Stephen Sturm finds smooth sailing at QB

PERKIOMEN TWP. >> Stephen Sturm always wanted to be a quarterback.

“When I was little I used to watch Penn State games on TV and dream about playing quarterback there,” he said.

The problem was, while Sturm is a football lifer, his coaches along the way somehow just couldn’t envision him under center.

“Up until sixth grade, I was always the starting fullback and linebacker,” Sturm laughs now. “I didn’t get a chance to play quarterback until ninth grade.”

And once he got the chance, he hasn’t looked back.

Sturm is the latest in the ever-growing list of Perkiomen Valley High quarterbacks who have made the Pioneer Athletic Conference their own personal playground.

In the mold of both Zach Zulli and Rasaan Stewart before him, Sturm is lighting up the PAC-10 like Times Square on Dec. 31.

Through four starts this year, Sturm is leading the conference in completions, completion percentage, yards and touchdown passes.

And just how many fullback/linebackers can do that?

“I have to thank our coaches,” Sturm said. “It’s really been up to them and they’ve made it very easy on me.”

Although Sturm just may be being a tad modest,

“Stephen’s done a great job, but I think a big part of that is that he’s a very smart football player,” said PV head coach Scott Reed. “He’s terrific in adjusting to situations and has a great feel for the game.

“He’s very good at running our game plan, and he stays within what we want to do.”

If Sturm seems well coached in both football strategy and handling offenses, he’s had a lifetime of training.

Sturm’s father Kenneth was a long-time high school football coach in the city of Philadelphia, with both Overbrook and George Washington, and it was a rarity when Stephen sat down to a dinner table that didn’t contain some football talk.

“Growing up, it was all around me,” the quarterback said. “And even now, when Coach Reed puts game film up (on the internet), I’ll watch it with my dad. He used to coach defenses, so he can help me understand a lot of the things I’m seeing.”

Sturm said the transition from fullback/linebacker to quarterback came in ninth grade under the father of former PV wideout Clay Domine.

“I finally played as a freshman, but even then I was sharing time with another player,” he recalled.

But earning the starting varsity job as a sophomore, Sturm said he was fortunate to play behind a very talented and very experienced offensive line.

“I wasn’t as good as everybody thinks,” he said. “But our line gave me time.”

Since then, Sturm has only intensified his commitment to the sport and the position.

“I’ve gotten stronger and smarter,” he said.

He’s also developed a very short memory, a must for quarterbacks.

“I think that’s one of my attributes,” he said. “I don’t dwell on things too long. If I throw a bad ball, I’ll go over it with my receiver, and then let it go.”

Sturm did admit, however, to a slight case of nerves when he made his first start as a sophomore in the opener a season ago.

“I didn’t think about it, and then, the night of the game, I realized I was the starting quarterback.

“I don’t know if it settled in until the end of the season.”

This season, things are different. Comfortably ensconced under center, Sturm has become a team leader and has already heard from college coaches at Penn State and others.

He’s also playing in big games, like the unbeaten Vikings’ showdown with similiarly unbeaten Pottstown Saturday afternoon.

Like Perk Valley, Pottstown was, at one time, a PAC-10 afterthought, but the Trojans are off to their best start in years.

“Pottstown is no joke,” Sturm said. “They have a lot of returning kids and they’re a physical team that flies around on defense.”

Fortunately for the Vikings, they have the perfect fullb.. -er, make that quarterback, to handle the challenge.