Football, Baseball
Favorite athlete: Ken Griffey Jr.
Favorite team: Cincinnati Reds
Favorite memory competing in sports: Playing summer baseball for the Bucks County Gators
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: Running off the mound at age 10 because I was about to pee my pants.
Music on iPod: Rap (Ace Hood, Kendrick Lamar, J Cole)
Future plans: Attend Lehigh University and graduate with a degree in business.
Words to live by: “Adversity causes some men to break; others to break records.”
One goal before turning 30: Get married
One thing people don’t know about me: I was born in Georgia
By GORDON GLANTZ
It was the third game of the season when lightning – literally and figuratively – struck for the Central Bucks West football team and senior quarterback John Fitz.
After a season-opening loss to Upper Dublin and tight win over William Tennent, the Bucks found themselves in a dogfight with a team, Wissahickon, that had beaten them a year earlier on a field goal in double overtime.
Due to a Jewish holiday, the game was being played on a Thursday night but it was still a “school night.”
And then came the lightning, prompting a delay of one hour and 45 minutes before the opening kick.
The Bucks found themselves in the well by two touchdowns, 28-14, in the second half.
Although it was only Week 3, it seemed the season hung in the balance.
With leading rusher Marvin Todd (1,331 yards, 21 touchdowns) injured, someone needed to step up.
Enter Fitz.
“We said, ‘John, you need to be the guy,’” said coach Brian Hensel. “In Week 3, in that game, he was the guy.”
Fitz engineered two long scoring drives, including a 60-yard touchdown run, while at one point running a quarterback draw on five out of seven plays and carrying any tacklers he couldn’t elude.
With no time remaining, Fitz and the Bucks got their ultimate revenge on the Trojans with a last-second field goal by Mike Miller to procure a 31-28 victory.
“He kept his head high,” said CB West coach Brian Hensel. “He played like he was shot out of a cannon in the second half of that game.”
The Bucks went on to post seven straight wins behind Fitz, who led the Bucks to a 9-3 mark and two games into the postseason.
Fitz had a banner season – throwing for close to 1,500 yards and 16 touchdowns while running for another 655 yards and five scores - and was named all-league for his efforts.
“He could throw or run,” said Hensel. “Really, it was like pick your poison.”
But Fitz is not an “I” kind of a guy.
“Whenever he was interviewed after games, or whatever, you would never hear him say ‘I’ – ‘I did this’ or ‘I did that,’” said Hensel. “It was always ‘we.’ I never heard the word ‘I” out of him … He did a good job for us.”
Winning Respect
The younger brother of CB West standout running back Matt Fitz, John came into the season having only started a handful of games at quarterback, and that was mostly in his sophomore season.
A crafty pitcher who will continue his baseball career at Lehigh, he had to win his job in preseason camp after juggling summertime activities with his No. 1 sport.
He also had to win a lot more than a starting job, that being respect from players and coaches.
The great testament to the season was that he was not initially elected a team captain but added as one by midseason.
“John was an exceptional player and team leader for the CB West Football program,” said Hensel. “His quiet demeanor was a stark contrast to his relentless competitiveness and leadership on the field. He never was in a panic and always believed in himself and in the talents of those surrounding him. He displayed remarkable courage, even when the situation seemed too much to overcome.”
Again, he deflects the attention.
“We were all teammates since high school,” said the 6-1, 190-pounder, who volunteered to play defensive end as a junior. “The offensive line held up well, so I was confident.”
Older brother, Matt, is quick to add that it is not some aw-shucks routine. He says his younger brother is the genuine article.
“He’s very humble,” said Matt Fitz. “He trusts his natural instincts. He’s very observant. Even when we are out to dinner, he will look around and observe other people.”
The Polar Bear
Hensel likens Fitz to a polar bear, and for obvious reasons.
“He looks warm and fuzzy, but he will swat you like a polar bear,” the coach said. “Whether you are up by three touchdowns or down by three touchdowns, it doesn’t matter. He is stone cold, through the high highs and the low lows. He is always steady.”
CB West baseball coach Jim Ertel has much the same view of his No. 1 pitcher.
“He’s just a real coachable kid,” he said. “He’s a good student and works hard. He doesn’t miss any days.
“He seems serious about everything he does and puts time into it. He does a nice job for us.”
As for Fitz’s quiet nature, Ertel is mystified – as most football players are more vocal, particularly quarterbacks – but has come to appreciate it.
“I’m surprised how quiet he is,” said Ertel. “He does his leading by example. He doesn’t say a word sometimes, but he listens and nods and turns it into results on the field.
“He has a good work ethic and other guys look at it.”
Fitz, when asked, credits others – his brother and mother, Beth – for making him into the kind of a student-athlete that coaches relish.
“I got my work ethic from my brother,” he said. “And my mom, she is just a very caring person who teaches me a lot of life lessons.”
One lesson was juggling academics with being the starting quarterback and ace pitcher at a large school where there is always competition for your job.
“It’s been difficult at times,” said Fitz, who found extra time to participate in Future Business Leaders of America. “It’s all about time management.”
On the topic of time management, Hensel believes Fitz learned to balance football and baseball, leading to his mercurial rise on the gridiron as a senior.
“There was a learning curve for him,” said Hensel. “But he worked to strike a balance, and he made it work.”
All in the Family
By attending Lehigh to play baseball and major in business, Fitz is breaking a family tradition.
His great-grandfather, grandfather and father all played collegiate football – at Dayton, Ohio State and Vanderbilt – and became chemical engineers.
Ditto for Matt, who was a receiver/running back at Lehigh and now works as a chemical engineer in the Scranton area.
“He wants to do his own thing, to blaze his own trail, and I admire him for that,” said Matt. “We come from a family of football players and engineers, but he is paving his own way.”
Matt Fitz was also a two-sport athlete at CB West, playing baseball, before taking to the gridiron at Lehigh. Once in Bethlehem, he struggled with not getting consistent playing time while focusing on a demanding major.
When John was at a crossroads last football season, riding the pine as a backup quarterback and considering hanging up the shoulder pads, big brother was not only watching but ready to give a pep talk.
“Last year, he was frustrated and wanted to quit football,” said Matt. “I had to talk with him about dealing with adversity. I told him he would regret it.
“The same thing happened to me in college, so I was able to coach him through it by telling about what I did.”
Fitz then approached Hensel about filling a void left at defensive end by injury.
”It was very shortly after that talk,” Matt said. “He took to that role and had a positive experience. He took it and did well with it.”
But it was only the beginning.
The real show came this past season, with Fitz under center, running Hensel’s spread attack.
“He had a way better career than I did,” said Matt. “The team had a lot more success. I was jealous of him a little. Quarterback is a big role in that offense, and he put up all kinds of monster numbers.
“I would have loved to have lined up in the same backfield with him.”
All the Right Stuff
What impressed Hensel the most about Fitz is that his best play on the gridiron seemed to come after he agreed to play baseball at Lehigh. This is not a given when a senior athlete competes in his second sport as a senior, as some have been known to coast.
“Once he got that baseball scholarship, his attitude shot through the roof,” said Hensel. “That pressure was removed. In many ways, it helped him a lot. A lot of times, in a lot of games, he carried us.”
For Fitz, the chance to follow in the footsteps of his role model – older brother, Matt – was like a dream come true.
He admits that a weight was lifted off his shoulders.
“It was very nice,” said Fitz, who said the decision to accept the offer was made late last summer. “After (signing), I was able to focus on school and sports. My brother went (to Lehigh). I knew I would fit in well there.”
Coach Jim Ertel feels that Fitz has all right “stuff” – as a pitcher and person – to having continued success in college.
“He was our best pitcher last year,” said the coach. “He throws hard enough to pitch at the Division I baseball level.”
While he is clocked in the mid-80s, in terms of speed, Fitz uses a variety of pitches to keep batters off-balance.
“I have a couple of pitches – a slider, changeup and curve,” said Fitz, who was quick to add that he still has a high school season in front of him.
“We have high expectations,” he said. “We have a lot of returning players. We’re excited.”
Fitz leaves with the knowledge that he left it all out on the field, making lightning strike as best he could.
“I’ll miss (football),” he admits, “but baseball is my passion.”
“His high school football days are over but his exploits on the baseball diamond are just about to get into full swing,” said Hensel. “He will be a pleasure to watch this spring.”
