The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
BEAVERS QB HAS THE ‘IT’ FACTOR
After sitting out last year, Keller guided Riverside to its first playoff victory
Andrew Keller has a certain “It” factor.
No one knows exactly what exactly “It” is, but as long as the Riverside football team keeps winning, no one in the black and gold really cares to quantify “It.”
Precious minutes remained on the clock Nov. 3 when Keller – Riverside’s senior quarterback – gathered his team in the huddle while facing a 38-37 deficit against Nordonia in a Division II, Region 5 quarterfinal in Macedonia.
Keller arrived in the huddle, glanced at the eyes staring back and him and made a promise. “We got this,” Keller said. Shortly thereafter, Keller’s 22yard touchdown pass to Michael Wojkowski gave the Beavers a 4338 victory. It was the first postseason win in Riverside program history.
The win puts the Beavers (92) in a regional semifinal Nov. 9 against undefeated Maple Heights (11-0), which will kick off at 7 p.m. at Mayfield’s Wildcat Stadium.
“You talk about the ‘It’ factor, he has it,” Riverside coach Dave Bors said of Keller. “I’ll take a guy with that ‘It’ factor over a stats guy 100 out of 100 times.” Why wouldn’t he? After all, Bors has seen Keller do it time and time again this season, guiding Riverside to victory after victory.
In the second game of the season against Green, Keller led Riverside back from a deficit for a 2928 win, with the Beavers’ defense getting a crucial stop on a twopoint conversion late in the game.
Two weeks later, Keller engineered an improbable length-of-the-field drive in a 28-27 win over Chardon, converting two fourth-down conversions, including a touchdown run of his own with three seconds left on the clock.
Then with the season on the line, a Keller-led magical drive gave the Beavers their first playoff win in program history.
Anyone want to bet against Riverside this week against favored Maple Heights? Do so at your own risk. With Keller on the field, nothing is impossible.
“You have to have that confidence,” Keller said. “Like in the Nordonia game, there wasn’t a single guy in that huddle who thought we wouldn’t score. It was all like, ‘Yeah, we got this.’ “
Statistically, Keller is solid — but not spectacular. His 1,257 yards passing means he averages 116 passing yards per game. His 767 yards rushing equates to about 70 yards rushing per game.
Twenty-five total touchdowns — 12 passing and 13 rushing — yeah, that’s pretty solid.
“But it’s not about stats,” Bors said, trying to quantify what Keller means to his team. “It’s everything else. The kid just expects to win. He’s so cool under pressure. It’s not just football, either. It’s basketball, too.”