Hamburg’s Xander Menapace earning passing marks on football camp circuit

Xander Menapace has been all over the football map this spring, competing in showcases and making college visits. The Hamburg quarterback has had to make up for lost time in the recruiting game.

He’s 6-4, 207 pounds, with a big arm and all the right intangibles. Coaches like his athleticism, his grit and his smarts — in and out of the huddle.

Despite showing well — he stood out last week in front of more than 30 college coaches at the Get Recruited Hamburg Showcase — he’s still awaiting a scholarship offer. Coaches keep telling him and his dad, Aaron Menapace, the Hamburg athletic director and Hawks’ former offensive coordinator, it’s only a matter of time until someone pulls the trigger.

“They’re telling me I have a live arm, I’m accurate,” Menapace said of recruiters. “I would definitely like to have offers, but the (college) quarterback coaches haven’t seen me throw (in person) yet, so I feel this summer will be very crucial to get in front of them.”

Menapace missed critical exposure last spring and summer after fracturing a bone in his right wrist following a basketball fall in early February 2021.

His throwing hand was in a cast for six weeks and he wasn’t nearly ready to show off his arm in the spring, a key time for young players to get out in front of college coaches.

He couldn’t do upper body work in the weight room, either.

“I was so anxious to get back, I had over-use issues,” he said. “I was probably never 100 percent last summer; I was always monitoring my throwing. I missed half the camp season.”

He’s more than healthy now, an inch or more taller and some 15 pounds heavier than he was as a junior, when he was the third-ranked passer in Berks after completing 62.5 percent of his throws, with nine touchdowns.

He barely resembles the wiry freshman who got some starts behind center three years ago.

He’ll be one of the top quarterbacks in Section 5 of the Lancaster-Lebanon League, where he’s likely to be bigger than a lot of the defensive ends and linebackers trying to chase him out of the pocket.

By the time he gets to L-L play he will be well-traveled, and his quarterback skills will be even sharper.

Each Wednesday night this spring he has made the hour commute to Manheim, where he trains with quarterbacks guru Jim Cantafio — the former Wilson head coach — and works alongside other top quarterbacks in District 3.

“I love working with those guys down there — Sam Stoner (of York High), Zac Hahn (of Manheim Central), Aiden Johnson (of Central York),” Menapace said. “You go down there and have fun. I’m getting home at 11, but I love it. The work’s great; the competition’s great.”

Already this spring he has competed at the Jersey Juice Showcase, the All Northeast combine and, last Sunday, at the Elite 11 quarterback showcase in Washington, D.C. He’s planning to compete at the National Preps showcase in York, the Best of New England camp at Springfield College, a showcase in Indianapolis and on-campus prospect camps at Holy Cross, Villanova, Brown, Princeton, and perhaps others.

“I don’t want to over-camp, but I want to get to enough campuses,” Menapace said. “They’re all telling me their QB coach needs to see me throw (in person).”

The showcase camps are all similar: Prospects are measured and timed and put through combine-style drills. The quarterbacks are tested for arm strength and observed for their delivery, the ability to move around in the pocket and to connect with moving targets.

Even though they may seem the same, Menapace never tires of the drill.

“I love it,” he said. “I just throw, have fun with the guys, meet new people. They have the same dreams and goals as me. My arm strength now, compared to (last summer), is significantly better. I just want to showcase my talents, and hopefully play at the highest level I can.”

The knock on Menapace is his foot speed; he ran a 5.1 in the 40 last week. Former Mifflin quarterback Jan Johnson heard similar criticisms at this stage; he went on to be a two-year starting linebacker at Penn State.

Menapace will get a chance to run with the ball more often this season, off the read-option and RPO’s, as the Hawks switch to a Spread offense under new head coach Matt Hoffert and offensive coordinator Tyler Hartranft.

“Xander’s not a great tester,” said Hoffert, pooh-poohing the 40-yard time. “On the field he will make up for it with his his play-making ability. He’s more ‘football fast’ than he is ‘testing fast.’ “

Menapace played in the Wing-T offense his first three seasons. It worked well last year, when the Hawks had a breakout season and earned the first district playoff win in program history. Still, it’s not an offense that showcases a quarterback’s downfield throwing ability.

He’s hoping the switch to the Spread will help him get film that will catch some coach’s eye.

“It’s going to suit Xander better,” Hoffert said of the Spread offense. “Most guys in college are running the Spread, the RPO, the zone (read). This is going to prepare him for what he’s going to see in the near future; it’s going to help both of us in the long run.”