ST. PAUL, Va. – The first pass of Tyler Phillips’ high school football career went for a touchdown.
It was a sign of things to come for the St. Paul High School senior quarterback, who has entrenched himself as the Cumberland District’s top signal-caller.
He’s thrown for 3,812 yards and connected for 39 touchdowns in three seasons as the Deacons’ QB.
“He’s been a pretty successful guy,” St. Paul coach Mark Palmer said. “He’s been all-district three years in a row and is a quiet kind of a leader. The kids respect him. They know he’s going to come out on the field and he’s going to perform and he’s going to practice hard.”
However, Phillips has experienced a setback in the preseason. He’s currently sidelined with a medical issue and will miss the season-opener on Friday against Holston.
He will know for certain his status in the coming weeks, and the feeling around the St. Paul program is optimistic.
Regardless, Phillips has proven himself on the field in the past, leaving a lasting impression on his teammates and Cumberland District foes.
“It helps having a good experienced quarterback making good reads and good decisions,” said St. Paul wide receiver Corey Ellis, who has been one of Phillips’ top targets during the last three seasons.
Phillips had a starring role two years ago, when St. Paul compiled an 8-3 record and reached the Region D, Division 1 playoffs. However, St. Paul stumbled to a 2-8 record last season with an inexperienced team.
“Going from an 8-3 season to a 2-8 season is definitely not what you want,” Phillips said. “Especially, [coming off] a big year like we had. It was kind of disappointing, but we learned a lot from every loss last season. We put it behind us and moved on … That should put some fire behind everybody.”
Despite playing behind an unproven line last season, Phillips still completed 60 percent of his passes. Most of those linemen are back, and they are bigger, stronger and faster this fall.
“The line was young last year, but I think they started coming around at the end of the year, which is what we needed,” Phillips said.
With Phillips having a firm grasp of the Deacons’ offense, it could put plenty of points on the scoreboard. Ellis and Bryce Lawson are proven commodities as receivers, while
Addison Rasnick and Denver Fritz will carry the load out of the backfield.
Phillips, who also excels at basketball and baseball, is poised to close out his football career at St. Paul with another postseason trip.
“It was nice [in 2007],” Phillips said. “It would have been nice to win that 11th game, but you can’t win them all. It was a good feeling … Most of the players are back that know what it feels like to win a district championship and want another one.”
Plus, the Deacons have a quarterback who has made an impact since the first drive of his first varsity game.
“I don’t know what more to say about a guy who’s a great student, a great kid and a great football player,” Palmer said.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement