Ex-CJ quarterback making noise with Penguins

High school sports results for May 26
5/26/12
Wayne boys win team track title
5/25/12
Bellbrook tennis duo advances to semifinals
5/25/12
Jefferson grad takes lessons from Miami Heat cousin
5/25/12
T-Bolts excited for state debut
5/25/12
> More high school headlines

By Sean McLelland, Staff Writer 11:18 PM Friday, September 24, 2010

Kurt Hess, the former Chaminade Julienne High School quarterback now starting at Youngstown State, says he’s never given serious thought to following in his dad’s footsteps.

Mark Hess is a Dayton police officer holding the rank of major.

“Funny story, though,” Kurt, an education major, said the other day from the YSU campus. “My brother (Nick) and I would always kid around with my dad, saying we’d be better cops than he is if we wanted to be.

“He never took it personally. He just shrugged it off.”

There’s still time for Kurt to call an audible on his career path, but for now the redshirt freshman — who won the job by beating out a returning junior and a Purdue transfer — is having too much fun to think that far into the future.

“It’s about loving the game, having a passion for the game,” Hess said. “I love the city of Youngstown. It’s my home away from home. And I love the guys next to me. When the coach (39-year-old Youngstown native Eric Wolford) gave me the nod, it was very exciting.”

Hess will be talking about his first college game for a long time. Well, at least the first part. Before more than 100,000 fans at Penn State on Sept. 4, he threw an 80-yard touchdown pass that had the Penguins leading 7-3 in the second quarter before the Nittany Lions got their act together and avoided an embarrassing upset.

Since then, Hess has directed wins over Butler and Central Connecticut State. Against the latter, YSU tied a school record with 63 points. Hess sports a Colt McCoy-like completion percentage of 73.8 going into today’s Missouri Valley Conference opener against Southern Illinois.

When college football tradition is the topic, rarely does YSU leap immediately to mind. But this is where Jim Tressel rose to Division I-AA prominence, winning four national championships. And where former Kansas coach Mark Mangino and current Michigan State coach Mank Dantonio began their careers.

Hess, who passed for more than 5,000 yards and 40 touchdowns in high school, got a history lesson on the recruiting trail.

“Hearing about Jim Tressel and all the coaches definitely lured me here a little bit,” he said. “It’s been a great experience. Division I football. A storied tradition. Coming here was one of the best choices I’ve made in my life.”

Campus tour

• Michael Shaw (Trotwood-Madison) earned praise from the Michigan coaches for his improved patience as a runner in last week’s 42-37 win over UMass in which he rushed for 126 yards on 12 carries and scored three touchdowns.

“Mike is a talented guy,” head coach Rich Rodriguez told reporters after the game. “He had a great camp. He runs hard. He’s got good speed. I thought he used his vision well today. He’s probably the biggest home run hitter we’ve got from the tailback position.”

Shaw, a junior whose academic eligibility was in question right up until the first week of the season, has four touchdowns through three games, two more than he had scored in his first two seasons combined.

• Eillie Murphy (CJ), a sophomore volleyball player at Division II West Georgia University, averaged 20 digs over a four-match period earlier this month to earn Gulf South Conference East Division recognition as defensive player of the week.

Murphy is back to her libero position after spending much of her freshman season as a setter.

If you have news about local athletes competing in college sports, please send Sean McClelland an e-mail at smcclelland@DaytonDailyNews.com or call him at (937) 225-2408.

Share this article