Exeter might need pinch-hitter at quarterback against Pleasant Valley
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Jake Hafer is coming out of the bullpen for Exeter again this week.
The Eagles’ top baseball player will find himself behind center this week after starting quarterback Riley Martinez was injured early in last week’s 28-10 win at Boyertown.
Martinez suffered an injury on his non-throwing shoulder at the end of a 9-yard run in the first quarter, according to Exeter head coach Matt Bauer. Martinez did not practice Tuesday and his status for Friday’s game against Pleasant Valley is uncertain at this point.
That means Hafer, who pitched in effectively last season when Martinez was out with a lower leg injury, moves to quarterback. He started at wide receiver in Exeter’s first two games; he went the final 3 1/2 quarters at quarterback last week, completing 5-of-8 passes for 79 yards. He threw a 51-yard scoring pass to Aidan Dauble, was intercepted once, and scored on a 6-yard run in the final quarter.
Martinez was injured in a Week 7 win last year against Muhlenberg and missed the next five games. He made a brief appearance against Conestoga Valley in a District 3 Class 5A semifinal and came off the bench in a season-ending loss to Bishop McDevitt the following week.
Hafer started seven games in his place and led the team to five wins. Exeter made some adjustments on offense, adding a Wildcat package that saw All-State tailback Jayden Zandier take direct snaps and make throws.
Hafer effectively led a last-minute drive in a regular season game against Conestoga Valley, throwing a 15-yard touchdown pass to Jayden Ware with 7.8 seconds left. He threw for 161 yards in that game.
Overall, Hafter completed 31-lf-57 passes with six TDs.
“Jake did a great job filling my spot,” Martinez said earlier this summer, “but it was obviously tough seeing my team try to get as far as they could and me being on the sideline.”
The 6-1, 190-pound Hafer is a top baseball prospect. He committed to East Stroudsburg earlier this year after earning All-Berks and second-team All-State honors.
He went 5-2 with a 2.57 ERA over eight appearances and 30 innings, with 36 strikeouts. He also played first base and batted .375 in 24 games, leading the team with 21 RBIs and sharing the team lead with 20 runs scored. He hit six doubles, a team-leading five triples and compiled a 1.052 OPS.
In roughly five quarters this season Martinez completed 7-of-9 passes for 158 yards and three TDs, without an interception.
He was on the way to a huge season last year, completing 63.6 percent of his passes, with 16 TDs and three interceptions. His was leading the league in passing efficiency rating when he went down; he ended up at 213.8, a figure that would stand as the program record had he had enough attempts to qualify.
Martinez entered his final season with 2,412 passing yards and 33 TDs, against only 11 interceptions. He needed 1,364 yards to become the program’s all-time passing leader and nine touchdowns to break the record in that category.
He was on schedule to become the first quarterback in program history to record three straight 1,000-yard seasons.
Martinez was determined to bounce back and did so with a rigorous offseason training schedule. He tacked 15 pounds onto his now 200-pound frame. He went out for track and trained in the 100 to improve his foot speed. (He qualified for districts in the discus.)
He competed in prospect camps at Boston College, Pittsburgh, Lehigh, Delaware and other places. He made several trips throughout the spring and summer to Ohio and Florida to work with quarterback coaches, who has helped refine his mechanics and improve his release time.