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McDonald senior makes QB move

McDONALD – Dylan Portolese is used to down blocks and making tough catches over the middle.

The McDonald senior was a tight end the last two years, and a pretty good one at that. Blue Devils coach Dan Williams praised his blocking and receiving skills.

Those skills are about to be tested in a totally different manner.

Portolese is the new quarterback at McDonald, and the position isn’t all that foreign to him. Portolese was actually a QB for most of his life.

“He’s always been a quarterback,” Williams said. “He was our JV quarterback as a freshman, and I think they went 10-0. He had an injury between his freshman and sophomore year to his shoulder, which set him back a little bit. He was still quarterbacking his sophomore year, but his arm wasn’t quite as strong as it needed to be for him to compete for the job.”

That led to the 6-foot-4, 190-pound Portolese moving to tight end. Williams said he was too good of an athlete not to have on the field, and he was right. Portolese thrived as both a blocker and a receiver, making 12 receptions for 188 yards and three touchdowns.

With all-conference quarterback Ben Carkido hardly missing a snap the last two years, Portolese, the back-up, never left tight end – until now.

“It was tough going from a blocker and a guy who’s catching the ball to the guy who’s now throwing it,” Portolese said. “It took me a while to get back into my comfort zone, throwing the ball accurately and all that, but I’m working into it good now and I’m comfortable.”

There was a time Portolese and Williams wondered if he would ever play quaterback again. The three-sport athlete tore a muscle in his shoulder playing baseball as a freshman and then re-injured the shoulder a few months later at the start of his sophomore season during football practice. His throwing was the main area affected by the injury. His strength and range of motion were still in tact, so he moved to tight end. He hoped another chance at QB might surface.

“Over the last two years, with a lot of therapy and doing certain lifts to get it rebuilt, I’m able to throw the ball well and have distance behind it,” he said. “My motion is a little different than traditional, but I think have all my strength back. I’m throwing the ball as far as I can, I think, either way.”

Throwing isn’t exactly his forte anyway, according to Williams. Despite his size, Portolese is quick and agile. His skill-set is quite different from Carkido, who was more of a drop-back passer, so Williams made some adjustments to the offense.

“He’s been waiting for this opportunity for two years now, and he’s going to take full advantage of it,” Williams said. “He’s going to be a real threat as a runner and a thrower for us.

“We’re being creative, finding different ways to get him involved as a runner. We’re doing some sprint outs where he has a run-throw option. There are a couple different wrinkles where we’re trying to get him involved as a running back as well.”

Portolese is taking it in stride.

He understands he’s only part of a team that must fill holes left by Carkido and all-conference running back Jake Reckard, among others. The history at McDonald suggests Portolese and the class of 2016-17 will step in and thrive. It’s all part of the culture of the Blue Devils.

“We always have good senior leadership, pushing the young kids and getting them ready for when it’s their turn to step in,” Portolese said. “That helps with guys moving out but other guys moving in.

“Tradition is big at McDonald, and the younger kids are always ready to take on the task.”

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