It has been quite a year for Hanover Central senior quarterback Wyatt Tewell.
The 6-foot-4, 200-pound Tewell made his first career start against Northwest Crossroads Conference rival Lowell, the Wildcats’ opponent on Friday, during Week 4 last season after taking over at halftime in the previous game.
“One of the things that made me realize we had to go with him, his personality and his demeanor calmed the offense down,” Hanover Central coach Tony Bartolomeo said. “His operations gave us a sense of calm, and that’s something at the time a year ago we needed. The kids rallied around him, and they really responded well.”
Tewell appreciated the turn of events.
“That was a blessing,” he said. “Working hard my whole life to be able to be a starting varsity quarterback, just having coach Bart trust me to be his starter for the rest of the year, it was huge.”
One year later, Tewell is putting together a huge season. He has been stunningly efficient as the experienced Wildcats (3-0, 1-0) have bounced back from an uncharacteristic losing record, completing 51 of 64 pass attempts for 599 yards and eight touchdowns with no interceptions.
Tewell’s lack of turnovers in particular struck a chord with him. He threw for 1,264 yards and 10 touchdowns with nine interceptions last year.
“I really grinded during the offseason with the quarterback coaches, coach Bart, just mainly trying to protect the ball more often,” Tewell said. “Last year, I wasn’t that good at protecting the ball.
“I’m reading the defenses better, knowing what plays will work against the defense, knowing read one to two to three. It’s just going over film, seeing what guys make a certain movement, if they blitz or don’t blitz. Seeing all of that has been just huge for me.”
Tewell has actually made big strides since his freshman season, when he played sparingly on the junior varsity team as a 5-11, 160-pounder.
“Freshman year, I was playing probably seventh grade football at the time,” he said. “I was not very good.”
Tewell started on the JV team as a sophomore and got the ball rolling.
“Sophomore year, I started getting the hang of it,” he said. “Then junior year was much better. And then this year, now I feel like I’m playing varsity football the way it should be played.”
Bartolomeo never doubted Tewell’s potential. Still, Bartolomeo marvels at the way Tewell has fulfilled it.
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“I’ve been doing this a long time, I’ve been coaching for 28 years, a lot of great players, and I’ve never seen one kid take quite the leap he’s taken in a four-year span,” Bartolomeo said. “He’s physically changed, he’s mentally changed, he’s emotionally changed — everything.
“It’s quite awesome to watch. I’m proud of him. I’m happy he stuck with me in the process because he wasn’t ready at times, and he willed himself ready. He didn’t complain. He didn’t dip his head. He didn’t do any of those things. All he ever did was show up and work hard, on and off the field. For him to be where he is now, it’s a testament to his will and his attitude.”
Envisioning what was possible, Bartolomeo didn’t take it easy on Tewell.
“I rode the guy every day,” Bartolomeo said. “The early years, I coached him very hard because I saw him like this. But he didn’t see himself like this yet. The things he’s doing now, he didn’t view himself as that guy yet. I said, ‘Listen, you’re not very good right now, but I’m going to coach you like you’re the starter,’ and that’s what we did. I said, ‘So get ready.’
“He’s awesome, man, because he wanted to do it. A lot of people say they want to do it, say ‘I’m going to be a starting quarterback.’ But do you want to do all the things necessary? He’s always done all those things, on and off the field. He never misses anything, never had to beg him, never had to wonder, and now he’s having success.”
Bartolomeo thinks Tewell benefited from having to clear those hurdles.
“The thing that makes him different, a lot of kids that are very gifted coming up, a lot of it’s easy for a long time, and then the minute they hit adversity, they don’t know how to handle it,” Bartolomeo said. “Whereas with him, he’s been through the fire and raked through the coals, and he’s battle-tested tough. His confidence is just different than your other guy who’s kind of had just like your normal ladder. His path, he’s just mentally tougher.
“When he tells you ‘seventh grade football,’ he was not very good as a freshman, and that’s no one’s fault. He just wasn’t ready yet. But in a short amount of time, he became a varsity player.”
Hanover Central senior tight end/linebacker Anthony Layman knows Tewell has earned what he has gotten.
“Wyatt is one of the hardest workers I’ve ever met in my life, and I mean every word of that,” Layman said. “Whether he’s putting in work on the weekend with his QB coach or asking to go throw any free time, he walks, talks and breathes football.
“Wyatt’s growth this year is a testament to the work he’s put in. Watching someone who works like that drives everyone on the team to be better, and as the QB, he leads by great example when it comes to putting in extra work. Nobody deserves this start to the season more than he does, and I can’t wait to have the Region see what he can really do with the ball in his hands because he’s just getting started.”
Indeed, Tewell also has aspirations to play in college.
“I think that will happen,” Bartolomeo said. “He’s kind of a late bloomer, and everything now is so rushed. But there will be a spot for him if he chooses, as long as he has the want-to, and he does.
“His style fits college schemes well if they build a team. In high school, it’s like, ‘Here’s the guys, and you have those pieces.’ But he’s a pro-style quarterback, and college teams can go, ‘OK, we want a pro-style quarterback, and we’re going to get you big linemen and tight ends, we’re going to run the ball, and you’re going to stand in that pocket and throw the ball.’ He’s a pro-style player.”
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