Keaton Flint is about to experience a challenge that Paul Layton and Phil Neumann never had to worry about.
Layton was the quarterback at Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake (Burnt Hills) in 2008 as the team advanced all the way to the state Class A football final at the Carrier Dome. Neumann took the helm last fall and brought the Spartans back to the final in Syracuse.
File photo by Mike Janes
Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake's Keaton Flint.
"I was fortunate enough to be a wide receiver when two of the best quarterbacks in school history came through," Flint said over the summer during a break in an Empire State Games baseball doubleheader in Buffalo.
Flint was being humble. Layton (now a kicker at the University of Albany) and Neumann (playing at Ithaca College) were lucky to have such a clutch and multi-talented weapon at their disposal as their favorite target.
He rolled up 31 catches for 559 yards and nine touchdown receptions as a sophomore wide receiver, then followed up with 37 grabs for 638 yards and eight more scores in 2009 to earn a place on the fourth squad of the New York State Sportswriters Association all-state team.
Now, though, the three-sport athlete — baseball is his favorite and possibly best — faces his biggest football challenge on the eve of the 2010 season: The 5-foot-11, 175-pound senior is playing quarterback for the Spartans and there's no Keaton Flint to throw to.
Time to panic, right? Nah. Running down the roster as easily as he ran down fly balls to earn all-state baseball honors last spring, Flint can't wait to get started.
"We've got a lot of our specialists coming back and some quality players on the line," he said. "We'll fill the other positions. And other kids will move up and fill in. They always do."
And the guy taking the snaps beginning Friday at Class B power Lansingburgh (Troy)?
"Phil graduated, so I guess I'm going to try to play some quarterback," he said with a smile. "I've been working on getting ready and I'm looking forward to challenge."
Flint, who played some quarterback as a junior and had to take over in Syracuse vs. Sweet Home (Amherst) when Neumann was injured, benefits to some extent from the can-do attitude that is so pervasive at Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake, which dominates the Class A landscape in the Albany area. The school's sports teams won a staggering 10 Section II team titles last school year and finished second five other times.
Still, there are some tasks too tall even for the Spartans. They came out of nowhere last basketball season to upset Lansingburgh in the sectional basketball finals and then won their first-round game in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association tournament to improve their record to 11-11.
"Basketball was the most fun," he said. "We were below .500 and we won sectionals and got to play Jamesville-DeWitt (DeWitt) (a 67-32 loss), which had the best (sophomore) player in the nation, Da Juan Coleman.
"Just to get dunked on was awesome. It was a good experience, something I can tell my kids about when we're watching him on TV some day."
Followed perhaps by the Major League Baseball game of the week featuring Keaton Flint in center field for the Phillies.
RETURNING FOOTBALL HEROES
Here is the list of returning first-and second-team players from the 2009 New York State Sportswriters all-state team:
Class AA first team
* Devon Cajuste, Holy Cross (Flushing), wide receiver
* Josh Skowronski, Monroe-Woodbury (Central Valley), offensive line
* Ryan Sloan, Bellport (Brookhaven), offensive line
Class AA second team
* Joe Montesanti, North Tonawanda, running back
* Brandon Reddish, Fort Hamilton (Brooklyn), wide receiver
* Golden Ukonu, North Babylon, offensive line
* Mike Pellegrino, Connetquot (Bohemia), all purpose
* Evan Kappatos, Syosset (Syosset), linebacker
* Preshod McCoy, North Babylon, defensive back
* Jordan Frysinger, Corning, running back
Class A first team
* Phil Stasiak, Williamsville South, wide receiver
* Stephen Jahelka, Garden City, linebacker
Class A second team
* Joe Licata, Williamsville South-VI, quarterback
* Chris Bostick, Aquinas Institute (Rochester), wide receiver
* Maxim Ngolia, Nyack (Upper Nyack), offensive line
* Mikal Coleman, Sweet Home, defensive line
Class B first team
* A.J. Chartrand, South Jefferson (Adams), running back
* Troy Robinson, Johnson City, wide receiver
Class B second team
* Anthony Emmanuele, Depew, all purpose
* Anthony Fogarty, Cohoes, linebacker
* Nick Carroll, Haverling (Bath), linebacker
Class C first team
* Kieran Borcich, Bronxville, offensive line
* Jake DuBois, Chenango Forks (Binghamton), offensive line
* Quentin Gause, Bishop Kearney (Rochester), linebacker
Class C second team
* Mike Brewster, Hoosick Falls, quarterback
* Josh Keyes, Chatham, running back
* Jake Currie, Southwestern (Jamestown), offensive line
* Dan Smith, Westmoreland, quarterback
* Joe Patrick, Westmoreland, offensive line
Class D first team
* Evan Buckingham, Beaver River (Beaver Falls), wide receiver
* Ben Fluent, Randolph, offensive line
* Jesse Lybert, Cambridge, wide receiver
Class D second team
* Jack Fletcher, Delaware Academy (Delhi), running back
* Matt Riggi, Caledonia-Mumford (Caledonia), offensive line
* Tim Pompa, Saratoga Central Catholic (Saratoga Springs), kicker
* Sam Wright, Groton, defensive line
* Kevin Chen, Tuckahoe (Eastchester), defensive line
* Nick Gilbo, Moriah (Port Henry), linebacker
* Rich Welch, Avon, linebacker
* John Fasano, Clyde-Savannah (Clyde), defensive back
KICKING OFF THE SEASON
Most of upstate begins its football season this weekend. Here are some of the games that hold the most intrigue:
* Webster Schroeder (Webster) at Rush-Henrietta (Henrietta): These are quite likely two of the three best large schools in Section V, and the clash will go a long way toward deciding the Monroe County League division title. R-H is led by returning third-team all-state quarterback Ashton Broyld.
* Lancaster at Orchard Park: The winner becomes the de facto No. 1 challenger to North Tonawanda, the defending Section VI and state champion in Class AA.
* Newburgh Free Academy at Binghamton: Intersectional clashes don't take place nearly often enough before the state tournament in November. This will offer an indication of relative strength for Sections IV and IX.