JEFFREY REINHART jreinhart@LNPnews.com
Sat down with Warwick senior Zach Snyder, who is this season’s first New Era Player of the Week. Zach was up for the New Era’s 5 Questions quiz. Here are his answers:
For a guy who is known more for his prowess on the defensive side of the football, Zach Snyder was a one-man wrecking crew on offense in Warwick’s season opener last Friday night.
The 5-10, 170-pound senior, who intercepted a Lancaster-Lebanon League-leading 10 passes from his cornerback spot last fall, had sticky fingers against Harry S. Truman in Warwick’s opener.
Snyder caught 10 passes for 162 yards and scored two touchdowns — on 11-yard and 60-yard receptions — in the Warriors’ 47-20 non-league victory.
“Zach had a great performance,” Warwick coach Bob Locker said. “Everything that hit his hands, he caught.”
For his pass-catching, touchdown-scoring effort, Snyder is this season’s first New Era Player of the Week.
“Zach is more of a polished wide receiver,” said Locker, who watched Snyder catch a team-high 23 passes for 519 yards and two TDs last season, when Warwick went 4-3 in Section 1 and qualified for the District 3 playoffs for the first time in school history.
“He’s become a very good receiver, and that has a lot to do with the work he’s put in,” Locker continued. “That has a lot to do with the work he’s put in. He’s worked on being more explosive after he catches the ball, and he’s got a quick first move and he can get up the field.
As Truman found out last Friday.
As the recipient of the first Player of the Week award this season, Snyder was the first L-L League player on the hot seat for the New Era’s 5 Questions:
GETTING A WIN IN WEEK 1 IS ALWAYS NICE, RIGHT?
“You bet. And this win was very important because we need to get as many wins in the first three (non-league) games as we can get heading into the Section 1 opener (Sept. 21) against Wilson. We need as much momentum heading into the Wilson game as we can get.”
SPEAKING OF SECTION 1, DID YOU GUYS PROVE LAST YEAR THAT YOU BELONG IN THERE?
“We know we belong in Section 1, and I thought we showed everyone that last year. And I know we can come back and do it again this year. Most people will probably tell you that last year was a fluke because it was the first good season Warwick had in Section 1. But I think we can do it again.”
SO, 10 CATCHES. YOU MUST HAVE HAD A GOOD THING GOING ON WITH SENIOR QUARTERBACK JON RESCH?
“After the first two or three completions I could tell that he was on, and that he was going to be on all night. And I was getting some pretty good separation from the guys covering me.
“But the catching part is only about 10 percent of the whole play. I got to do the easy part. The line had to block. The running backs had to block. Jon had to get me the football.”
WHAT’S THE LAST MOVIE YOU SAW?
“That’s a great question … actually, the whole team watched “Invincible” before our game last Friday. We went to the Penn Cinema, and our parents association gave them the DVD and they played it on the big screen. It was pretty sweet. And it was very inspirational and it got us pumped up for the game.”
APPALACHAIN STATE 34, MICHIGAN 32. I’M SURE YOU SAW THAT SCORE. ANY THOUGHTS?
“Yeah, I saw the end of that game, and I’m sure there are a lot of sad Michigan fans around. But I like seeing upsets. I know that’s college football, but here, in high school football, people like to say that the same couple of teams are going to win Section 1 every year, and that nobody is going to have a chance against them.
“Like I said, I like upsets, and hopefully we can upset some of those teams people always like to win Section 1.”
