Sean Clayton ready for first start vs. North Texas

The former Poland High standout's coach is Howard Schnellenberger.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
BOCA RATON, Fla. -- Sean Clayton has waited more than two years to start his first collegiate football game. Saturday will be one of the biggest days of his life.
Clayton, a 2003 graduate of Poland High, will be the starting quarterback when Florida Atlantic plays host to North Texas.
The 6-foot-5, 228-pound redshirt sophomore is in his first varsity season with the Owls and has been relegated to mostly backup duty during the team's first nine games.
Last week against Troy, senior starting quarterback Danny Enrick went down with a season-ending injury in the third quarter and Clayton came in to finish the game.
Named starter
He was named the starter this week by coach Howard Schnellenberger.
"It's not the way I wanted to get the job," said Clayton. "Danny is a great guy, but I've got to go out there and do my best on Saturday.
"I'm excited about [starting] it, but my main objective is to go out there and try to make as few as mistakes as possible and show the team that I can handle this role," he continued.
"We run a pro type offense and we probably throw the ball 60 percent of the time," Clayton said. "It's a pretty big deal for me especially since I've been transferring and sitting for two years now."
Clayton was recruited by Michigan State out of high school and spent a redshirt season with the Spartans in 2003.
He decided to transfer to Florida Atlantic the next year and had to sit out the 2004 season according to NCAA transfer rules.
"I could see I wasn't going to start at Michigan State and Coach Schnellenberger had recruited me also while I was in high school and I knew he's had a lot of great quarterbacks."
The weather was also a lot better in Florida.
Except for the hurricanes.
School closed
"We got hit pretty bad by Wilma," Clayton said. "It really tore up the town. We didn't have power for nine days and the school was closed for over a week, luckily it was our bye week.
"It was the first time I'd gone through anything like that," he said. "It was scary.
Clayton has seen action in seven of the Owls' nine games, but has thrown only 15 passes, completing eight for 96 yards. The team has a 1-8 record.
"We've only been blown out by two teams, Louisville and Minnesota," said Clayton, "[but] the rest of the games we've either been ahead or very close going in the final quarter."
mollica@vindy.com