‘Blessed’

BLASDELL – Before the Jamestown High School football season even started this fall, varsity coach Tom Langworthy was receiving electronic communication from parents of future Red Raiders who were getting their first taste of the sport.“I got some very nice emails that said, “My son plays catch with me in the living room and he pretends to be Stephen Carlson,’” Langworthy said.

Carlson’s ever-expanding fan club figures to get even bigger.

The senior wide-receiver/linebacker capped a highlight reel career Saturday afternoon when he was the recipient of the 43rd annual Connolly Cup. He is the fifth Red Raider to earn the award, joining Berto Amoroso (1982), David Hinson (1994), Aaron Leeper (2000) and Jake Sisson (2013) in that exclusive club.

“I feel just really honored right now,” said Carlson, who a week earlier helped Jamestown to its fourth state title following a 41-20 Class AA victory over Newburgh. “It’s really just a testament to our community, our team and I just feel blessed from God. I’m thankful for my family, my team, my community, all my friends and it feels great to end my senior season like this.”

And what a senior year it was.

Offensively, Carlson, a top-10 student, caught 43 passes for 772 yards and eight touchdowns. Defensively, he accumulated 118 tackles, 3 sacks, intercepted four passes and defended 19 more. In the Red Raiders’ win at the Carrier Dome, he caught five passes for 90 yards, and made 18 tackles, including two for losses, and defended three passes.

Other honors on his 2014 resume include: All Football Weekly co-Player of the Year; All Football Weekly first team wide receiver; All-WNY first team wide receiver; Cl;ass AA South Defensive Player of the Year; Class AA South first team linebacker; ans Class AA state semifinal Offensive Player of the Fame.

“He was excellent on the football field in all facets of the game,” Langworthy said. “He’s excellent in the classroom, excellent in the community and he’s very kind tom people, very respectful. When my son s grow up and they want to look up to somebody – they can look no farther than to Stephen.”

Dick Gallagher has been observing high school football for 35 years and, while he doesn’t have a Connolly Cup vote, he said he would have thrown his support behind Carlson if he did.

“When you look at his body of work on both sides of the ball all season, he just got better and better,” Gallagher said. “He didn’t draw attention to himself by pounding his chest. He just made the plays, made the tackles and made the catches, He’s a class act.”

Carlson said he’s undecided about his college plans, although he did have a visit from a Princeton University assistant coach last week.

“I’ve always thought of myself as playing as a wide receiver in college, but recently outside linebacker and defensive back have been brought ton the table,” he said. “If I really just get a chance to play, that will be great, on either side of the ball. I won ‘t really care as long as I am playing and having fun out there.”

Ironically, Carlson didn’t immediately take to football as a youngster.

“I didn’t even play the first year I was eligible for the Jamestown Area Midget Football League,” he said. “My friends were a little disappointed, but I didn’t think football was my style. My brother, Chris, hadn’t played much and I thought baseball, or something like that. After my freshman year, I got moved up to varsity. It was kind of a surprise. Coach trusted me to step up and have an impact on the team and I guess it paid off.”

The other Connolly Cup finalists in attendance were Zach Panebianco of Jamestown; Ryan Miller of Maple Grove/Chautauqua Lake; William Burgess of South Park; Sam Castronova of Williamsville South; Zak Ciezki of Cheektowaga; Terrell Ford of Kenmore West; Isaiah McDuffie of Bennett; and Brandon Smiley of Sweet Home. Mitchell Thomas of Canisius was in Long Island preparing for the state Catholic School championship game.