Most kids dream of being a starting quarterback.
Dave Spinelli did it because it’s what his team needed.
Spinelli is a senior on the Archbishop Ryan High School football team, and during his career, he’s played just about everywhere.
His primary positions were wide receiver and defensive back, and those were two positions he excelled at. And coming into the season, he was hoping to have a strong year at both spots after working so hard during the offseason.
But in the first game of the season, the Raiders’ starting quarterback suffered an injury that forced him to the bench for the rest of the year.
“Starting off, I was wide receiver, our guy went down and I was there for the team,” said Spinelli, who lives in Levittown. “I was getting the ball when he got hurt. During that week, we had put in a wildcat package for me. This happened on the first drive, and we just tried to play it out. I had a lot of help.
“The first few weeks, I was running around, getting sacked a lot. I needed a lot of help. It definitely took me some time to get comfortable, maybe two weeks? We have a really great quarterback coach (former Father Judge star Shane Dooley) who has helped me get better week in and week out. That’s been our biggest thing.”
When Spinelli took over as the signal-caller, the Raiders had high hopes of being competitive in the Catholic League Blue Division after winning it a season ago.
Expectations didn’t change under Spinelli, and Ryan made it two straight PCL regular season crowns.
According to Spinelli, this year’s championship was won before the Raiders started summer camp.
“The hardest part was us coming together and working hard during the offseason,” Spinelli said. “We have a lot of seniors. Everyone had to step up to fill the void. Our offseason was kind of crazy. We knew we had to work twice as hard as everyone else.
“I made sure everyone sticks together. Nobody panic, everyone stick together. We’ll be just fine if we put the work in. We’ll be good.”
Spinelli speaks like a football coach.
It’s probably because he’s such a student of the game.
He has all the tools to make him a good football player. On offense, he knows what to do. He’s been the coach on the field on the defensive end for years, too.
As a starter on both sides of the ball, Spinelli also makes the calls for the defense just as he does on offense. On offense, it comes with the territory of playing quarterback. But on defense, it comes from spending a lot of time studying.
“I call coverages, make sure everyone is set up and just really make sure everyone knows what their job is and we all know what we’re doing,” Spinelli said. “I love it. My coach put a lot of trust in me, I’ve been around this defense here for a while, I’ve been doing this for a while.
“You have to know what you’re doing and you need to be able to communicate it to everyone. I’ve had a lot of help on offense this year. I’m very lucky, I have a lot of people who have helped get me where I need to be. It will help me a lot, I think.”
Especially when the season is over.
Ryan will be busy until at least Thanksgiving when the Raiders square off with Washington. But Spinelli has plans of playing beyond high school.
“I’m looking around, talking to some (Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference) schools, I definitely want to play football,” Spinelli said. “Defense. I love defense. I don’t know, I just like going out and getting the ball back for the offense. I like offense, but I think I’m a better defensive player. That’s what I’m going to play.”
Sports medicine is a potential major.
“Being able to stay around athletes, I’d love to do something like that, stay involved,” he said. “If I can’t go far in football, I could help in other ways. PSAC schools are very good for football and academics. I got teammates playing in that league, they’re doing great things. It’s a great competitive league and you get a great education.”
And he’ll go as a two-time Blue Division champion.
“It felt good leading us to another championship even if it’s not my real position,” Spinelli said. “So to come out and win the Blue, it feels good. My coaches and my teammates trusted me and I trust them. It feels good because we all trust each other.
“This was a team championship. Everyone did their job. Our players, our coaches. Everyone did what they needed to do. This was a great season and now we want more.”
