Wall's Steve Cluley Ready for the Spotlight

Wall senior quarterback Steve Cluley seemingly has the ingredients to be a Division I-A quarterback, except for one crucial piece: a scholarship offer.

The 6-foot-3, 210-pound senior has the body type and a strong right arm. He is coming off an excellent summer in which he won the Offensive MVP award at the prestigious IMG Academy All-Madden Football Camp in late July that was attended by players from talent-rich states like Texas, Ohio and Florida.

Former professional quarterbacks and Heisman Trophy-winners even have given him their endorsement.

“That kid Cluley has all the tools to be a great one - size, intelligence, footwork, a strong arm, great reads, and (he) places the ball right where it needs to be,'' said former NFL quarterback Elvis Grbac, who worked with Cluley at the Under Armour Northeast Combine in late May. "He is one of, if not the best, quarterbacks I've seen at this training camp circuit so far.''

Cluley’s performance at the Northeast Combine got him invited to the IMG event from July 29-31 in Bradenton, Fla. The camp was run by Heisman Trophy winner and former NFL quarterback Chris Weinke, and Cluley was one of 28 players chosen by Weinke and his staff to the All-Madden team, which included some of the top talent from around the country.

“With Chris Weinke, I’ve never met a guy whose football knowledge was out of this world like that,’’ Cluley said. “It was nice to go down there and show that New Jersey has some good football players, too.’’

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Wall plays its season opener at Lacey at 1 p.m. Saturday, where the Crimson Knights will try to avenge a 27-7 loss from last year. For a full preview of the .

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Despite all of that, Cluley enters this season without a Division I-A scholarship offer, although he does currently boast offers from Monmouth University and Albany, a pair of Division I-AA programs. James Madison and New Hampshire are also interested, along with a pair of Division I-A programs, Syracuse and UConn, according to Wall head coach Chris Barnes.

“It’s in the back of my head, but I don’t let it get to me,’’ Cluley said about securing a Division I-A offers. “If it comes, it will come.’’

Not only will the first three or four games be important to a senior-laden Wall team in setting a tone for what it hopes will be a championship season, but those games also will be huge for Cluley. If he has great film on him from those first few games, it could put him over the top in securing that elusive offer. That could be especially true if the priority targets at quarterback for schools like Syracuse and UConn end up committing elsewhere, and Cluley moves up on their list.

“I think he has that kind of ability, but schools are only going to recruit so many quarterbacks, so it can be hard to get that offer,’’ said Barnes, who played for Syracuse in the late 1980s. “A lot of times it just takes that one school offering, and then the others will follow.’’

Cluley’s focus right now is on the season opener at Lacey at 1 p.m. on Saturday, where the Crimson Knights will try to avenge a 27-7 loss from last year. Lacey finished unbeaten and No. 1 in the Shore last fall with a senior-heavy team, and is now breaking in several new faces after graduation. Wall, meanwhile, returns Cluley, the entire offensive line, and nearly its whole defense.

“It’s like we’ve flip-flopped,’’ Cluley said. “We definitely owe them one.’’

After throwing for 1,356 yards and 17 touchdowns and running for 413 yards and 5 touchdowns as a junior, Cluley looks to have an even bigger season in his third year as the starter.

“His decision-making is sharp, it’s quick, and he understands the system,’’ Barnes said. “As Steven goes, we’re going to go offensively, no question.’’

“This year we got right into everything quickly,’’ Cluley said. “We were installing our shotgun stuff, our waggles, everything, right away.’’

Perfection has been the goal since the beginning, and Cluley has worked on his accuracy after being one of the best deep passers in the Shore last year. He averaged 18.8 yards per completion last season, but wants to be able to hit the underneath routes in addition to the deep balls. His mobility is also back after suffering a broken bone in his right leg in a skiing wipeout over the winter.

“I’ve been working on a lot of the intermediate digs, deep outs, the comebacks, and even the quick routes,’’ he said. “If teams aren’t going to cover the flat, I’ll go to a quick arrow route and pick up 10 yards.’’

The hype about this Wall team is in full swing, but it won’t mean anything if the Crimson Knights can’t even get past a tough Lacey team on opening weekend. At that point, Cluley won’t be stressing about scholarship offers. He’ll be worried about blue-and-white jerseys coming at him full speed, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I almost like having the target on your back,’’ he said. “It makes you play that much harder.’’