Post by TEAM FALCON on Jan 5, 2007 6:11:54 GMT 3
2006 All-Metro Football: Double Agent
MVP Springer hit the field just as hard as he hit the books
BY MIKE GONZALEZ
The Brownsville Herald
December 31, 2006 — Whether it was learning Scott Ford’s thick playbook or studying for Advanced Placement courses, Jeremy Springer made sure his God-given gifts didn’t go to waste.
The Los Fresnos star athlete was so on top of things, he turned out to be the best quarterback in the Rio Grande Valley this season and is ranked No. 7 in his class of 421 students.
It was The Herald’s all-metro Most Valuable Player’s determination and heart that paved the way for the Valley’s most potent offense which averaged 471 yards per game. Aside from shattering Los Fresnos passing records and becoming one of the all-time single season Valley passing leaders, Springer still made his studies a top priority.
After coming home from a hard day of practice, Springer would dedicate two hours of his time that same night to his schoolwork. Many times, the senior found himself trying to comprehend school and football at the same time.
“Sometimes I would look at my playbook on one side and later on, look at my homework,” Springer said. “You can’t balance both. You’ve got to go with what’s inside and that’s determination.”
His accomplishments include a grade-point-average of 106, a 1450 score on the SAT test, along with taking AP classes in Economics/Govern-ment and English. During his junior year, Springer showed he was a math whiz by enrolling and passing AP Calculus with flying colors — a grade of 97.
“I’ve always wanted to have good grades,” Springer said. “I tried not to let (the pressure) get into my head.”
In dealing with the pressure of making the town proud and hitting the books, Springer did it by doing what he does best.
“I just tried to be dedicated,” Springer said. “If you do that, you’ll be fine.”
Fortunately for Springer, a letdown was not part of his world. Once the Friday night lights came on, it turned into the Springer show. In the 13 games played, the left-hander was an astonishing 198-of-261 with 3,503 yards (ranked fourth all-time in RGV single season) and 42 touchdowns (ranked third all-time in RGV single season) on only eight interceptions. What makes his low-pickoff total phenomenal is it came out of 361 pass attempts with his 198 ranking fifth in the RGV books for a single season.
And if it wasn’t for a couple of Mission legends, Springer might have had all these records alone.
Lupe Rodriguez threw for 4,179 yards in 1987 to head the list of single season passing while Koy Detmer ranks second and third with 3,943 (1991) and 3,685 (1990) yards, respectively. Rodriguez also ranks first (50) in single season touchdown passes also in 1987 while Detmer was one ahead of Springer with 43 in 1990, the year that Mission team made the Class 5A state semifinal.
An amazing feat that even Los Fresnos head coach Scott Ford had never seen before.
“I had high expectations on him,” Ford said. “I knew he would take it to another level, but he played at a level I was not familiar with as a coach.”
On the ground, Springer rushed for 631 yards and scored 15 touchdowns. A lot of his accomplishments are attributed to a daily journal he wrote, which broke down what he learned that day on the practice field and what he saw on film.
As much as Springer took South Texas by storm, the ever-so humble senior was more proud of the history the Falcons made.
“We did a lot of things this year,” Springer said. “First (Class 5A) district title, first (Class 5A) area championship, first time winning an area playoff game at home. This team was great. I had never been around kids that loved each other so much.”
And of the many memorable Falcon games played, which included a barnburner with Weslaco for the district title and the two playoff wins, Springer said his favorite was the party that Los Fresnos crashed on Oct. 13 in San Benito.
On that night, the Greyhounds held the grand opening of their new 11,000 seat capacity stadium and had a special halftime show for San Benito native, Olympic medallist and stadium namesake Bobby Morrow.
“It was a big day for them, and we ruined it,” Springer said. “It was fun. Once we won that game, I knew we could win them all.”
Next fall, Springer hopes to play college football.
The question is where?
Well, he doesn’t know quite yet. Regardless, Springer did raise some eyebrows when he went to five college mini-camps around the state.
“I’m getting my name out there,” Springer said. “I know what it takes. I’ve had (Division I college) coaches tell me, ‘if you don’t play for us, you definitely have the ability to play somewhere.’”
Ford seconds that notion because he had the best seat in the house for all 13 games.
The Los Fresnos coach believes Springer’s leadership, physically ability and the comprehension of the position should be good enough to make it at the next level.
“You get the whole package (with Jeremy),” Ford said. “First of all, his physically there at 6-foot-4, 200-pounds, and he’s gonna get bigger. The way he produced in the big games speaks for themselves.”