Football: Low-profile Hayes dominates for SU (09-29-06)
By Craig Juer (Daily Staff Writer)
WINCHESTER — The best player on the Shenandoah football team might be the one who is never mentioned.
He rarely makes tackles, intercepts passes or forces fumbles. By preventing the opposing team's best receiver from gathering any passes, senior cornerback Anthony Hayes prevents himself from earning much notice.
The relative quiet in the secondary brings peace of mind to his defensive teammates.
"We're comfortable knowing that, on this side of the field, we don't have to worry about anything happening because he's over there," senior safety Joey Berry said earlier this week. "He lines up with the best receivers in the conference and he shuts them down."
Hayes has just 21 tackles, one interception and two passes defensed in four games; quarterbacks simply won't throw toward him. They go through their progressions and rarely find their No. 1 target anywhere near open.
Waynesburg quarterbacks Chris Smithley and Andy Lauterbach were so averse to testing Hayes that they combined to throw four interceptions to sophomore cornerback Dionte Beatty in Shenandoah's 20-10 win Sept. 16.
"When we played Waynesburg and Dionte got the four picks, I thought they'd at least try my way," Hayes laughed. "But they still didn't."
Berry said Hayes' physical abilities are unheard of at the Hornets' level of competition.
"His speed's not Division III," Berry said. "He's probably the biggest corner in Division III. He's about 6-2, over 200 pounds and he's 4.4, 4.3 speed [in the 40-yard dash]. I don't know what he's doing here, but we're glad to have him."
Before his junior year at C.D. Hylton High School in Woodbridge, Hayes was drawing interest from Wake Forest, Virginia and Virginia Tech — until he tore his left anterior cruciate ligament at a basketball camp two weeks before football season started.
Scared away by questions about his knee's durability, the Division I coaches stopped calling.
"There were some other schools, but there weren't the big-time schools because they didn't know if my knee would hold up," Hayes said.
It came down to Bridgewater and Shenandoah. In the end, the Hornets won out.
Shenandoah coach Paul Barnes said he was impressed immediately by Hayes' demeanor and character.
"He has everything that you'd want your own son to have," he said. "He's a scholar and a gentleman. If there were more Anthony Hayes, this world would be a better place."
The world would be a far worse place, however, for receivers. Every top wideout that has faced Shenandoah this year has finished with underwhelming results.
Catholic's Ryan Bowman managed just five catches for 26 yards. Brandon Copeland, whom Bridgewater coach Mike Clark said has Division-I ability, had three catches for 36 yards. Waynesburg receiver Mike Shields snared just two balls for 32 yards, and Ferrum's Winston Young caught one for 15.
"All we did for the past three years was [say,] 'That's their receiver; Ant, take him,'" Berry said. "That was it. The game was over for that guy."
This spring, scouts Tom Roth of the Buffalo Bills and Gerald Williams of the Carolina Panthers visited Winchester to time Hayes in the 40-yard dash.
"They asked if we had any seniors that might have a shot [of playing in the NFL]," defensive coordinator Garry Fisher said. "Obviously, Anthony Hayes, with his size and speed, was one of those guys, so they came in to take a look.
"He was an eye-opener for them."
Hayes wowed the scouts with a 4.48.
"If he gets into a combine and runs a sub-4.5 in front of a mass of people," Fisher said, "somebody will take a chance on him."
Hayes' 4.48 is faster than Cedric Griffin's unofficial time of 4.55 at the Indianapolis combine this year but slower than Tye Hill's 4.3. Griffin, out of Texas, went to the Minnesota Vikings with the 48th pick in the 2006 draft. Clemson's Hill, the first cornerback taken, went 15th to the St. Louis Rams.
Fisher said scouts also look at a cornerback's ability to prevent receivers from earning pass attempts, even though that doesn't cost a lot of ink on the stat sheet.
"When you don't have balls thrown your way, it's a sign of respect," he said. "Typically, an NFL corner who's known as a lockdown corner only gets so many opportunities because people don't throw the ball his way. They pick on the other guy."
It's unusual for Division III players to reach the NFL, especially at positions like cornerback and running back that demand raw athleticism. Tony Beckham, a cornerback from D-III Wisconsin-Stout, was cut by the Vikings in September after playing 50 games in four years for the Titans.
Barnes remained hopeful about Hayes' chances, though.
"I think somebody will miss the boat if they don't take a look at him," he said. "Somebody's not doing their homework."
