Shaker’s Joey Mirabile taking charge of the his Bison offense
CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. >> When under center the quarterback is often referred to as the ‘field general’ the eyes that see the entire field and making decisions always looking to keep his offense on the field and moving the chains.
On Friday night Shaker quarterback Joey Mirabile did just that, handing the ball off to his full arsenal of weapons in the Bison backfield and then, when needed, called his own number to keep drives alive guiding his squad to a 28-14 win on the road at Shenendehowa.
“I know we have a great offensive line, they were just moving them the whole night and I knew that they would keep wearing them down over the course of the game,” junior Joey Mirabile said. “We just know that we have to control the ball, keep moving the ball and having positive plays.”
Shaker now sports a 2-0 record that includes impres
sive wins over Guilderland (41-23) and on the road at Shenendehowa before it hosts Saratoga Springs this Friday for week three.
The Bison field general has a variety of weapons to call on each week.
“We have a lot of really good players. It’s pretty good because I’ve been playing with Porter (Ninstant) for a while and Riese (Ninstant) and Jake (Nelson),” Mirabile said. “Jake just gets his yards and Porter is really hard to tackle. It’s pretty good to have them all there.”
He deserves more credit that just handing off the ball – ask both coaches that say his every play on Friday.
“Joey is a three-sport athlete, that’s the first thing I start out with. In this day and age I really appreciate that and he plays like that,” Shaker Coach Greg Sheeler said. “He plays like a kid who knows sports, he’s a competitor, he’s a leader and he plays with a lot of poise.
“He’s a really good athlete. I think that he was kind of an undersized kid for a while, but now he’s really grown up and he’s done some great strength training and built himself into a great athlete.”
On Friday Mirabile saw Porter Ninstant do the legwork to open the second half and help extend the Shaker lead at Shenendehowa, 21-7 with a 59-yard run before handing it to his back one more time for the score.
After a three-and-out by the Plainsmen, Mirabile managed a 13-play drive that chewed up almost seven minutes off the clock and maintained his composure as the Bison committed four penalties.
In that drive Mirabile wasn’t afraid to pull the ball down on broken plays and take the ball himself, nine times on the night for 50 yards.
“We put them in positions like that tonight defensively where it was a long down and distance and that quarterback was such a good scrambler,” Shenendehowa Coach Brian Clawson said. “He kept everything alive with his feet and our coverage was good down field and that’s kind of tough to prepare for when you have a kid that can run like that and find that open rushing lane and get first downs.”
Mirabile’s goal was to keep each drive going.
“I just don’t want to lose the ball, just get two hands on it and get down if I can,” Mirabile said. “If I can’t I’ll take the hit and get back up.”