High school football: Double duty no issue for Quakertown's Vince Micucci

He knew it as soon as he threw it.

Vince Micucci had thrown a handful of passes for the Quakertown High School football team last season as a sophomore backup to then-senior Will Steich (now playing at Widener), but this one was different.

It was his first throw as Quakertown's starting quarterback, in the squad's first game, at home against Southern Lehigh, and he knew what the outcome would be.

"It was a bad read on my part and their guy was right there to intercept it," Micucci recently said with a smile. "It wasn't exactly what I wanted to do, but I just had to try and forget about it and move on.

"Things got better and I was just glad I could help the team win."

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Things did indeed get better as Micucci ended up throwing for 184 yards and a pair of touchdowns in what turned out to be a 42-28 win.

An advantage, in this case, that Micucci has that not many other quarterbacks do is that he also plays defensive back.

So, instead of sitting on the sidelines dwelling about the pick, he was back on the field on the other side of the ball trying to stop the Spartans.

"That helps a lot of the time because I also play defense," Micucci said. "You can't worry about it because you have to concentrate on what you're doing on the field.

"I do have time, especially at halftime, to go over things with the coaches, but I like being out on the field as much as possible."

He didn't see nearly as much of the field last year, but still played a role as a wide receiver/defensive back/quarterback on a Panthers' team that won a school-record 13 games and advanced to the PIAA District One Class 6A semifinals.

"Last year was a lot of fun and we had so many good players and a lot of leaders," Micucci said. "But most of those guys graduated and it's kind of like a new team this season.

"We have guys on the team that played last year, but only two that were full-time starters. So the new guys are getting used to things and are learning very quickly."

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Unlike Steich, who was a three-year starter and predominantly a pocket passer, Micucci offers the Panthers' offense a different wrinkle.

"Vince got on the field last year because he's such a good athlete," Quakertown head coach George Banas said. "He battled for the quarterback job this season and won it. It's hard to replace a player like Will, who played three years for us, but Vince is going to do well.

"After that first throw against Southern Lehigh, he really settled down and played well. He's a dynamic player who can also use his feet to hurt you. And, he's a really good safety, too."

Micucci is used to this quarterback thing considering he started playing football, and quarterback, at age 5 for the Quakertown Midget Football Association.

"A lot of the guys on the team grew up playing QMFA and I've always been a quarterback, even back then," said Micucci, who also plays basketball. "It's just been a part of everything. I've been coming to the Quakertown high school games my whole life and just loved it.

"To be a part of it now, with guys I grew up playing football with, on the high school level is really just a whole lot of fun."

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Drew Markol: dmarkol@theintell.com; @dmarkol

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Quakertown quarterback, defensive back Vince Micucci looking forward