Hawkeye commit Scheel has new faces all around him at Union

LAPORTE CITY - Jay Scheel does so much offensively already for the LaPorte City Union Knights, it'd be unfair to ask him to do more.

Yet that might happen, at least early in the prep football season.

The dual-threat, all-state quarterback and Iowa Hawkeye verbal commit makes an appearance Friday night in Linn County, as Union plays at Center Point-Urbana. The Knights return just four starters on both sides of the ball from last season's Class 2A playoff team, meaning it's a brand new bunch that Scheel will be handing off to, throwing to and that are helping protect him.

"It's been a little different," Scheel said. "We've got a lot of people learning a lot of things right now ... I'm trying to help out the receivers as much as I can. Trying to help them learn their routes and everything."

Scheel burst onto the prep football scene two years ago as a sophomore, when he and Trev Hadachek had to switch positions because of an injury to Hadachek. Scheel went from wide receiver to quarterback, Hadachek from QB to receiver, and Union went on to win the Class 3A state championship.

Last season, Scheel accounted for almost 3,000 passing, rushing and receiving yards and 41 total touchdowns. He led Union with 1,291 yards rushing, averaging 10 a carry.

Again, that was as a quarterback. You figure it'll be hard to top all those numbers, though, again, he might have to for Union to have a successful season.

"We have to be smart about it," said Union Coach Joe Hadachek. "We don't want to use him so much we beat him into the ground. The big thing for us is to find guys that will help him out."

"I don't feel like I'm the one that has to be the guy to do everything," Scheel said. "I'm one of 11 guys, you know?"

Scheel gained 15 pounds of muscle in the offseason and now tips the scales at a still-skinny 180. Neither he nor Hadachek know for certain what position he'll play at Iowa next season.There has been a lot of talk about Scheel moving back to wide receiver in college.

"I'm not sure about that," he said. "That's something we'll just have to wait and see about."

"The best thing about Jay Scheel is that he handles the pressure so well," Hadachek said. "He knows his role, and he's smart. I don't think he'll press this season. He knows he just needs to get his yardage and get out of bounds."