Talented WR looks forward to more passes

By CHUCK SOUDERS (Sports Writer chuck_s@newsitem.com)

Published: August 29, 2010

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MANDATA - Line Mountain senior wide receiver Mike Marciniak had to feel like he had a visit from Santa Claus when head coach Mike Carson told him and his teammates that Carson was considering changing the Eagles' offense from the dive option to a spread, featuring several wideouts and plenty of passing.

Marciniak was quite likely the best receiver in the area last season, on a team which threw the ball less than 10 times a game. The 6-5, 200-pounder caught 29 passes for 441 yards and two touchdowns, including a six-catch game against Southern Columbia in the District 4 Class A title game, and was almost unstoppable on the fade route, exploiting a usual size advantage of five or six inches on defensive backs.

Now, instead of getting the ball thrown to him three or four times a game, Marciniak and the other Eagle wide receivers are likely to get the ball thrown their way two or maybe even three times as much.

"It's going to be different," Marciniak said on the team's media day. "Last year we didn't pass a lot, and that was alright. I'm looking forward to it."

Marciniak will be the prototypical first down receiver, with Jordan Welker, who caught 13 passes and averaged more than 24 yards per catch, the big wide threat, along with senior Ben Williard.

"I'm more of a possession receiver," Marciniak said. "We try to take advantage of my size and just let me outjump the other guy."

Still, in an offense which will probably double its number of passing attempts, he will have to learn to run a few more routes and get downfield more.

"Speed has always been an issue for me," he said. "I've never been the fastest guy. I've been working on my quickness, on being able to get open quicker."

The Eagles were doing just fine under the old attack, but Carson figured since he didn't have a pile-driving fullback in the mold of last season's Chris Moore, and he had plenty of smaller, quicker skill kids, the time was ripe for the change, but either offense would have been fine with Marciniak.

"It really doesn't matter to me," he said. "Whatever it takes to win. Really, I think with the players we have, we can run just about any offense. We have the type of people who will just go out and do their jobs."

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