|
Mahoney
uses legs as well as arm
Quarterback
was third in rushing.
Attending Mannings' football camp gave him confidence to shake injury
fears
|
Mahoney's
scambling abilities are top-notch
|
By
Arpon Basu, Montreal Gazette,
About four years ago,
Lachine native Liam Mahoney was a promising young quarterback
in the North Shore football program who hit a major obstacle in
his progression.
He had suffered a broken
collarbone and dislocated left elbow in his first season of midget
football, and the painful rehabilitation had Mahoney second-guessing
whether or not he wanted to continue in the sport in which he
was obviously so gifted.
|
While he struggled with his
decision, he decided to attend a football camp in Louisiana run by Archie
Manning and his sons, Peyton and Eli, the first family of quarterbacks.
Mahoney wasn't sure what
to expect of himself competing with American kids, but he shined and
that performance gave him what he needed to soldier on.
"That gave me a lot
of confidence. It's probably why I'm still playing football," said
Mahoney, 18. "It was just such a long rehab, both physically and
mentally, because I was always afraid of getting hurt."
| One look
at Mahoney today, playing his third season at Vanier College, reveals
that fear has been wiped away.
It is somewhat ironic
that he drew much of his inspiration watching Peyton Manning,
the prototype pocket-passer for the Indianapolis Colts, because
if anything, Mahoney is the anti-Peyton. Mahoney uses his legs
as much as his arm to pick apart defences, and you could count
on one hand the number of times in a game he stays in the pocket
to deliver a pass.
Mahoney led the provincial
Triple-A CEGEP league in passing this year with 1,507 yards, 15
touchdowns and only six interceptions.
|
|
Using the U.S. college formula,
Mahoney's quarterback rating was a sparkling 127.5. But those numbers
become even more impressive when you look at the league's rushing statistics
and see that Mahoney ranked third with 497 yards on 89 carries with
six touchdowns.
|
Mahoney
(top, center) with members of his offensive line
|
There
is a school of thought that says scrambling quarterbacks actually
hurt an offence rather than help, but Mahoney obviously doesn't
buy that for a second.
"I've actually
had problems with coaches who would tell me not to do it as
much," Mahoney said.
"But if you
have a guy who can run and use his legs to his advantage, why
not use it?"
|
Mahoney's legs and arm have
both been a huge advantage this season for Vanier, which finished atop
the standings at 9-1 for the school's first league championship since
1991.
That was also the last time
the Cheetahs captured the Bol d'Or title, and Mahoney would love nothing
more than to dethrone CEGEP du Vieux-Montreal, which has won the playoffs
nine times since Vanier's last title, including the last five years
in a row.
|
"I don't think
we focus on (Vanier's last title), but we just want someone else
to win the Bol d'Or, it's getting a little tiring hearing about
Vieux-Montreal winning all the time," Mahoney said this week.
"But it would be great if we could be the ones to break the
curse."
Vanier will take its
first step toward snapping the title drought Saturday at 1 p.m.,
when it plays host to Beauce-Appalaches in the league semifinal
at Concordia.
© The
Gazette (Montreal) 2006
|
Mahoney
is a triple threat: scrambling, running and passing
|
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