Photo Courtesy of goleopards.com
Over the last two games, Andrew Dzurik ‘16 has shown that Lafayette football has potential to be successful for the remainder of the season.
Dzurik replaced Zach Zweizig ‘15 after Zweizig suffered a concussion against Penn right before halftime three weeks ago. Inserted into the lineup, Dzurik completed 12 of 22 passes for 155 yards but threw two interceptions. Those numbers did not justify his play, however. Dzurik took control of the offense throughout the second half and led two last-minute scoring drives to bring Lafayette within six. But his effort came too late and Lafayette lost 27-21.
On Homecoming last Saturday, Dzurik completed 22 of 37 passes for 235 yards and two touchdown passes in a 31 – 7 victory against Bucknell. Turnovers remained an issue as Dzurik threw three interceptions.
“[Being a starter] is definitely a lot more game preparation,” Dzurik said. “It’s a lot more mental reps as a backup. It’s also a lot more pressure during the game. Even though I’m nervous before each game, it’s exciting to be able to play what you practice and train for.”
The Columbia, Pa. native played football at Lancaster Catholic High School. He transferred schools his senior year due to another quarterback starting over him. The transfer proved to be inconsequential. Dzurik shined that season, earning Lancaster-Lebanon League First-Team honors, while guiding his squad to a Pennsylvania AA state title and a 16-0 record, a school record. His stats for the season: 117 – 173 for 1,994 yards, 21 touchdowns and five interceptions. He was also selected to the Eastern Pennsylvania Football Small School First Team.
At the collegiate level, one issue he has not encountered has been familiarity with the offense. As a starter and backup, Dzurik claims it is the same preparation for the game. This, he says, has made him more comfortable and confident as a starter.
“You could always play better but we got the win on Saturday so that was pretty exciting,” Dzurik said.
Dzurik is humble about the future. He is more focused on winning as a team than individual success.
“We definitely need to focus on a week to week basis,” Dzurik said. “We can’t look too far ahead. We want to get better as a team and do our best each week. It’s not about who’s starting; it’s about how far the team can go.”
