In his first season as McCallie's starting quarterback, DeAngelo Hardy proved he could be one of the area's best athletes at the position. He spent his summer working on every aspect of his passing game to become a more complete player, and last Friday night that hard work paid off as he took another impressive step toward becoming a true dual threat.
The 5-foot-11, 175-pound junior compiled 350 total yards in the Blue Tornado's 42-14 win over visiting Madison Academy. He completed 10 of 11 passes for 186 yards and a touchdown and ran 15 times for 164 yards and another score.
That is this week's BMW Performance of the Week.
"The one incompletion was a drop that should've been about a 35-yard touchdown, too," McCallie coach Ralph Potter said. "It's early, but you can tell a difference in him as a passer and just how much more confident he is. He was better early last year than late, and I think that's because he ran so much and got banged up over time. Hopefully we can limit the number of hits he takes and keep him healthy more.
"DeAngelo is an exceptional young man, the kind of person you want leading your team. He's a great competitor who never gets rattled or flustered and actually gets better the closer the game is. People around him play better, and that's the mark of a good leader."
Hardy had 175 passing yards and the TD throw to Thompson Byrd in the first half and also had 134 of his rushing yards by halftime. McCallie finished with 526 total yards and outgained the Mustangs 332-73 on the ground as sophomore running back B.J. Harris added 138 rushing yards and four TDs.
"After seeing what it took to be successful at this level last year, I wanted to turn a switch and get better in every area," Hardy said. "Over the summer I really focused on my footwork and making the right reads, and getting the ball out quicker.
"So far I've been trusting my reads and the receivers to be where they're supposed to be and get the ball to them to make plays. I'm very confident in my leadership, but we all hold each other accountable and we're pushing each other every day at practice so we play our best when it's game time. Having a guy like B.J., along with our other backs and receivers and our offensive line, really makes my job easier and makes our offense go."
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis.