By Kim J. Harmon

 

A prolific passing attack? Nah, that seemed like too much to ask for a couple of years ago as the Newtown High School football languished in the absence of Tom Ryan, it’s last true passer.

The coaching staff tried to fill the void by converting linebackers and running backs into signal callers, but nothing seemed to work ... until Tucker Kass came along.

In the two years before he stepped into the quarterback position as a sophomore, the Newtown passing game accounted for a little more than 1,000 yards of offense and a dozen touchdowns. And since then? Well, Kass – oddly enough, a converted running back/linebacker – has passed for 2,499 yards (fourth all-time) and 29 touchdowns with at least one game left in his career.

“I was a running back and linebacker at all levels (of Pop Warner),” said Kass, a senior, “but I was too slow and small for that in high school and so I was made into a quarterback. I’m still getting used to it and still learning.”

What he has learned so far, though, has been pretty good. The Nighthawks are 8-1 in 2006 thanks to a viable and dangerous passing game. For the season, Kass is 73-of-148 (49.3 completion percentage) for 1,212 yards (134.7 per game) and 14 touchdowns with a quarterback efficiency rating (based on the accepted NFL formula) of 91.9.*

Those might seem like somewhat modest numbers, but keep in mind the ‘Hawks haven’t seen numbers like those since 2002 when Ryan went 80-for-165 for 1,022 yards and 14 touchdowns. In fact, Kass, statistically, is having the best season as QB since Pete Ivey threw for 1,755 yards and 24 touchdowns way back in 1997.

“Tucker is probably the main reason why we’re 8-1 at this point,” said head coach Ken Roberts. “with his ability to throw the ball, it opens things up so much. We had been one dimensional and other teams would focus on stopping the running game, but now we can loosen those teams up because Tucker has so many options back there.”

Though new to the position, Kass took to it pretty quickly and by his sophomore season was getting his first taste of varsity football when Josh Rouse – a converted linebacker forced into the position through desperate circumstances – recovered from illness and sickness. Kass went 15-of-47 passes as a sophomore for 307 yards and four touchdowns as the Newtown passing attack accounted for just 635 yards of offense.

“It took a while to adjust and get ready to play at the varsity level,” he admitted. “I hadn’t played quarterback before and in my sophomore year I’m playing varsity. It was pretty amazing.”

Coach Roberts saw the potential in Kass and expected some big things in 2005 but while the young quarterback delivered in lots of spots (he was 10-of-12 for 170 yards and three touchdowns as Newtown pounded Weston, 42-0) he was inconsistent at times while going 71-of-159 (44.7 pct) for 980 yards and 10 touchdowns (85.9 QB rating).

The ‘Hawks finished 6-3-1.

Nevertheless, he entered the 2006 season as one of the top passing quarterbacks in the South-West Conference for an offense – still somewhat untested and unknown – that had the potential to be very dangerous.

“It’s been a process and I’m still getting used to this and still getting comfortable,” Kass admitted. “A lot if it is decision-making – sometimes I try to go to the big play instead of dumping it down.”

Part of that is, he has so many options to choose from.

“We have a lot of weapons (on offense),” said Kass. “With Joe D and Jake, Joe Bowen and Bob Lapple and Chris Potter – it makes it real easy for me. I can just throw it out there and I know someone will go get it.”

Kass has thrown for 14 touchdowns and rushed for three more, accounting for 1,260 yards of all-purpose yardage, and has helped lead the Nighthawks to an 8-1 record and a fourth-place ranking (as of this writing) in the CIAC Class LL state playoff chase.

But he also knows he and the ‘Hawks have been fortunate, rallying from behind to defeat Stratford (in overtime), Joel Barlow and Pomperaug (scoring two touchdowns in the final seven minutes of the game).

“We have definitely been lucky in some situations,” he said, “but it shows the ability of this team to rally. It has given us a lot of confidence.”

Knowing he had a few as one game – as many as three games – left in his high school career with no promise, yet, of a collegiate career Kass realized there were still a lot of room for improvement and still many aspects of the position to master.

“The decisions (is the biggest thing),” said Kass, who was 9-of-15 for 202 yards and two TDs against Joel Barlow in what may have been his best game of the season. “Reading the defense and making those decisions is hard. Make one mistake and it could mean the game.”

But making one big play could also mean the game and if he is still barking signals for the ‘Hawks on into December, it could only mean Tucker Kass made a few more of those in the traditional Thanksgiving battle with archrival Masuk.

*Check out www.brucey.net/nflab/statistics/qb_rating.html for an efficiency rating calculator using the National Football League formula. Note that, according to the NFL formula, a perfect QB efficiency rating is 158.3.