TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Knights' Toce Sets Sights On QB Job

ADVERTISEMENT

By BART O'CONNELL

Tribune correspondent

Published: July 17, 2008

WESLEY CHAPEL - Two years ago, Kenny Toce began his high school football career not sure where he'd fit in. He came out for River Ridge's junior varsity team willing to do anything, and play anywhere, just to contribute.

After two years as the JV quarterback, but only one game of varsity experience, Toce will be asked to do quite a bit this season. He split time under center during spring practice, and is taking a majority of the snaps for the Royal Knights' 7-on-7 league team this summer.

It translates into a big advantage when it comes to being River Ridge's next starting quarterback.

His combination of mobility and athleticism, according to Coach Tim Stevens, makes him a strong candidate for the job, though he should see competition from Marco Custodio, who also is expected to be the team's starting free safety.

"He's pretty quick. He's thin, but he's pretty strong for his size, about 160 pounds," Stevens said of Toce. "Obviously I want him bigger than that - he's not going to physically intimidate anyone on the beach."

But Toce believes he's stating his case by playing well on the grass, in the 7-on-7 league, which is giving him an opportunity to do things that spring football could not.

"Our offense in the spring, we ran the ball a lot, we didn't really throw too much," he said. "So coming out here with four receivers every play, four or five, making all the reads, I have several options and it's really helped me out."

Those options - including receivers Mario Stewart, Alex Hill, Shane Allen, running back Stavros Arianas and a few others - are all playing in the 7-on-7 league with Toce. One of the more noticeable differences is that the Knights are dropping fewer passes as compared to spring practice.

Though the team is expected to move the ball primarily on the ground, with Arianas the projected starting tailback, the Knights are coming off a season in which they had 59 percent of their yards (1,442 of 2,455) and 76 percent of their touchdowns (19 of 25) through the air.

So, the passing game isn't going to go away completely.
Toce was called up to the varsity squad late last season, and learned a lot in his short time working with then-senior starter, Blake Spinks, who threw all 19 of the touchdown passes and had 21 overall in his final season.

"I just took all the information in about the plays, the footwork. I knew the speed of the game was going to be faster, and I needed to get stronger and things like that," he said. "Blake always told me to just trust my arm. If you're going to throw downfield, just trust it. Don't hold the ball, just trust your grip and throw it."

Stevens envisions Toce rolling out quite often during the year, as the Knights will try to move the pocket to protect him. He also sees some scenarios in which Toce and Custodio, who is spending the summer break in Wisconsin, could rotate in and out of the games.

Whatever role Toce plays will be OK with him. After all, he never envisioned this happening to him two years ago.

"I'm fine with whatever Coach wants to do," he said. "If he wants to split snaps, that's fine too. I would like to lead the team. I would like to be the quarterback here, but if Coach wants to get Marco in, too, that's fine with me."

Correspondent Bart O'Connell can be reached at boconnell@

pop.tampatrib.com

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT