LancSports.com honors Warriors’ two-way terror
Chris Schaffer spent the first two years of his varsity football career playing lead fullback, sacrificing his body while blowing open holes for former Warwick standout scatback Eric Resch.
Then his senior season rolled around this fall, and for the first couple of weeks Schaffer was back at his familiar fullback spot, doing the grunt work and getting the occasional carry on a short-down situation.
That all changed around mid-season.
With some injuries and some inconsistencies in the backfield, Warwick coach Bob Locker turned Schaffer – a rugged 6-2, 217-pound bulldozer – into the Warriors’ feature back.
Great move, Coach.
Schaffer has played a starring role in his new position, taking the ball when asked and doing plenty with it.
His last four games have been nothing short of sensational:
Week 6 Reading – 32 carries for 137 yards and two TD.
Week 7 McCaskey – 37 carries for 178 yards and two TD.
Week 8 Penn Manor – 31 carries for 149 yards and two TD.
Week 9 Hempfield – 31 carries for 177 yards and a TD.
Four-week totals – 131 carries for 641 yards and seven TD.
Nine-week totals – 185 carries for 874 yards and 13 TD.
He’s also caught eight passes out of the backfield.
Oh by the way, Schaffer is also one of Warwick’s top defenders. The Warriors’ hard-hitting middle linebacker is second on the team in total tackles, and in nine games he’s made 51 solo stops, assisted on 28 others, scooped up a fumble and picked off a pass.
Schaffer and his defensive mates were stingy last Friday in the Warriors’ 16-0 Section 1 win over Hempfield, holding the Black Knights to just 81 yards and four first downs. And once again, Schaffer led the ground troops with 177 yards and a TD. He also completed a pair of passes for 15 yards out of the ‘Wildcat’ direct-snap package.
For his efforts, Schaffer is the LancSports.com Player of the Week.
A top-notch football player who was a three-year starter at LB and RB for the Warriors, Schaffer is also a standout lacrosse player for Warwick.
He has accepted athletic and academic scholarships to continue playing lacrosse for Division II Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia. The Griffins, who will make their debut as a lacrosse varsity sport next spring, compete in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference. Schaffer will join the program in its second season of lax in 2011.
I caught up with Schaffer Monday afternoon and we chatted about his transformation from fullback to feature back, about the big win over Hempfield and the Week 10 challenge at Wilson, about his future playing lacrosse for Chestnut Hill, and some other fun topics, like the World Series, and about his friend Antonio Giorgio, Warwick’s outstanding senior wrestler.
You can listen to the interview by clicking on the ‘play’ button above.
You can also download the Podcast and listen to it on your favorite mp3 player by clicking here.
