It's worth the wait for Kingsway QB Tommy Popoff

WOOLWICH – Tommy Popoff patiently waited for his chance.

Now, he’s making the most of the opportunity.

The senior threw a pair of touchdown passes to speedster Benny Liles III and highlighted the Kingsway Regional High School’s 38-15 win over Vineland on Friday night.

Don’t be fooled when looking at Dragons’ roster, where “Tommy Pop,” as many of his teammates and coaches call him, is listed as a tight end and outside linebacker. Popoff is the quarterback and he’s developing quickly into a productive player at the game’s most crucial position and creating nightmares for opposing defenses.

“In the South Jersey world where you have a guy that sits and waits his time until he’s a senior, it’s very rare,” Kingsway head coach Mark Hendricks said about his first-year starter at QB. “He’s laid it on the line for us. He’s the first kid in the gym. He had to wait his time for this opportunity to play and he treats this like he’s a professional. Mentally, he’s come so far over the course of the summer. I definitely think you’re going to see his best ball ahead. I have no doubt.”

Popoff was a tight end and linebacker in his first two seasons at Kingsway, playing “a little bit” of quarterback in practice before becoming the junior varsity QB and understudy to varsity starter Nate Maiers last fall.

“Never,” Popoff said when asked if he ever played quarterback before his sophomore season. “Coach Hendricks said he wanted me to play quarterback. That’s how it started.”

What did Hendricks see in Popoff to make him the QB?

“I’ve always thought you look at your best athletes and find a way to get them into the quarterback position,” the coach said. “If you can overload the quarterback position and make it competitive, it makes the whole team competitive.”

Popoff certainly has the athletic ability. A heavy-hitting catcher/first baseman, Popoff batted .411 for he Dragons’ baseball team last spring and has already committed to Binghamton.

And he has a tight end/linebacker built at 6-foot-2, 190 pounds.

Popoff has thrown seven touchdown passes in his first four games, helping guide Kingsway to a 3-1 record. He’s also rushed for 300 yards, including a whopping 195 yards in a game last week against Washington Township.

Popoff is still getting comfortable in the QB role and says learning to make the correct reads is one of the tougher challenges.

“There’s a lot going on,” Popoff said. “It just takes a lot of reps. The more reps I get, the better I’m going to be.”

Bouncing back

After pitching back-to-back shutouts to start the season, Kingsway was torched for 52 points in a loss against Washington Township.

Friday was redemption time for the Dragons.

Kingsway’s defense produced four interceptions, including a pair by junior Luke Nordone, making the team’s Turnover Belt a popular accessory.

“It was extremely important for us to bounce back like we did (Friday),” Nordone said. “We knew we were going to have a hard week of practice and it was. Our coaches pushed us as hard as they could and we had four amazing days of practice.

“We lacked reading our keys and reading what we were supposed to be doing out there last week. We needed to get back to just playing football, and playing the game we love.”

That’s something Nordone wasn’t sure he would be doing.

A standout lacrosse player, Nordone didn’t think he was going to return to the gridiron. According to a defensive back coach Bobby Barbieri, Nordone had to be talked into putting the pads back on.

“I don’t think he had the confidence,” the coach said. “We told him he’s got the athletic ability. I’m so proud he stuck with it.”

Game Notes

Kingsway hosted its annual Youth Night, honoring its football players and cheerleaders from the youth levels.

Benny Liles III continues to show he’s one of the top playmakers in the region. He raised his season TD catch total to six and had another called back because of penalty against Vineland.

“Benny just knows how to separate and get himself open in zones,” Hendricks said. “We’re inventing ways to make sure we get Benny the ball and get him the ball early.”

Dominic Hibbs and Mason Bryan also had interceptions for Kingsway while defensive tackle Amir Washington had a big sack in Kingsway’s redemption tour.

Keep an eye on sophomore Za’hir Paynter. He had some solid runs and scored his first varsity touchdown in the game.

Senior Neumann Rojas ran for a pair of touchdowns for Kingsway, which will travel to Delsea next week.

Vineland senior quarterback Gavin Gallo threw his first varsity touchdown pass and Tyree Powell accounted for the Fighting Clan’s other TD with a fourth-quarter run.

Zack Burlingame booted a 42-yard field goal for Kingsway.

Tom McGurk is a regional sports reporter for the Courier-Post, The Daily Journal and Burlington County Times, covering South Jersey sports for over 30 years. If you have a sports story that needs to be told, contact him at (856) 486-2420 or email tmcgurk@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @McGurkSports. Help support local journalism with a digital subscription.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Kingsway's Tommy Popoff has played a role in team's strong start