BLOOMSBURG - Freshmen centers, even redshirt freshmen centers, just aren't suppose to become starters for a football program the quality of the one coach Danny Hale has built at Bloomsburg University.
Last year, however, holding down the middle for the Huskies on their rebuilt offensive line was none other than Chris Steck - a redshirt freshman from Mount Carmel Area. As it turned out, he was not the typical freshman offensive lineman and added to the legacy of outstanding centers produced by the Red Tornadoes.
Steck anchored a line that went into last season as an area of concern and finished as one of the best all-around units in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. He started all 13 games for the PSAC East champion Huskies, who had the eighth-best rushing offense in the nation and produced the nation's only 2,000-yard rusher in Franklyn Quiteh, who rushed for more than 100 yards in 12 games and more than 200 in three of those.
At the conclusion of the 10-3 season, Steck was voted as the first-team center on the All-PSAC team, adding to the resume he began compiling for the Tornadoes that included being named Associated Press Class AA first team all-state. He was also selected to the Pennsylvania Football Coaches Association East-West Game, the District 4 North-South All-Star Game and selected to more than a half dozen print and electronic media all-star teams.
Before Steck ever took a snap for the official start of practice in August, the 6-1, 285-
pound sophomore was honored by the Consensus Draft Services as one of three Huskies named to its preseason All-American team. He is joined on the team by Quiteh and fellow grunt, senior offensive tackle Daryl Kurtz from Milton.
"Those honors are nice, but all they did was want to make me play even harder and prove what kind of football player I am," Steck said after Thursday's 27-20 victory over Ashland in the non-conference season opener at Redman Stadium. "Last year, I went into the season working on what I had to do, and this year I wanted to work on what I have to do to get better.
"Winning a game like this was a great opening test. They have such a great defense, but we let everyone know we're here to play.
"It feels great to win a game like this, but all it does is makes us want to work that much harder. I know what people expect from me, and that's what drives me."
After taking a 17-0 lead, Bloomsburg sputtered and Ashland scored 17 unanswered points to tie the score with 5:45 left. Then the Huskies put the game away with 10 points in the span of 59 seconds.
Facing an Ashland defense that had 322-pound Jeris Pendleton at nose guard and 312-pound Jamie Meder at tackle, the Huskies still managed to finish with 305 total yards. Of those, they netted 207 on the ground, including 144 by Quiteh.
"Steck is something special," Hale said. "He won't back down, and you could see that tonight when he was going against two 300 pounders in the middle of their defense.
"He's one of those tenacious players and has field smarts you can't teach. By the time he's a senior, I believe he'll be one of the team captains because he's already showing that kind of leadership ability."
Yes indeed, Chris Steck is not the typical sophomore center.