By TOM WILLIAMS

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

GIRARD — When Girard High’s 2006 football season began, sophomore Kyle Stadelmyer was a wide receiver.

By season’s end, Stadelmyer had taken over as starting tailback, rushing for 1,570 yards. Not bad for a player who lined up at quarterback during his junior high and freshman seasons.

“When I played pee-wee football, I was a running back all six years,” said Stadelmyer, explaining his excitement over the change. “It was something I had done before, unlike wide receiver which was something I’d never done.”

The 6-foot-2, 207-pound Stadelmyer won’t be lining up wide anytime soon.

After four games, Stadelmyer is averaging 4.7 yards per carry (99 rushes, 465 yards, 7 touchdowns) as the Indians (2-2) prepare for Friday’s showdown with rival Liberty (4-0). Both teams are 1-0 in the final season of the Trumbull Athletic Conference.

“The Battle of Belmont, it’s one of the biggest rivalries, it really is,” Girard coach Bud McSuley said. “The kids on both sides get up for it.

“It’s the second game in the TAC, so it’s going to put someone in the driver’s seat,” McSuley said. “It will be a great challenge.”

Remembers last season

Asked which game he remembers most from 2006, Stadelmyer smiled.

“The Liberty game,” said Stadelmyer, referring to the Leopards’ 62-35 victory. “When I scored my fifth touchdown, that was pretty cool. That was something I had never done before.”

Stadelmyer rushed for 357 yards against Liberty. Guess who the Leopards are going to key on Friday.

“Kyle has a bull’s-eye on his back,” McSuley said. “He had a a very good year last year, and people are coming after him.”

Stadelmyer’s speed inspires his teammates and made a difference.

“He hits that hole and he’s hard to catch,” Indians senior left tackle Ryan Hancock said. “That makes it a lot easier on us to do our job.

Senior right tackle Craig Brooks said, “I just like to win games, and seeing points go on the board helps that a lot. As long as he’s scoring the points, we’re happy.”

Success a team effort

Hancock said Stadelmyer’s success is a team effort.

“That’s great for us — I think it’s a reflection of what we do, too,” Hancock said. “He’s a great running back. If we do our job and he does his job, it works out.”

The Indians will need every yard Stadelmyer can produce against the unbeaten Leopards, who are averaging 43 points a game.

“Since I’ve been here, we haven’t won against them,” Brooks said. “This is our year, the last year for the TAC. It’s a big thing that we want and whoever has the biggest heart will take it.”

Stadelmyer said he “can’t wait. It’s always been a strong rivalry.

“When we were little kids, we knew about it,” Stadelmyer said. “When we play Liberty, we get hyped, we call it our rivalry week. It’s always been a big that brings out the best in both teams.

“Beating Brookfield 23-0 puts a lot of wind into our sails.”

Having good season

Against the Warriors, Stadelmyer rushed for 91 yards and caught three passes for 46 more. He gained 156 yards on 26 carries in a 41-21 loss to Warren JFK, a game where the Indians committed five turnovers. One of Stadelmyer’s runs was an 80-yard touchdown.

His season high was 199 yards in a 34-0 win over Campbell. A thigh injury kept him out of most of Girard’s 35-15 loss to Niles.

Also Girard’s punter, Stadelmyer is versatile in other sports. Last spring, he ran the 100-meter, 200-meter and 4x100 races for the Girard track team and competed in long jump.

A knee injury kept him from playing basketball last winter, but he plans to play again after football season ends. In the spring, Stadelmyer has his eye on playing baseball.

So which of his parents (Becky and Keith) gave him his athletic talents? Stadelmyer isn’t sure.

“Neither one of them is really that athletic. It’s just something that they [encouraged] me to do,” said Stadelmyer of playing football at age 5.

Lesson

McSuley says Stadelmyer’s ascension offers a lesson to athletes.

“You don’t know when your number is going to be called — it could be for one play a game or it could be for 40. When it’s called, you’ve got to be ready,” McSuley said.

“He started out as a receiver until our quarterback got hurt,” McSuley said. “Then we started mixing him in as a running back. The offensive line started doing its job of getting [opponents] off the ball and opening up seams. He was making kids miss.

“The future is in front of him, whatever he wants to do,’” McSuley said. “He’s got the speed, the size, the strength. It’s up to him — he’s got to [excel] in the classroom, he’s got to do it on the practice field, and he’s got to do it on Friday nights in front of everybody.

Great things, that’s what we are expecting out of him,” McSuley said. “The kid stepped up.”

williams@vindy.com