Triple threat

Canton's Delapaz challenges opposing defenses with his arm, legs and poise

  Any doubts members of last season's Canton football team may have harbored regarding junior quarterback Kevin Delapaz's leadership abilities evaporated into the muggy morning air during the Chiefs' annual Red-and-White intrasquad scrimmage.

  "One of our senior receivers came back to the huddle after one play and kind of got in Kevin's face a little bit," remembered Canton coach Tim Baechler. "He yelled, 'I'm open! Throw me the ball!' Kevin, who was just a junior, looked at him and, in so many words, told him to shut up and get back in the huddle. That was the last time the senior said that to Kevin again."

  With Delapaz at the controls of an offensive unit dominated by juniors, the Chiefs registered 456 points while winning 10 of 12 games. One of the two losses was a last-minute 38-31 loss to Livonia Stevenson in a Division 1 regional final contest.
SKILLS THAT CAN'T BE TAUGHT
 While Delapaz's 4.7 speed in the 40-yard dash and on-the-money arm are impressive, it's the senior's intangibles that most impress Baechler.
  "He's very calm under fire," the Chiefs' mentor said. "He has an ability to make plays when the pressure's on.
  "Last year against Lakeland, we called a boot pass on third down close to the end zone. The play totally broke down and it looked like it was dead. But Kevin scrambled around and found (Todd) Turfe in the back of the end zone. It was a huge play in a close game because we would have had to attempt a field goal otherwise."

  One of the unsung skills that all Canton quarterbacks must master is the art of the fake. Delapaz's ability to deceive is as good as its impressive quarterbacks of the recent past, but it didn't come overnight, he said.
  "There's so much timing required between the quarterback and the running backs, so it took a while for me to get it down," said Delapaz. "You have to be very disciplined and run skin-to-skin all the way down the field. It takes a lot of work."
ART OF DECEPTION
  The senior signal-caller knows the work has paid off when an tricked-up defensive players chases him 40 yards downfield when he's not even carrying the pigskin.
  "I like the plays when I'm running downfield and they tackle me and start celebrating," he said. "They get all excited, then I get up and turn to them and (holding his empty arms out) show them I don't have the ball.
  "Last year we were watching film and a defensive player wrapped up our fullback and let him go because he thought somebody else had the ball. It turns out the fullback had it and he ended up running for a touchdown."

  This coming season will be Delapaz's football swan song -- even though he has the talent to play at the next level.    The left-handed pitcher, who went 10-0 for the Chiefs' District-championship contingent this past spring, is currently being recruited by several college baseball programs.
  Knowing that his days on the gridiron are limited makes the well-spoken QB soak in his final four months in the sport.
  "The two-a-days are definitely hard work with the repeats and the running and the hot days," he said. "But every day as I'm walking out to the practice field from Phase III, I think to myself, 'This is my last year, I have to savor everything and enjoy everything I can."

Ed Wright can be reached at [email protected] or (734) 453-1980.