Pujals looks to go long
Healthy QB eyes complete year
WORCESTER — After the fourth game of the 2016 football season, the Holy Cross No.6 football jersey hung unused in the Fitton Field locker stall belonging to quarterback Peter Pujals. The ace signal-caller spent the rest of his season in the trainer’s room, rehabbing his broken leg.
Now the locker contains an empty hanger while the purple jersey is once again roaming about the practice field behind the Hart Center, as the now-healthy Pujals and the rest of the Crusaders put in final preparations for the upcoming season, which begins Thursday night at UConn.
“Sometimes on offense when you’re doing things early with a couple of new players in there, it takes a while for the offensive side to shake off some early rust. But with Peter back there, it didn’t seem to be any rust there. Everything has gone relatively smooth,” said HC coach Tom Gilmore. “Peter has been a leader for us back there. He’s so physically talented. He’s confident. He’s really the key to all our expectations.”
Pujals returns for a fifth season after last year’s campaign was cut short when he broke his left fibula in Week 4 against Dartmouth. He appeared primed for a big season prior to being hurt, completing 111-of-175 passes for 1,110 yards and 10 touchdowns. Despite playing only four contests, Pujals received the team’s Rick Carter Memorial Award, emblematic of a senior whose sportsmanship and dedication to the game of football represent the highest ideals of athletics.
During Pujals’ absence, three HC backups handled the quarterbacking chores, led by Geoff Wade (five starts, 90-of-143 for 1,184 yards, seven TDs, three interceptions), Blaise Bell (three starts, 43-of-80 for 348 yards, one TD, four INT) and Emmett Clifford (9-of-19 for 108 yards, one TD, one INT).
“It was a non-surgical type of injury. I was kind of in a boot. I did some strengthening exercises and flexibility stretching.” said Pujals. “I feel good. I’m back to feeling 100 percent. I’m glad to get on the field with the guys again. Right now, I’m healthy and it’s a blessing to come back and be around the guys and play. I’m just trying to use everything that I’ve learned in the past.”
If Pujals stays healthy, the 6-foot-2 passer could land atop many of HC’s career quarterbacking charts. He enters the preseason camp ranked among the program’s top three alltime in career completions (833), pass attempts (1,366), total offense yards (10,524), passing yards (8,919), completion percentage (61.0) and touchdowns responsible for (84). He sits fourth in touchdown passes (67), pass-efficiency rating (126.7) and 300-yard passing games (nine).
“I just want to try and be a good teammate and work hard. If I do that, then all those other little accolades will take care of themselves,” he said humbly.
It’s hard to believe that Pujals kind of came out of nowhere to produce this type of college football résumé after playing only one year as a starter at Loyola Academy north of Chicago. In that lone campaign, he became the 2012 Chicago Catholic League Offensive Player of the Year.
“Yeah, we had three guys and I was behind one of them. I mean, he deserved it. So I really only had one year at starting,” said the 22-year-old Pujals, who received recruiting nibbles from Northern Illinois and Eastern Illinois, as well as various Ivy League entrants.
It hardly deterred his grid development as he set a Patriot League mark by winning Rookie of the Week honor five consecutive weeks.
“Obviously, I’m in the right place,” Pujals said without a trace of hesitation.
Now that their QB is fully healthy, Gilmore and his staff are excited to see what Pujals can produce in a full season of play.
“We have a lot of young guys stepping up and I’ve been impressed with their work ethic,” Pujals said. “Obviously I know all the guys, but it’s nice to have some guys from my class still here. So I just want to be a good example and leader for the younger guys and be the best possible teammate I can be.
“We want to have a really high-powered attack and we usually are when we’re going fast and mixing it up,” he added. “We have a great offensive coordinator, a great line coach, great receivers coach. I think the running backs have been doing a good job in practice and a lot of the O-line guys have been stepping up . . . . It should be fun.”