustment upon enrolling at West?

"Religion class," he said. "Never had one of those before...My parents [Tina, Steve] always wanted me to go to a Christian/Catholic school, though. Just wasn't possible before high school."

Zuzek's partners along the D-line are tackle John Ruppert, also a 4-year starter, and Lynch and Brian Mosby at the ends.

"I like offense better," he said. "Mostly because I think I'm better at it. I like hitting people...legally."

What he wants more than anything, naturally, is to win a state title.

"We were still happy with what we accomplished last year," he said. "We just didn't get the job done. Really, it was kind of easy to leave '08 behind because only six, seven starters are back. This is a new team.

"Most of these kids don't know what it's like to play in a state championship game and lose by a foot."

Jake Zuzek does...Not that he still thinks about it.

"That's in the past," he said.