Fox Lane Football: Foxes Must Cushion Last Year's Losses

While several teams around the Section I football landscape endured tough, off-season blows, few had it as rough as Fox Lane.  

June 2010 graduation claimed All-Section quarterback Jesse Hunt and high-flying wide receiver Timmy Muller.

The two established one of the more formidable tandems in Westchester County last season, leaving immense gaps both under center and in the young receiving corps. 

Hunt and Muller grew up tossing the football around Bedford and Mount Kisco. They bought into disciplined workout regimens, helped nurture a core of young talent their senior season.

The proof is in the production tree.

With Hunt and Muller bolting for the next chapter in their young lives, they leave behind a tough act to follow.  

As seniors, Hunt and Muller defined commitment. 

They held captains' practices. The duo helped mold the Fox Lane football atmosphere into that of a surrogate family. They labored through many individual workouts together and trekked over to various local parks for throwing sessions during the off-seasons. 

Hunt and Muller orchestrated offense, broke down film, and provided the immeasurable intangibles with off-the-field, locker room leadership.

They set the bar high and helped nurture a young infusion of talent last season.    

Simply put, the duo evolved into the faces of the program last season.  

Having played together since the Pop Warner days, remaining tight in the Fox Lane football community, Hunt and Muller watched their game's grow and flourish together.

The connection started in the youth football leagues and seemed to grow, grow, grow, Jack and the beanstalk style.  

The crash course continued as the two players found themselves competing on the the modified level and then playing all four years of varsity together.

Coach Bill Broggy watched their relentless work come into fruition last season.

The then-seniors created a connection which ascended Fox Lane's aerial game into new heights. It started in the season-opener at Byram Hills last year, when Hunt threw a game-high four touchdown passes. Muller, the rangy go-to-guy, gobbled up three of those TD passes.  

From the get-go, Hunt showed up to the Wild, Wild, West show toting nothing short of a rifle. He threw for 151 yards and four touchdowns in the Byram game.  

Fast forward to the then-biggest game of the season, when folks arrived in droves to see Fox Lane play Horace Greeley in a dizzying, down-to-the-wire affair before a bi-partisan crowd.

The Foxes came roaring back from a 14-0 deficit to stamp a signature 19-15 win at Horace Greeley High School, to remain undefeated at the time. The Hunt-Muller tandem was once again the catalyst offensively.

Hunt threw for 160 yards and Muller hauled in four passes for 101 yards.

"I'd have to say the combination of Tim Muller and Jessie Hunt has to be up there as the tops in the section," said Broggy, when asked to assess the development of the two stallions last year.

"They've both been part of the program since their freshman season. They've played modified football together. So, really, they've been playing together since the sixth grade. They throw all the time together. They've certainly developed a good deal of chemistry."  

Hunt and Muller also had a great sense of each other's style, feeding off one another and dissecting defenses in the process.

"We played pee wee football together," said Hunt after a crucial win last fall, harkening back on his early days of throwing baby bullets to Muller.  

 "I know exactly where he is going to be on the field at all times," said Hunt during an interview last fall.  I know I can put the ball pretty much anywhere near him and he's going to come down with it. It makes my job easier."    

While no single player will make the job of filling the scoring and leadership void of Hunt and Muller easier, others will need to step up their games and help pad the loss.  

Senior strongman Karanja Elliot, a workhorse who's established himself as a beast amongst boys in the weight room, is funneled into a critical role this season. 

The bruising running back/linebacker spearheaded Fox Lane's ground game last season, rushing for over 700 yards and turning in a four-touchdown performance during a 33-8 trouncing of Beacon.

Elliot was the answer when Muller and other receivers were negated or keyed on by defenses. Elliot's adjustment to a full time starting position was at first open to debate.

It allowed the skeptics to surface, as they did not think he could handle the bulk of being a two-way starter. Elliot muted those naysayers last season, and his transition to a fulltime backfield position was oil-smooth. 

Elliot only got a few carries as a sophomore and Broggy was not sure whether or not to utilize the behemoth as a running back.  

He proved himself with numerous big time performances against Nyack and Beacon, when he scored four touchdowns.  

And so all signs point to Elliot, whose unique blend of speed and bullish strength (Elliot clocked a 4.7 40-yard dash time and puts up 340+ in the bench press), emerging into one of the top backs in the county next season. 

Cameron Stephens, a 6-foot-5 tight end who committed to play lacrosse at Ohio State last month, will also be an essential ingredient. Stephens will anchor the defense and direct traffic as the defensive end.

How well will Stephens, Elliot, and company will lead this year's class and finish what Hunt and Muller started?

That remains to be seen. The teams' double sessions, which begin at the end of this week, could potentially be a portent of what's to come.