HELP!

[BHS#1]

This is my FIRST post. Can some one post the article about Steven Mcgee in today's Austin Stateman's?

[Gobbla2001]

McGee powers Burnet offense built on passing



By Matthew Obernauer

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Friday, September 26, 2003

Burnet football coach Bob Shipley had always trained his son Jordan to be a quarterback. But when the elder Shipley first came to the school in January 2001 and saw a 6-foot-3 freshman named Stephen McGee throwing the ball, he knew that his plans would have to change.

"Three weeks later, Jordan came up to me and asked, `Can I play receiver again?' " Shipley remembered. "I said, `I think that's a great idea, son.' "

After two-plus seasons together, McGee and Jordan Shipley have become the most prolific passing combination in Texas. While Shipley is on the cusp of breaking state records for career receiving yards and career touchdowns, McGee has established himself as the preeminent quarterback in Central Texas, if not the entire state, and the leader of Class 3A's No. 1-ranked team.

"It's no secret that the reason Jordan is anywhere close to breaking records is because of Stephen McGee," Bob Shipley said.

Through four games this season, McGee has thrown for 1,266 yards, 14 touchdowns and no interceptions. He is the linchpin of an offense that has outscored its opponents 195-39.

McGee's rise to the ranks of Central Texas' elite signal-callers has been years in the making. The son of Burnet's longtime basketball coach, Rodney McGee, Stephen grew up in an atmosphere of athletics and competition.

From the time he decided he wanted to be a quarterback in fourth grade, his father worked with him, going over passing mechanics, and "getting the childish ways out of (my) throwing," he said.

"I spent a lot of evenings in my back yard in middle school and as a freshman throwing through a tire."

As a sophomore, McGee was chosen to execute Coach Shipley's new spread offense. After 30 games as a starter, McGee has developed into a quarterback who can make all the throws, but is mature enough not to try to make them all the time.

"He doesn't force the ball very often," Burnet quarterbacks coach Jeff Merket said of his charge. "This year, he's thrown two balls he shouldn't have. Most of the time, he'll throw it where his receiver can catch it or where nobody can catch it."

McGee, who has committed to Texas A&M, will be the latest in a line of Central Texas quarterbacks playing at NCAA Division I schools, including Paul Thompson (Oklahoma), Al Pena (Oklahoma State), Adam Hall (San Diego State), Chad Schroeder (Texas A&M) and Kris Heavner (Arizona). Leander Coach Steve Gideon, who was the position coach for Thompson and Pena at Leander in 2001 and 2002, said most standout quarterbacks share certain traits.

"Finding kids who have the personality to lead is a big step," Gideon said. "You try to find young men that other players gravitate toward."

McGee cemented his stature as a team leader in last season's playoffs, when he helped the Bulldogs to the Class 3A state final despite a cracked femur and a torn medial collateral ligament in his knee.

His coaches pointed to those games as a turning point in McGee's development as a quarterback and a leader. For McGee, however, the matter was much more simple.

"I think it's important for (my teammates) to know that every Friday night, their quarterback is going to be with them," he said. "The only way you'll keep me off the field is to put me in a wheelchair."

[BHS#1]

Thanks your so smart!!

[BIG19]

I have to admit, he is one CLASSY young man. Proud to be able to watch him now and to have watched him grow up.

[bd0707]

Nobody has ever really mentioned he is a fantastic student academicly.