Strong arm, warrior spirit make talented QB a D-I prospect

By Rick Pedone

Sports Editor

Phillip Steinmetz made things happen for the St. Cloud offense last season: He passed for 1,877 yards and 16 touchdowns, leading Osceola County. He ran for another 777 yards and four touchdowns.

He guided the Bulldogs to wins over rivals Osceola and Harmony, and he helped St. Cloud to what should have been an upset over district champion Edgewater, leading 17-7, before the Eagles twice converted on fourth down in the fourth quarter for an improbable 20-17 win that kept St. Cloud out of the playoffs.

The Bulldogs were unbeaten in Osceola County (5-0) and were 7-4 before they had to forfeit the Osceola win and another against Stuart Martin County for using an ineligible player.

Steinmetz said, overall, it was a good year, both personally and for the team.

“I was pretty satisfied, especially considering the problem (the forfeits) we had, the way we bounced back and finished the season strong,” the 6-5 junior said.

After losing a district game to East River at midseason, the Bulldogs reeled off wins in their last five games and would have played in a bowl but for the forfeits.

Steinmetz, the Osceola News-Gazette Offensive Player of the Year, didn’t mention it, but assistant coach Mike Short pointed out that the quarterback played more than half the season with an injured shoulder that forced the St. Cloud coaching staff to alter its game plan.

“There were weeks when we didn’t know with Phillip, so we put in very few pass plays,” Short said. “Those were the weeks when you probably noticed that we called a lot of runs.”

Short said Steinmetz dinged the shoulder against Martin County in the second game of the season.

“We weren’t throwing at all (in practice) on Mondays and not much Tuesday or Wednesday, either,” Short said. “But, I’ll tell you this about Phillip: There isn’t a tougher guy on the team. No matter what, you ask him how he felt, and he’d say, ‘Great coach, no problems.’”

It is that warrior attitude, combined with his height and powerful arm, that makes Steinmetz the best major college quarterback prospect in Osceola County since Poinciana’s David Tabor a decade ago.

“He’s going to have a lot of interest from the D-I programs,” Short said.

Steinmetz said he’s been playing quarterback for only three years, since the eighth grade, when a spot opened up on his youth league team. His older brother, Richard, was a defensive lineman for the Bulldogs. His younger brother, Brian, is a freshman who threw his first varsity TD pass against Gateway in the season finale.

“I played everything, but when quarterback opened I seemed to do pretty well, so I stayed there,” he said.

Steinmetz said having another quarterback in the family, Brian, makes for some interesting post-game conversations.

“Always,” he said. “It gets a little old.”

Tall and lanky, Steinmetz doesn’t look the type to put his head down and bang for yardage up the middle, but he does that regularly.

“I guess it’s a good way to take out my anger,” Steinmetz said with a chuckle.

His rock ‘em-sock ‘em style comes as no surprise when you consider who he models his game after: former Gator Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow.

“I like the way he plays,” Steinmetz said.

The Bulldog quarterback thought that he improved mechanically and in his ability to read defenses this season.

He attended a quarterback camp at UF, and he also went to a camp hosted by former UCF star Darin Slack.

“They helped with footwork and things like that,” Steinmetz said.

Aside from a sore shoulder, Steinmetz also had to deal with the loss of St. Cloud’s all-time leading receiver, James Boone, to graduation and with the loss of head coach Mark Jackson, who left in June when Bill Buldini took over.

“Yeah, last year it was always, Boone, Boone, Boone,” Steinmetz said. “This year, it helped being able to see the field and go through the progressions.”

Brett Biller, Jordan Reus, Louis Page, Pat McCloskey and Cole Harvey all took turns making plays for Steinmetz at receiver. It also helped to have a running back like Irving Huggins, who rushed for a county-leading 1,371 yards and 13 touchdowns.

“Irving is a great player. We had a lot of guys who played great this year,” Steinmetz said. “That makes it easier.”

Short said that Steinmetz will improve over the summer, and providing he meets his academic requirements, there is no limit to his future.

“He has the Florida mystique thing going for him,” Short said. “When coaches hear that you play in Florida, the antenna goes up and a lot of doors open for you.”

They better open. Steinmetz will run through them if they aren’t.

The All-County football defensive team will be published in the Jan. 1 edition of the News-Gazette.