Riverside football: Decorated QB Mikey Maloney commits to Dayton
Jan. 21—Mikey Maloney, Riverside's two-time All-Ohio quarterback, has committed to the University of Dayton.
The 6-foot, 195-pound senior, who is also the two-time reigning winner of The News-Herald's Tony Fisher Award, made his announcement on Jan. 20 on his X (formerly Twitter) page, saying, "Can't thank my coaches, teammates and community enough for the support! Huge thanks to the entire Dayton coaching staff for this incredible opportunity."
COMMITTED!!✈️✈️ Can't thank my coaches, teammates, and community enough for the support! Huge thanks to the entire Dayton coaching staff for this incredible opportunity! @bryandoberdruk @BradMaendler @CoachTedHefter @TDAndrews4 @CoachWhalen59 @RyanVanSchelven @_RHSFootball pic.twitter.com/lXRUQ6a1E6
— Mikey Maloney ✰ (@mikey_maloney15) January 20, 2024
Maloney chose Dayton, an NCAA Division I FCS program, over Mount Union, though a slew of other offers were on the table such as Mercyhurst, Wheeling (W.Va.), Fairmont State, Indiana Wesleyan, Ohio Wesleyan, Robert Morris, Notre Dame College, Gannon, UNC-Penbrook, Westminster, Ohio Northern, Clarion and Valparaiso. He also had preferred walk-on offers from Toledo, Kent State, Akron and Miami (Ohio).
"I took an official visit, an overnight visit, on Jan. 14-15," Maloney said. "The coaches showed me a ton of love the entire visit. I love what they're building there with the new staff and I HAD to be part of it."
But before making his decision, he took a visit to Mount Union on Jan. 18. Maloney said he took a few days to think things over, then called Dayton coach Trevor Andrews, who was at the Flyers basketball game at the time.
"He was excited. He was there with the other coaches and they were all super happy," Maloney said.
Maloney plans to major in sports management, with an eye on coaching or owning his own performance training center someday.
Maloney is coming off a senior season in which he ran for 1,077 yards and 20 touchdowns while also passing for 2,151 yards and 17 scores. He completed 165 of 272 passes (61 percent) with only eight interceptions. He was named first-team Division II All-Ohio by the Ohio Prep Sports Writers Association.
As a junior he ran for 677 yards and 15 touchdowns while also passing for 2,289 yards and 28 touchdowns, earning third-team Division II All-Ohio honors.
He is the first two-time Tony Fisher Award winner — as The News-Herald's football player of the year — since Mentor's Mitch Trubisky in 2012-13.
"It's been amazing career," he said of his stint at Riverside. "I worked for things like this, but you never set specific goals. I remember being a freshman and seeing all the older guys work and I made my decision then I wanted to play college football. Every since then I've put my head down and grinded every single day."
A workout-aholic in his free time, Maloney runs the 40 in 4.53 seconds, benches 315, squats 445 and dead-lifts 550. He said his workout regimen has helped him be where he is today — which is on the cusp of signing a national letter of intent with Dayton.
"I'm definitely a dual-threat quarterback," he said. "If I have to run the ball 20 times, I will. I think the more a quarterback is a threat to run, the more pressure it puts on a defense. I'm excited to bring my passing and running game to Dayton."
