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Rams' Haab Knows His Role

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By CRISTINA LEDRA, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 2, 2007

NEW PORT RICHEY - The last time Ridgewood quarterback T.J. Haab faced Land O' Lakes, he felt trapped in a nightmare from which he couldn't wake up.

The Rams lost that game last season by six points, one more than the number of interceptions Haab threw against the Gators.

He hasn't thrown that many in a game since, and he threw his first pick of this season last week against Springstead, in the eighth game of the year.

"It's a result of the running game," Haab said of his improvement. "Once we get that going, people are open and all I have to do is hit open people. My arm strength has gotten better. My completion percentage is high, interceptions are down. ... I had a pretty bad game against Land O' Lakes last year and I'm going to try to fix that tonight."

Haab's development really came together going into his senior season, his fourth at least partially leading the Rams' offense.

He previously had shared snaps with Charley Minichino but earned sole responsibility at quarterback this summer after a successful run through a local seven-on-seven league.

During the Kickoff Classic against East Lake, Ridgewood threw more than normal and Haab could feel that the coaching staff had gained a lot of confidence in him. But Haab knows his place in an offense that relies heavily on the running of Byronell Arline.

"T.J. has always been a very smart, intelligent player," Coach Chris Taylor said. "His arm strength has gotten better; he's got a better understanding of the game. With what we're trying to accomplish we're not going to drop back and throw 30 times a game, which as a quarterback is what you want to do, but he understands how we want to win games and be successful, and when we get the opportunity he's done a good job with taking that opportunity and making big things happen."
Haab is 43-for-66 for 826 yards this season, with five touchdowns and one interception. Having completed 65 percent of his passes, he is a reliable option when the Rams want to mix it up a little and throw.

"We don't want to get in too deep so that they know the pass is coming," Haab said. "We have a few audibles for if they come out in certain things because they obviously have to respect the running game a lot, so if they make some mistakes we have things to exploit that. The longer they wait to catch on, the better it is for us. That's fine with me."

Slowing down the run is exactly what Land O' Lakes did to Ridgewood last season, and that's when the trouble started for Haab.

"They shut down our run pretty good last year and forced us to throw. And if they do that again this year I think we'll be more prepared and more confident," he said. "Land O' Lakes is the best place to play in the county with the whole swamp and everything.

"I want to go back there and not throw five interceptions, obviously, and get a little redemption."

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