Welcome to the Jake Prybylski show.
New this fall.
The former Yorkton Raider junior football team slotback has spent more time riding on the bench then Brady Quinn did during his time spent with the Cleveland Browns.
After serving as a back up in almost every position other than his new one, Prybylski is set to have a lot more fun this time around.
He's already got the biggest nod which actually came long before the end of his first all-out practice with the Yorkton Raider seniors over the weekend.
"He's already one of the best athletes on the team," observed Roby Sharpe, head coach of the senior Raiders.
The last time Prybylski saw this kind of action was when the 5' 8" runner sliced through the Sacred Heart junior team's defence for five touchdown scores on seven carries.
That was nearly two years ago and Prybylski already has won the confidence of coach Sharpe as well as a handful of his teammates.
Sharpe said that Prybylski has quite a few things going for him, also before the end of that Saturday morning practice.
One of them, he's already got a good feel for the game after having backed up then-running back Riley Hackman, who usually had the ball in his hands on every second or third play.
This year, it's Prybylski whose going to have the ball in his hands on almost every play, both this season and next.
Coach Sharpe said he knew that his rookie QB wasn't going to have a whole lot in the way of experience as the Raiders get set to kick off the preseason this weekend.
He also acknowledged that he's going to do his best to take this kid and whip him into game shape pretty quickly, adding that it's not going to take much work given what Prybylski already brings to the table.
"We basically took him and turned him into a quarterback," Sharpe said early Saturday morning."We're going to run the ball (with him) an awful lot this year."
He added that although throwing the football isn't the kid's biggest strength, he shouldn't have to rely on that too much anyway given that the high school game usually revolves around the ground game.That should sit just fine with the YRHS Raiders knowing their new quarterback is more likely to try and scramble for more yardage then throw a Hail Mary pass come game time.
At the team's first real practice over the weekend, Prybylski looked better as the day went on.
The other good news is that they've still got plenty of time to help develop Prybylski's arm before the 2010 season starts up.
Prybylski acknowledged he was feeling a little nervous on the opening day of scrimmaging at the Century Field, but that's not a big concern being surrounded by teammates who are more experienced than he is.
"I think they're pretty good," he said following dismissal after practice. "It's just a matter of time and practice."
Sharpe said another reason he chose to go with Prybylski in replacement of the departed Georgio Karapanos as the most important player on the team, is that he's got the intelligence and smarts to be able to run the show.
"I'm wicked excited," claims Prybylski. "I love it that coach Sharpe really is giving me a chance!"
It's going to be a pretty big turn around for the whole squad with only a small handful of Gr. 12s on this year's team.
That means Prybylski will be in the game as much as he was two years back with the YRHS juniors when he played a completely different role for then-coach Riley Wawryk.
Wawryk at the time observed Prybylski as the guy who stole the show in a game against Sacred Heart where Prybylski took care of most of the scoring that day.
Prybylski added that he doesn't feel much pressure being put into his new role. As a natural running back/halfback, he was able to pick the holes in the defence and run through them.
With the high school offence built around the running game, Prybylski appears to be a perfect fit.He says he is not, however, looking forward to dissecting through the team's playbook.
"Some of the names (of the plays) are long," he joked. "I look for certain things that I need to have. Things will fall into place eventually."
Prybylski will get his first taste of game action as starting quarterback this weekend as the Raiders play host to Winnipeg in a preseason opener at Century Field.
