Margaretta's Judah Keller a polar bear who can play anywhere

Junior Jake Bouy performed admirably with seven touchdown passes in seven games for Margaretta after classmate Judah Keller broke his hand.

In fact, both are likely to see snaps behind center this season in Gary Quisno’s offense. Keller will touch the ball while lining up all over the field.

“I can play any position,” Keller said. “Last year, I was taking mental reps. I know the scheme better; where the hole will be and where to block. It helped me understand what we’re trying to do to the other team’s defense.”

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Keller has been waiting to play a game at full strength for almost a complete year.

“I’ve been looking forward to this since the fifth game,” he said. “Being able to use two hands to tackle, I had a club and I couldn’t grab. Catching the ball without a cast on is so much easier. Holy cow. It was so hard to catch.”

Keller missed Week 5 but returned on defense immediately. He had 11 combined carries and one reception in the final two games.

“I want to be more elusive,” he said. “Don’t take unnecessary hits. Coach Quisno says I take the most brutal hits for now reason.”

Whomever it is throwing the ball for Margaretta, he will often look to classmate Julian Washington .

“Throw the ball to Julian and he’ll catch it anywhere on the field,” Keller said. “It’s great.”

Lucas Poggiali, Sandusky head coach last season, joins the staff and works with Keller at running back.

“He brings fire and love for the game,” Keller said. “You can tell. Everything you do, he wants it 100%. He has a great influence. He’s a great add-on.”

Bouy’s emergence last season wasn’t a surprise to insiders. He simply got his varsity opportunity in an unexpected manner last year.

“On JV, he was a dog,” Keller said. “Nobody could tackle him and he threw bombs. He stepped in as a (capable) player and kept showing it. Jake leads by example. He’s not the most vocal.”

Both juniors are maturing in that regard.

“I want to bring people up,” Keller said. “I want to be a better leader.”

Keller, who has more than 180 tackles in his career, had three interceptions and scored a touchdown on defense last season.

He wants to play basketball in college, but football isn’t out of the question.

Margaretta won eight games when Keller was a freshman. It won two games the previous season.

“We worked hard for it,” he said. “We worked in the weight room; we had new coaches. We renewed and showed it.”

Quisno returned to coaching with new ideas.

“We’re a spread offense with an emphasis on running the ball,” Keller said. “Spread you out to get you out of the box. At the same time, we have wing-t principles this year, like under center.”

Margaretta finished 6-5 last season. Sophomore Tyson Bailey is a linebacker/running back and classmate Kale Bailey is a 6-foot-4 receiver who runs a 4.47 40.

“We want to make a run at the conference title, but it’s more getting into the playoffs,” Keller said. “It would be three in a row. I think it would be the first time it was three years in a row (for the program).”

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This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Margaretta's Judah Keller a polar bear who can play anywhere