Sayreville's DeMild named GMC Football Player of the Week
On their smartphones, some people might display pictures of the solar system or their grandkids as their background. This summer, Sayreville High School’s Jayson DeMild had his football X’s and O’s staring at him.
“So every time I opened my phone the plays are right there, and I’d look at them,” DeMild said. “I don’t need it anymore because I know the playbook now. But it was a good month of my lock screen being play names so I could remember them.”
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The quarterback and his Sayreville teammates showed off their mastery of the spread offense in Friday’s 18-13 win over Edison in the Home News Tribune Game of the Week. It was a matchup of two playoff teams from 2015 looking to get an early edge in the Greater Middlesex Conference Red Division.
With Edison’s defense clogging Sayreville’s run game, it was up to DeMild and his receivers to come through. The senior showed his moxie by shaking off two second half interceptions and helping rally the Bombers to the win. For this performance, DeMild is the Home News Tribune’s GMC Player of the Week.
The 6-1½, 205-pounder finished 16-of-24 for 252 yards and three touchdowns. He threw touchdown passes of 31- and 35-yards to 6-7 Jahsim Floyd. He tossed the winning 80-yarder to Andrew Wille down the left sideline with a little over six minutes remaining. He also kept plays alive by scrambling out of the pocket.
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“He has a really great temperament,” Sayreville coach Chris Beagan said. “He’s a student of the game. He keeps his wits about him when he’s back there, and he’s a competitor. So I don’t think any setbacks or any mistakes he makes are going to hold him back later in the game. He’s going to go out there and battle with his teammates.”
Last season, DeMild completed 50 percent of his 121 passes for 1,006 yards and six touchdowns despite missing the final two games because of a fractured right fibula. But this offseason, he was almost like a rookie again. Sayreville switched from a spread wing-T to the spread offense. That meant the players had to learn new terminology and routes. Enter a spring and summer of hitting the books, football-style.
“It was actually really fun,” DeMild said. “I thought it was really cool learning new terminology and everything. I studied really hard at it, trying to learn it as quick as possible so I could act as another coach to help other people learn it.”
In fact, Beagan said the coaches and offensive coordinator Michael Novak are receptive to suggestions DeMild makes if he notices a tweak here or there.
“That’s the best thing about him, is his IQ for the game,” Beagan said. “Listen, he’s the coach out there on the field, making sure everyone’s aligned properly and pointing out blitzes and hot reads and things of that nature. So he really is the total package.”
Things started clicking in June when Sayreville won a 7-on-7 passing tournament at Rutgers. DeMild quickly noted that the Bombers' conditioning from its winter and spring workouts had them in better shape than other teams.
“It was noticeable to us,” he said. “And that’s something we took a lot of pride in. And that just kind of motivated us to even be more conditioned going into the season. That’s one of the best things we took away from winning the 7-on-7. It showed the early glimpse of what we could do.”
DeMild also plays basketball and baseball for the Bombers, but it’s football that has grown into his favorite sport. He hopes to play in college and said that he’ s been talking to NCAA Division I Championship Subdivision schools like the Virginia Military Institute. Some of those schools are waiting to see game film from this season.
They’ll observe a quarterback that has developed each year. While he’s always had good arm strength, DeMild improved in areas such as moving in the pocket, throwing on the run and accuracy. DeMild said that he and Sayreville quarterback coach Dan Huff often have games like trying to throw a football into a garbage can from 20 yards away. He’s also gained about 30 pounds from working out.
“If you go back and look at a picture of me from sophomore year, and look at a picture of me now, it definitely paid off,” he said.
Sayreville, which opened with a 46-18 win over East Brunswick on Sept. 9, hosts New Brunswick on Friday in another big Red Division matchup. DeMild can’t wait to go through the playbook and spread the ball around. In addition to Floyd and Wille, his deep receiving crew includes Elijah Clark, Jacari Carter, Colton Redding and running back Michael Liberti.
“We have all the pieces,” DeMild said. “We just need to execute and we’ll have a really, really, great season. I’m excited to see what we’re going to do.”
GMC STATISTICAL LEADERS: Week Two
PASSING (ATT-COMP-YDS-TD)
Jayson DeMild, Sayreville 16-30-332-3
Justin Turner, Edison 10-18-204-1
Tyler Layton, Colonia 17-23-176-3
Ryan O’Shea, Highland Park 11-20-147-1
James Schuld, East Brunswick 16-29-140-1
RUSHING (ATT-YDS-TD)
Elijah Barnwell, Piscataway 10-192-3
Dylan Boynton, Highland Park 12-161-1
Manny Resto, St. Joseph 21-149-2
Kyle Heaney, J.F. Kennedy 24-141-1
Sincere Williams, Edison 13-132-1
Charles Lovett, South Plainfield 12-120-2
Nick Sodano, Old Bridge 13-118-2
James Schuld, East Brunswick 16-110-0
Luke Pero, Colonia 17-108
Carlton Coleman, Monroe 17-107-1
Nasir Boykins 9-105-2
Jack Keenan, Spotswood 20-103-1
RECEIVING (REC-YDS-TD)
Andrew Brazicki, Bishop Ahr, 3-139-1
Keanu Reed, Edison 5-104-1
Andrew Wille, Sayreville 6-111-1
Jahsim Floyd, Sayreville 4-100-2
Nick Yanik, Edison 4-90-0