Football coaches aren’t as complicated as they seem. They simply want football players that love being football players. You hear the cliché all the time about the size of the dog versus the size of the fight in the dog–well, we’ve got one of those prospects on tap for you that fits both of those things.
Sickles wide receiver and outside linebacker Anthony Quintana cannot control his size, but he’s solely responsible for his fight and after a junior season of kicking bigger dogs’ butts, he’s poised for the heavy load that’s about to descend upon him with the Gryphons needing offensive production.
The 5-foot-9/180-pounder has played varsity all three years he’s been at Sickles, and enjoyed his best season statistically on both sides of the ball in 2015 for the 8-3 squad. He rushed for 371 yards on 56 carries and eight touchdowns while forming a strong partnership with USF’s Chris Oladokun catching 27 passes for 310 yards and two touchdowns.
These numbers show how effective he’s become in comparison to just the sixteen yards rushing and 118 yards receiving from his sophomore season. Of course, the numbers would be a “little” bit skewed when you have the talented Ray-Ray McCloud III along side on your offense–but the case for Quintana’s is even stronger because he came into the season knowing someone had to step up and produce in that absence–and he did.
The defensive numbers bear a striking resemblance in terms of the consistency he provided this past season on the offense. Although his total tackles were down slightly at 25 after posting a 42 tackle sophomore season–Quintana’s three interceptions and three passes defensed along with a caused fumble are the kinds of plays that made impacts well beyond making a tackle–something that a coach can always appreciate.
We expected Quintana to work just as hard this offseason with even more responsibility on his shoulders coming into the spring and fall seasons, and he’s already given us a glimpse by way of posting the 4th-fastest 3-Cone time with 7.2 seconds at Ignite while showcasing his skills at the receiver position earning him an Xecutives invite as well.