Fry able to adapt to change

by Matthew Ondesko: Managing Editor

Ashleigh Brown: Special to Sports Union

Fredonia High School’s Ethan Fry has had a very interesting football career. He has started at defensive back and receiver during his time. This year, the 6-foot-3, 190-pound athlete moved to quarterback - and all he has done is lead Fredonia to a great season.

Not an easy task considering Fry is in his first year playing quarterback. But, the thing about Fry is that he is just a baller. It doesn’t matter where you line him up, he is out there to make plays.

“I’m a play maker. That's what I do. I make plays. It doesn't matter who it’s against.” stated, Fry. “When I’m on the field you can guarantee I’m gonna make a play. And that’s in large part because of my offensive line.”

Whether it’s on the defensive side of the ball, or the offensive side, Fry makes sure he doesn’t press when he’s out there. It could be easy to put a lot of pressure on yourself when you are asked to do a lot on the field.

Fry is definitely asked to do a lot. He’s expected to lead the offense every single time he steps on that side of the ball. Then on defense he is asked to play tight defense at the corner spot. Playing so many plays could take a toll on Fry mentally, but he doesn’t let it get to him.

“I get asked this question a lot and honestly there is no pressure,” stated Fry. “I go into every game now and I’m the best on the field. Check the tape you’ll see. I go out there and have fun and make plays there’s no pressure.”

It’s normal in high school ball that players play both sides of the ball. The numbers are usually smaller - and some school’s best athletes will play both sides. It’s not common to have your starting quarterback play both sides of the ball, because risk of injury.

However, Fry never thinks about getting injured. Athletes can’t think about getting hurt, or they will get hurt. They have to be able to go out there and play their game, and that’s exactly what Fry does.

Knowing that he was going to continue to play both ways, Fry made sure that he hit the offseason pretty hard. He was in the weight room adding on the extra weight that is needed to be able to stand up to the physical pounding of playing both ways.

“Not at all, if you go out and play scared on defense thinking you’re gonna get hurt then you’re gonna get hurt, like I said previously I’ve been in the weight room a lot,” stated Fry. “I’m not a small person and there’s not many guys that I can’t go head up with. And you’re right it’s not often a quarterback plays both ways but that’s what happens when you don’t have 50 kids on the roster you do what you Gotta do for your team to win and that’s how it is for a lot of the kids on our team. We have straight dogs.”

Fry has prove his worth at the quarterback position this year. He has accounted for 1,866 yards and 18 touchdowns in the air while adding 426 yards and 7 touchdowns on the ground. Being a duel-threat quarterback is something that college coaches are looking for.

But, it’s not all about stats for Fry. What he brings to the field has to do with more about being able to adapt. He has been asked to adapt his entire career. He had one year to switch over to the quarterback position, and to learn everything that needed to be learned to be successful - and that’s exactly what he did.

“I don’t think my biggest strength has anything to do with on the field, I think my biggest strength is being able to adapt,” stated Fry. “Like I said last year, I was a receiver. I had one year to switch over to quarterback and learn everything that’s not easy to do and it’s also not easy to excel at it, and I can’t take all the credit for that. Like I said before, I’ve been grinding all off-season with my coaches for this. And I also got one of the best receiving core and offensive lines in the state. When you have the type of support that I did this off-season you can adapt to anything, but I do think that my biggest strength is being able to adapt to new environments.”

With all the success Fry has had, recruiting is still not an easy thing. He doesn’t play for one of the bigger high school’s in Western New York, where the player may get more press. With that being said, Fry needs to get his name out there more and more.

He has to do his own recruiting. He has to get his name out there if he wants to realize his dream if playing at the next level. At the end of the day that’s exactly what he wants to do, he wants rot play at the next level.

“It’s hard getting your name out there, I’ve been reaching out to coaches, and also I’ve been using Twitter as a way to post my highlights and trying to connect with coaches. I also have other family members sending my tape out to coaches to hopefully spread my name out there, and get some eyes on me,” stated Fry. “I wanna go play Division I football. And as for what I look for in a school, all they need to have is a weight room, pig skin and a football field. I love the sport of football and I don't want to stop playing after this year. And for that to happen I’m gonna have to get in the weight room a little bit more get some more weight on me and I also got to work on my timing on some of the steep routes, my timing is not bad but I could always get better especially if I want to play at the next level.”