Starting Lineup: Raiders’ Evan Myers was ‘made to be a high school football player’
To recognize the top players in Berks football MikeDragoSports.com has selected the “Starting Lineup,” a preseason All-Berks team that includes the top linemen, backs, receivers, linebackers, and specialists.
Players were selected based on past performance, expected performance this season and college potential. Two-way players were given special consideration.
A college coach’s evaluation is included in each story.
One player will be introduced each day, in random order (the players are not ranked). This is the first installment of the series.
Evan Myers, Twin Valley
| 5-10 | 185 | Senior | QB/DB |
BACKSTORY: During a weather delay before his first varsity game Evan Myers’ coach pulled him aside and said: “First play, we’re gonna chuck it.”
And he did.
The 14-year-old, starting at quarterback in Twin Valley’s season-opener against Garden Spot, threw an 80-yard touchdown pass on the Raiders’ first snap.
“It can’t get any better than that,” Myers says, looking back three years.
Actually, it has.
The guy who now runs the huddle at Twin Valley is a much different, much better player than the one who led the Raiders to their first District 3 playoff appearance and threw for a program-record 1,498 yards.
He’s physically stronger, has improved his arm strength tenfold, and has gained a world of experience after making 35 starts, including three in the postseason.
He’s the unquestioned leader of a Raiders team poised for another playoff run and an underrated play-maker on an offense full of them.
“He can make that big play when you need it,” says Evan Johnson, a teammate since their Mighty Mites days.
Go back to last season when the Raiders trailed at Solanco. They were on their own 29 facing a third-and-11 with 30 seconds left. Myers told Johnson, his tailback, what to and where to go, then delivered a 71-yard scoring pass that set the Raiders up for a two-point conversion and 29-28 win that kept them unbeaten.
“He’s a leader out there,” said Johnson. “And he’s smart, very smart.”
Myers has been home-schooled in football. From the time he was old enough to hold a football he was a ball boy for his dad Brett’s Middletown team. He was always next to him when the coach was breaking down film at home; by the time he was 10 he was on the sidelines charting plays on an iPad.
It’s no wonder he thinks through the game like a coach, making sure his guys are lined up in the right spot and prepared for what’s going to happen on the next play.
“He’s different when it comes to that kind of stuff,” says Brett Myers. “He’s been that way forever.”
Evan Myers was far from overwhelmed as a freshman. He completed nearly 56 percent of his passes, though many of his throws were under coverage. He profited, no doubt, by having a guy like Trey Freeman to turn those short tosses into big-gainers.
Last season he evolved into a complete player, capable of making any throw on the field – or escaping the pocket to make a big gain. He’s one of the fastest players on the team, averaged 7.4 yards per carry, and ran for 10 TDs.
He could be a 1,000-yard rusher on many teams but with Johnson and Drew Engle in the backfield there won’t be many yards left for him to claim.
He completed 59.1 percent of his passes and threw for 1,472 yards as a junior; in the process he became the program’s all-time passing leader, breaking the record set by Zach Gardner, the big guy who lived just up the street from him.
Myers enters the season having thrown for 4,174 career yards, which ranks No. 9 on Berks’ all-time list. He has the chance to become just the second Berks quarterback to pass for 1,000 yards in four consecutive seasons.
The only other? Chad Henne. You may have heard of him.
Unlike Henne, who played at Michigan, big-time college coaches aren’t clamoring over Myers. The reason is obvious: He’s 5-10. Even though he can make all the plays; even though he’s fast and strong; even though he’s an all-around athlete who plays basketball and lacrosse . . . coaches at the next level aren’t looking for 5-10 guys. They want someone who can stand tall in the pocket and see over those big linemen.
If he was close to as tall as his dad, who stands 6-5, Evan Myers would have a scholarship offer in hand by now.
“You’ve gotta live it,” he says of his physical standing. “There’s nothing I can do about it; there’s nothing that will change anything. I’m making the best of everything. I 100 percent have confidence in myself and (that if) given a shot I can prove myself.”
“He’s made to be a high school football player, and the colleges are starting to notice,” Brett Myers said. “Some schools are saying we’ll be back to recruit him as a running back. Some say he’s in our top three (quarterbacks want list) and we don’t care how big he is. He squats and power cleans like a lineman and plays football pretty good.”
ROLE: Captain, quarterback, defensive back, punter, kick returner.
COLLEGE PROSPECTS: Getting looks from Ivy and Patriot League programs, as well as PSAC schools.
COACH’S TAKE: “Great touch on the deep ball. Has really good pocket presence and gets the ball out quickly. Pretty accurate throwing on the run. Has ability to extend plays in pass game and is a running threat.”
