Former Conestoga QB Viviano turning heads at Harvard
Chris Gicking was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Conestoga High School when he got a strong feel for Joe Viviano's determination to excel as a player.
Chris Gicking was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Conestoga High School when he got a strong feel for Joe Viviano's determination to excel as a player.
Viviano would go to Gicking's home once a week during the football season, bring some type of dessert as appreciation for being the family's dinner guest, and then studiously watch game film with Gicking.
"He was a really, really hard worker," said Gicking, now the head coach at Marple Newtown High. "He was always asking questions about reads, schemes, and patterns. You don't often see that at the high school level."
Four year ago, in his senior season at Conestoga, Viviano completed 131 of 229 passes for 1,869 yards and 22 touchdowns. He was named Inquirer third-team all-Southeastern Pennsylvania.
Now, after being plagued by a series of injuries, Viviano is thriving as Harvard's first-year starter.
The 6-foot-5, 220-pound senior has completed 134 of 216 passes (62 percent) for 1,616 yards and 13 touchdowns with five interceptions. He has carried the ball 99 times for 268 yards and five scores.
On Oct. 3, Viviano was named the Ivy League offensive player of the week after completing 15 of 21 passes for 210 yards and three touchdowns in the first half against Georgetown.
On Wednesday, Viviano was added to the watch list for FCS national performer of the year.
At 8 p.m. Friday, Viviano is to play his first game at Franklin Field when Harvard visits Penn in an Ivy League matchup.
"It's pretty exciting to be coming home and getting the chance to play in front of my family and friends," Viviano said. "I'm definitely looking forward to it."
Viviano has strong athletic bloodlines. At Holy Cross, his father, Joe, played basketball, and his mother, Laura, specialized in the 100-meter hurdles in track and field.
Harvard (7-1 overall) is in first place in the Ivy standings with a 5-0 mark. Penn (5-3) and Princeton (6-2) are tied for second at 4-1. The Crimson can clinch a share of their fourth straight Ivy title with a win at Penn.
After being Harvard's third-string quarterback as a sophomore, Viviano was in a taut battle for the starting job last season when he suffered a broken left foot in a scrimmage.
"Obviously, it was kind of devastating," he said. "You're looking forward to the season, and then it's taken away from you in a matter of seconds."
Things did not get better for Viviano during spring workouts. This time, he suffered a stress fracture in his right foot.
"The doctors were worried about the foot breaking, so I had surgery again," he said. "Then I was in a large walking boot for a month or two."
Even though his spring participation was cut short, Viviano was pegged as this year's starter early in training camp.
"There was a little bit of competition, but it got sorted out pretty quickly," he said.
Viviano impressed in his first collegiate start. The 21-year-old hit on 24 of 32 passes for 290 yards and three touchdowns in a 51-21 nonleague blitzing of Rhode Island. He rushed 10 times for 51 yards and a score.
Viviano, an economics major, said he planned to petition the NCAA for an extra year of eligibility because of his injuries.
"For Joe to battle back from the injuries and play the way he has this year, it's great to see," Gicking said.
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