By any measure, Drew Saxton is one of the top quarterbacks to graduate from the WPIAL ranks.
He left South Fayette as the sixth-leading passer in WPIAL history with 7,452 yards and passed for 94 touchdowns. Despite the big numbers, he didn’t have a line of Division I schools competing for his services.
At 6 feet tall, Saxton is undersized for his position. By his own admission, he’s actually closer to 5-11. Most of the attention he generated came from the Division III schools, and a preferred walk-on offer from Division I Marshall.
Ultimately, Saxton’s college choice was motivated not just by athletics, but academics. He chose Case Western Reserve in Cleveland, where he’s majoring in biochemistry and is on a pre-medicine route.
Entering the third week of the season, he’s trying to find a balance between football and school, and the first part is working out nicely. He’s earned Rookie of the Week and Offensive Player of the Week honors in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference due to strong performances on the field. And on Tuesday, he said he had three exams, a lab report and a four-page paper due ahead of Case Western’s 7 p.m. kickoff against Thiel on Saturday.
“You just [have to] get through it,” said Saxton, who said he can see himself working inside of an operating room some day. “It’s definitely harder than most schools, but you just have to do your work. The coaches are really good at allowing us to get our work done and maybe miss a practice here or there to go study or go to a tutoring session or something like that. It’s really good. Just trying to stay above water and get the best grades that I can.”
If his ability on the football field translates to his career aspirations, Saxton’s in good shape. He’s been surgical through two starts. In his collegiate debut, he completed 23-of-35 passes for 234 yards and rushed for 38 yards and a 17-yard touchdown in a 38-10 win over Rochester.
Last week, he completed 24-of-34 passes for 361 yards and five touchdown passes to lead the Spartans to a 49-23 victory against Grove City. His 361 passing yards were the second-most for a freshman in program history and the most for a Case Western Reserve quarterback since 2010. His five touchdown passes were one shy of a program record.
It’s early, but Saxton leads the PAC in completion rate (68.1 percent), passing yards per game (297.5) and total yards per game (320).
“In Division III it really doesn’t matter how big you are,” Saxton said. “There are play-makers covering everywhere at all positions. There’s play-makers who just didn’t have the size or the speed, but I fit well here and I think the people surrounding me are really good, and there are a bunch of play-makers who were maybe too small or didn’t have an extra 0.1 second of a second on their 40 time and that’s what made them play D-III. I think if you come watch a game, it’s really surprising how many athletes there actually are.”
Head coach Greg Debeljak said he’s impressed with how quickly Saxton has adjusted to some of the mental aspects of the game. While the goal for Saxton’s freshman campaign is to see him continue to make strides, Debeljak expected great things from him from the start.
“On the field he’s just a really intelligent player that learns quickly,” Debeljak said. “The physical ability really stands out. I think anyone that was recruiting him could tell that he was going to be successful wherever he went.”
Duquesne
• Entering this season, the Dukes had only ever played one Football Bowl Subdivision opponent in their history. On Saturday, they will play their second this season — and will travel 4,656 miles to do so. Duquesne (3-1 overall) is flying to Honolulu and will play Hawaii at Aloha Stadium on Sunday at midnight.
• Two Dukes earned Northeast Conference honors this week. Senior wide receiver Nehari Crawford was named Co-Offensive Player of the Week after recording 11 catches for 223 yards, both career-highs, and a pair of touchdowns. Junior linebacker and Franklin Regional alumnus Brett Zanotto was named Defensive Player of the Week after tallying a career-high 10 tackles, nine solo, two tackles for loss and a pass breakup.
Omari Sankofa II: osankofa@post-gazette.com
First Published: September 19, 2018, 9:18 p.m.
