Conrad Weiser Hall-of-Famer Marques Glaze proved to be a quick study
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Marques Glaze didn’t play organized football until junior high but he picked up the game quickly.
He was a starter on defense as a sophomore at Conrad Weiser, a key cog on the Scouts’ unbeaten team as a junior in 1996, and had a Division I scholarship in hand before the start of his senior season.
He was surrounded by star players at Weiser and top-shelf talent when he got to Bloomsburg but always felt he measured up to those around him; he never lacked for confidence.
“In my mind, I thought I was the best one there,” he said of arriving to camp with the Huskies as a freshman in 1998. “I had the full expectation that I was going to get a tryout with an NFL team. That was my mindset. No matter (that) I went (to a small high school). I’m gonna go here, I’m gonna show them; that was my mindset.”
Glaze, part of the Berks County Football Coaches Hall of Fame Class of 2025, showed them.
After an outstanding career with the Scouts he was even more dominant at the next level, earning national recognition in leading the Huskies to their only appearance in an NCAA championship game.
“I had all these (physical) attributes,” said Glaze, who was 5-10, 195 pounds in college, had a 40-inch vertical leap and ran 4.4 in the 40. “There’s no way I’m not making it to the NFL.”
He nearly did, earning tryouts with several pro teams after twice earning all-conference honors and being named a finalist as a junior in 2000 for the Harlan Hill Award, the Division II equivalent of the Heisman Trophy.
Knee pain kept him from performing well at his NFL and CFL auditions, bringing an end to his playing days.
Before that he was the one causing discomfort for opposing teams with the power and speed that made him one of the top backs in the nation.
He ran for over 200 yards in his first start, as a junior against Cheyney, and produced 10 more 100-yard rushing performances during the Huskies’ magical run to the national championship game; he twice topped 185 yards in the postseason.
“It was really unexpected,” Glaze said of a 12-3 season that remains tied for the Bloomsburg record for wins. “We knew coming into the season that we were good but we didn’t know until we won that first playoff game that we’ve got a shot.
“Then we beat U.C. Davis – they were picked to win the whole thing – and we thought we were gonna win the whole thing.”
Glaze and Bloomsburg weren’t stopped until the championship game against Delta State University. He was knocked out in the first half with a concussion and Delta State ran away with the game, 63-34.
Before that Glaze rushed for 1,867 yards and scored 17 TDs over 15 games; a year later he ran for over 1,300 yards and was named PSAC East Division Offensive Player of the Year. He ended his career with 3,329 yards, fourth in program history at the time, still No. 6 overall.
“By the end of the season I started getting calls from agents,” said Glaze, who spent time in training camp with the St. Louis Rams and had tryouts with the the Buffalo Bills and the British Columbia Lions of the CFL.
He had no idea as a kid such great opportunities were ahead. He remembers himself as a “scrawny kid” who was willing to work hard and learn. Al Silveri, Weiser’s head coach at the time, took notice of him in junior high and let him work out with the varsity guys.
“He saw that I was dedicated to football,” Glaze said.
He learned as much about the game from his teammates as he did his coaches, Silveri and Alan Moyer, then the offensive coordinator.
“Luke Stopper, Doug Werner, those guys were really good,” he said of teammates a year ahead of him in class. “You knew they were gonna be up-and-comers. I followed their lead.”
Their lead carried the Scouts to one of their greatest seasons. With Stopper at quarterback and defensive back, Werner at fullback, Anthony Moten at defensive end and wide receiver, and Glaze playing tailback, defensive back, and some quarterback, they went unbeaten.
They had few close games on their way to the Inter-County League championship, setting the program scoring record at 35.6 points per game. They became just the fourth unbeaten team in program history, the first to win a District 3 playoff game, and remain the only Weiser team to win 11 games in a season.
“Luke was super-talented, a super-athletic guy,” Glaze said. “Doug Werner was a beast at tailback. Then we had Anthony Moten; he was just a natural athlete. Everything about that year went great.”
They Scouts won most of their games by four touchdowns at more. When they took their regular season finale 36-13 at Wyomissing – a field where many opponents’ dreams had died – they stamped themselves as a special team.
“Anything we did that year worked,” said Moyer, Weiser’s head coach for the last 21 years. “The offense was so dynamic with those kids (in the backfield). You didn’t have to coach a lot; the kids made you look so good.”
A year later, with Stopper, Moten, and Werner gone, Glaze stepped into the lead role and carried the Scouts to an 8-3 record and back to the playoffs. He rushed for 1,163 yards and 16 touchdowns and was an all-league pick on defense for the second straight year; he was also a two-time all-league pick on offense.
Even though he wasn’t fond of the position, he played mostly at quarterback as a senior, a dual threat who was much more dangerous running it than throwing it.
“I was more of an option quarterback,” he said. “(When we wanted to pass) we ran Waggle, so I didn’t have to throw far down the field. I liked running the ball; I didn’t really care to throw the ball.
“Looking back, if I could’ve done anything differently, I would’ve played linebacker. I liked hitting people and I liked that position, I just wasn’t big enough for it.”
Glaze has no regrets about not making it to pro ball. Now 44, he lives in Plano, Texas, with his wife Vanessa and son Marciano, and has had a successful career in the financial world; he’s currently a vice president of client relationships with Fisher Investments.
“I feel blessed that I was on really good teams,” he said. “I always had really good players (around me).”
