He’d never played the sport in his life.
So when Peter Mickartz tried out for the football team his
freshmen year, even his mother, Linda Piceno, had her share of
doubts.
He’d never played the sport in his life.
So when Peter Mickartz tried out for the football team his freshmen year, even his mother, Linda Piceno, had her share of doubts.
Before the start of fall practice, she bet her son $20 that he wouldn’t make it through the grueling week of double-days.
A week later, she lost.
“Oh yeah,” Mickartz recalled with a laugh. “I collected on that one.”
Now, more than three years later, the one-time football neophyte is putting on a show as the starting quarterback for the 4-0 Mustangs.
In Friday’s 49-14 win over SLV, Mickartz completed 9-of-10 passes for 209 yards.
For the season, the senior has completed 68 percent of his passes (30-of-44) for 506 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions.
And no one is more shocked than Mickartz.
“I think I’ve surprised myself more than anyone,” he said. “Hopefully we can keep the ball rolling.”
Mickartz admitted he went in to this football thing with low expectations.
“When I tried out as a freshmen,” he recalled, “it was basically, ‘Let’s go out and see what’s it’s like.'”
At first, he didn’t even have a position in mind.
“The coaches came up to me and said, ‘What can you do?'” Mickartz said. “I knew I wasn’t that fast and I didn’t really like to tackle as much as everybody else.”
He’d played baseball since he was 4, though – primarily at shortstop and pitcher.
“So I told them I could throw the ball pretty well,” Mickartz said.
And thus his quarterbacking days began.
He started on the freshmen team. He started on the junior varsity team. And he’s starting now.
During his junior year, though, he watched from the sidelines as all-TCAL quarterback Ben Hemeon played just about every snap.
Mickartz had never been on a sports team where he wasn’t playing, and it was “frustrating at times,” he said.
“But Ben was a great quarterback – a great guy – and I learned a lot from taking the year off.
“Taking it all in from the sidelines was huge.”
It also said a lot about Mickartz, GHS head coach Darren Yafai said.
“I really appreciate what Peter Mickartz has done these last four years,” he said. “He went from starting two years to holding the clipboard, but he stayed patient and positive.
“Now he’s making the best of his opportunity.”
Nevertheless, when Mickartz was thrown into an occasional game in 2003, he was shaky at best.
So in preparation for the 2004 season, the Mustang coaches didn’t quite know what to expect.
“He was our wild card,” offensive coordinator Tim Pierleoni said. “We just weren’t sure.”
Since the end of his baseball season, though, “he’s done everything we’ve asked him to do,” Pierleoni noted.
Mickartz even hit the weight room and improved his squat from 260 to 370.
“Talk about a big bonus,” GHS head coach Darren Yafai said. “We figured as long as our quarterback didn’t lose us games, we’d be OK.
“So he’s gone from that to a quarterback who’s pulling us along and is one our top playmakers.”
