Seneca mauler/jokester following in brothers footsteps

The end-of-season slog can be quite daunting for a high school football team. Coaches demand more for the playoff push; players tire of the same weekly routine; minor aches and pains hurt a little more in the cold weather; mid-term exams and homework get in the way.

That's why every team needs a jokester, someone to break up the tension and remind everyone that football is still fun. In Seneca Valley's locker room, that responsibility falls on Adam Quigley, a junior offensive lineman with a unique sense of humor.

"On the field he'll rip your head off, but off of it he's a pretty funny kid," said Seneca coach Fred Kim. "He does all these impersonations. He gets all of us coaches."

A slightly embarrassed Kim wouldn't go into details. He's obviously been burned a few times by Quigley's unabashed wit.

Quigley's best impression, however, is reserved for receivers coach Albert Song, an Asian American who, ironically, teaches English at Seneca. Quigley first busted out the Song impersonation during a summer combine last year. While on the sidelines with the rest of the team, he began speaking in stereotypical broken English:

"Today clahshhh we vill weed 'Vohrrrd of the Fries.' (Today class we will read 'Lord of the Flies')"

Players and coaches alike erupted in laughter (Song included).

"He's a trip," said Eagles assistant Jesse Smith, chuckling. "You get him going and he really opens up."

"I just like to rag on my coaches, because they're cool guys and real laid back. So I have a little fun with them," Quigley said. "But I know when it's time to work. Then I'll get down to it."

There's no doubt about that. Quigley may have a knack for jokes, but you'd never know it when he's near a barbell and a bench-press machine. The 6-foot-2, 290-pound beast with ham-hock thighs and telephone-book-thick biceps is in the weight room so often the coaches practically have to kick him out. With a 455-pound squat and a 300 bench, Quigley is the strongest player on the team.

"He's strong as an ox, he's hard working and he does what he's asked to do," Kim said. "He can dial it down and have fun, but otherwise he's a typical hard-nosed lineman."

It took him a good year to hit his stride, however. Three years ago, Quigley, like most freshmen linemen, wasn't mentally or physically ready to handle the varsity trenches.

He spent the season on junior varsity and played fairly well. But not well enough to warrant an immediate varsity call-up.

During the offseason, however, Quigley shot up a couple inches and familiarized himself with the weight room. He made significant progress, but Kim didn't promote him right away.

It took just a few weeks for the coach to change his mind.

"He was under the radar for the first couple weeks because the jayvee staff purposely hid him from us," Kim said, laughing. "But then we saw a couple games and he annihilated people. We were like, 'Whoa he doesn't belong here.'"

Quigley came up during the week of the Seneca-Northwest game. After the Eagles staff watched him practice they immediately inserted him into the starting lineup. At left tackle no less.

"He was a natural," Smith said. "He came up and instantly won the job."

Quigley made a few rookie mistakes, but he held his own in that first start, a 37-6 Eagles victory. He didn't relinquish the spot the rest of the year.

In fact, Quigley played so well he reminded Kim of a lineman he'd coached just a few years before. A lineman who went on to play Division-I football at Army. A lineman who happened to have the same surname as Adam.

"Kevin Quigley was a tremendous lineman for us," Kim said. "And with the way Adam's played, we expect the same out of him. Adam has great hips, a low center of gravity and good feet. Then once he locks up on you, he'll drive you out to the street."

Quigley made the coach look like Nostradamus the next season. In his first year as a full-time varsity starter, Quigley consistently graded out as Seneca's best offensive lineman. You can count the number of sacks he surrendered on one hand.

"He should actually get more credit then he's given," said Seneca quarterback Tanner Vallely. "He's a terrific blocker and he's really smart, too. He picked up our complicated schemes well. And he was a leader out there, telling everyone else what to do."

For his efforts, Quigley earned Honorable Mention All-State honors. But his road to stardom took a serious hit at the end of his stellar 2010.

During the week of Seneca's first-round playoff game against Quince Orchard, Quigley and his teammates went through a simple walk-through practice. No hard-hitting, no intense head-knocking -- just game planning. But as so often happens in football, the worst injuries seem to occur during the most innocuous moments.

On one "play", Quigley moved in to faux-block on an off-tackle run. But one of his teammates tripped and fell straight onto Quigley's knee. The big lineman collapsed like a felled elephant, writhing in pain.

For once, the team clown didn't feel like laughing.

"I completely blew out my knee; the ligaments mangled," Quigley said. "I was devastated."

Quigley, his season over, had knee surgery soon after the incident.

Many players are never the same after a major knee injury. Especially linemen, where the physical beating is magnified on every play.

But Quigley vows to come back strong. He rehabbed hard last winter, and he's already lifting and running again.

"Adam actually had a broken hand before the season even started," Vallely said. "He didn't say a word about it. He even played the first few games with it. I have no doubt he's going to come back even better next year."

Quigley may be tough, but there are still flaws in his game, regardless of the knee. Kim said he need to "completely maul people" in order to reach his full potential. That won't be easy coming off the injury, but Kim certainly hasn't lost faith in his blindside blocker.

"Quigley is going to be one of the best linemen in the area next year," he said. "I'll put him up against anybody."

That includes Quigley's own brother. Kim didn't hesitate to say Adam could follow Kevin's footsteps to West Point. Heck, Adam might even be better than his brother, according to some on the Eagles staff.

"I don't know, we'll have to see about that," Quigley said. "My brother dominated on both sides of the ball. But my line coach already told me I'm the better offensive lineman."

And that's no joke.