Post by exterminator on Oct 13, 2005 11:06:32 GMT -5
A&T freshman not afraid to take on any assignment
By Rob Daniels
Staff Writer
GREENSBORO -- When Quinton Corry's desire and willingness to play equaled N.C. A&T's level of desperation at long-snapper last week, something odd resulted: a smallish freshman in the land of heavy-breathing, heavy-set, ornery dudes bent on messing things up. Tough job for a defensive back listed at 165 pounds.
"I'm like 170," Corry said, a slightly corrective tone in his voice.
OK then. Tough job anyway. The rookie from Dudley High School probably won't have to repeat that line of work when Delaware State comes to town for Homecoming at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, but at least he's ready if called upon.
Behold the enthusiasm of youth.
"I just want to get on the field," Corry said. "I'll do anything to help the team."
Corry, who made an early mark at A&T with a 45-yard punt return against N.C. Central in the opener, sustained an ankle injury two weeks ago and found his time as a return man reduced. At just about the same time, the Aggies' top long-snapper, Trey Green, suffered an injury that has since healed.
Corry had done the long-snapping thing in high school, where he wasn't outweighed too badly by the guys across the line. So as the Aggies prepared to play Tennessee State, he volunteered to try a few in practice that week. He couldn't really run because of his own injury, but the hope was that he wouldn't have to run.
"I knew it was college and freshmen don't usually play a lot because of the physical (nature) of the jump from high school to college," he said. "I was just happy to be playing."
Great, said assistant coach Mike Stewart, who handles special teams. But he still didn't want to expose a 170-pounder to the job.
"Your head's down and you're going to get hit," Stewart said. "You're going to get run over. You have to snap before you can block."
Officially, the rules of football say the snapper can't be smacked around too badly. But the rules of the road say you can't go 70 mph on U.S. 220 in Randolph County, either.
"You get hit sometimes and they don't notice," Corry said. "It happens."
This past week, the Aggies were about to play Morgan State at FedEx Field in Landover, Md., and Green wasn't healthy enough to make the trip. His top backup also was injured at game time. Uh, Quinton?
"For a lack of better terms, we were out of other choices," Stewart said. "We didn't have anybody else. We were caught, basically, with our pants down. We had to use Quinton, who happened to be on the board who was able to travel and able to snap."
It didn't always go well. On place kicks, a couple of the snaps were too high to permit attempts. But Corry did execute flawlessly on his last attempt of the day, a critical extra point in overtime. And he had won over his teammates with his fearlessness.
Asked to describe the perfect snapper, holder Brandon Trusty named Green.
"But I'm not taking anything away from Quinton," he said.
Green is expected to play fullback and snap for kicks Saturday, and Corry said he should be able to resume punt-return duties. He'll welcome that, and he'll hope to make another play like the big one against Central, which set up a fourth-quarter touchdown that put the Aggies ahead before the Eagles' winning TD.
"Yeah. That's old, though," Corry said. "A lot of people are getting tired of talking about the Central return, the Central return. They're waiting for me to return one for a touchdown. Promised my mom I'd get one. Any day now.
"It's my time to come out here and impress the crowd."
By Rob Daniels
Staff Writer
GREENSBORO -- When Quinton Corry's desire and willingness to play equaled N.C. A&T's level of desperation at long-snapper last week, something odd resulted: a smallish freshman in the land of heavy-breathing, heavy-set, ornery dudes bent on messing things up. Tough job for a defensive back listed at 165 pounds.
"I'm like 170," Corry said, a slightly corrective tone in his voice.
OK then. Tough job anyway. The rookie from Dudley High School probably won't have to repeat that line of work when Delaware State comes to town for Homecoming at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, but at least he's ready if called upon.
Behold the enthusiasm of youth.
"I just want to get on the field," Corry said. "I'll do anything to help the team."
Corry, who made an early mark at A&T with a 45-yard punt return against N.C. Central in the opener, sustained an ankle injury two weeks ago and found his time as a return man reduced. At just about the same time, the Aggies' top long-snapper, Trey Green, suffered an injury that has since healed.
Corry had done the long-snapping thing in high school, where he wasn't outweighed too badly by the guys across the line. So as the Aggies prepared to play Tennessee State, he volunteered to try a few in practice that week. He couldn't really run because of his own injury, but the hope was that he wouldn't have to run.
"I knew it was college and freshmen don't usually play a lot because of the physical (nature) of the jump from high school to college," he said. "I was just happy to be playing."
Great, said assistant coach Mike Stewart, who handles special teams. But he still didn't want to expose a 170-pounder to the job.
"Your head's down and you're going to get hit," Stewart said. "You're going to get run over. You have to snap before you can block."
Officially, the rules of football say the snapper can't be smacked around too badly. But the rules of the road say you can't go 70 mph on U.S. 220 in Randolph County, either.
"You get hit sometimes and they don't notice," Corry said. "It happens."
This past week, the Aggies were about to play Morgan State at FedEx Field in Landover, Md., and Green wasn't healthy enough to make the trip. His top backup also was injured at game time. Uh, Quinton?
"For a lack of better terms, we were out of other choices," Stewart said. "We didn't have anybody else. We were caught, basically, with our pants down. We had to use Quinton, who happened to be on the board who was able to travel and able to snap."
It didn't always go well. On place kicks, a couple of the snaps were too high to permit attempts. But Corry did execute flawlessly on his last attempt of the day, a critical extra point in overtime. And he had won over his teammates with his fearlessness.
Asked to describe the perfect snapper, holder Brandon Trusty named Green.
"But I'm not taking anything away from Quinton," he said.
Green is expected to play fullback and snap for kicks Saturday, and Corry said he should be able to resume punt-return duties. He'll welcome that, and he'll hope to make another play like the big one against Central, which set up a fourth-quarter touchdown that put the Aggies ahead before the Eagles' winning TD.
"Yeah. That's old, though," Corry said. "A lot of people are getting tired of talking about the Central return, the Central return. They're waiting for me to return one for a touchdown. Promised my mom I'd get one. Any day now.
"It's my time to come out here and impress the crowd."
