SPORTS

Adewusi is HNT Offensive Football Player of Year

Greg Tufaro
@GregTufaro

Before the 2014 season began, college coaches viewed Colonia High School senior quarterback Tenny Adewusi as more of an athlete than a signal caller.

But as the year unfolded, Adewusi continued to impress as a dual threat, so much so that the schools recruiting him are now considering his ability to play quarterback at the next level.

"Last year when the recruiters came in, a lot were looking at him as an athlete," said Colonia head coach Tom Roarty, noting their disposition has changed after watching Adewusi become the first Greater Middlesex Conference signal caller in 14 years to throw and run for more than 1,000 yards in the same season.

"This kid might be more of a quarterback than we thought," Roarty said college recruiters have told him. "That's how much he's improved."

Adewusi, the Home News Tribune's 2014 All-Area Football Offensive Player of the Year, passed for 1,576 yards and rushed for 1,070 more while helping the Patriots (11-1) finish with the most wins in school history.

He commited to the University of Delaware on Friday night. Fordham also offered Adewusi, while other schools, including Monmouth and Albany, were recruiting him.

Adewusi completed 62 percent (116 of 188) of his passes and threw 16 touchdowns against just five interceptions for an area-leading 105.7 quarterback rating.

He benefitted from the play of a stellar offensive line, a deep and talented corps of receivers and the rushing of backfield mate Sam Pero.

"It all starts with those guys up front and Tenny really trusts those guys," Roarty said. "They (offensive linemen) have been unbelievable."

Pero, who rushed for 1,619 yards, and Adewusi combined for 50 touchdowns rushing and passing (Adewsui had 11 scores on the ground).

"He and Sam work so well together," Roarty said. "They know each other so well they know what the other guy is thinking. Sam knows when he's going to pull the ball out on the read option and they help each other so much, it's incredible."

Adewusi became a student of Colonia's read option spread offense, which co-offensive coordinators Joe LaSala and Nick Ruta designed. He worked tirelessly on his quarterback skills during the offseason.

"As a freshman, he was throwing (high-arching) passes that would come down with the rain," Roarty said. "Even as a sophomore, we never really thought of him as a quarterback. He decided he wanted to play quarterback and he worked all last winter throwing every Saturday morning with the guys."

No other quarterback in the area had as many sure-handed receivers at his disposal.

"You couldn't key on one guy," Roarty said. "You had to cover the whole field with us. Tenny really has done a good job of finding the guy who is open."

Roarty described Adewusi as a dual-threat quarterback whose running used to set up his passing. This season, the senior used his arm to create room to maneuver.

"When he starts to run, he becomes more like a big-time tailback, not a scrambling quarterback," Roarty said. "He is a bull."

Adewusi played among the finest games of his career in the sectional final, where Colonia fell short in a 28-21 overtime loss to Phillipsburg in the North 2 Group IV final at Rutgers University's High Point Solutions Stadium.

The Patriots were vying for their first sectional championship in 29 years.