TYLER MERCER figures he's better at wrestling than football, but intends to make the latter his long-term sport.
"They say you have to be crazy to wrestle in college; I'm not that crazy," he cracked. "It's a very demanding sport. Takes a lot out of you.
"It definitely feels good when you win in wrestling because it's just you against the other guy and you beat him. But in football, the crowd's always cheering and you're part of a team and you're always hyped."
Even when doing the same thing over and over and over.
Saturday night at Radnor High, Mercer, a 6-1, 285-pound senior, lined up at tackle and (sometimes) guard on offense and blocked for the same guy on Penn Charter's first 19 plays in a non-league game vs. Archbishop Carroll.
You read that right. All of the Quakers' first 19 plays featured runs by junior tailback Eric Neefe.
The reason: Not many were even mildly unsuccessful, let alone fully.
As PC rolled to a 41-21 victory, Neefe totaled 236 yards and five touchdowns on 27 carries. He owned four scores by halftime, with the best a 51-yarder, and he added a 55-yarder on No. 2 of his three second-half totes.
"I actually had no idea," Mercer said, referring to the 19-straight string. "We did plan to run the ball down their throats [early] to tire them out and see where the game would go from there. But 19? Didn't even know.
"I just go with the flow. I'm so into just playing, I don't remember half the stuff that goes on. You hear the play in the huddle, run to the line, fire off the ball."
PC's grunts included center Mark Opaliski, guards Mercer and Tucker Colton, and tackles Mike McGlinchey and Patrick McInernery. Sometimes, however, coach Jeff Humble stationed Mercer next to the 6-8, 275-pound McGlinchey, a junior and cousin of Atlanta Falcons quarterback/PC grad Matt Ryan.
"We call that our 'Quaker Oatmeal' package," Mercer said. "We go heavy on the one side and just drive guys off the ball. But it can be an effective decoy, too. Guys will see me next to Mike and say, 'They'll definitely run behind those two.' But then we'll just run it to the back side."
To wherever, behind whomever, Neefe mostly frolicked.
"It feels awesome when you see your practice work pay off in a game," Mercer said. "Eric did a great job of finding seams and holes. Sometimes they weren't even there.
"That's how good he is. He can do whatever he wants against a defense, basically."
