A ‘Speedy’ misnomer

By Chip Knighton
| 978-7236
ST. GEORGE —

After being taken in by what seemed like a blatant case of false advertising, Del Smith won out in the end.
In the summer of 2008, Smith was entering his first season as the football coach at the Blue Ridge School. Joining him as a newcomer to the school was Boyd “Speedy” McCauley, a quarterback who was reclassifying as a junior after transferring from Albemarle.
Despite the nickname, no one will confuse McCauley with Michael Vick or Vince Young. What Smith did get in his new quarterback was an accomplished pocket passer who, with assists from some other former Patriots, has helped the Barons capture the top seed in the VISAA Division II playoffs.
“That was an ongoing joke going in,” Smith said of his quarterback’s nickname. “I hadn’t seen him until he showed up to camp. I had a few guys out with their parents and I introduced myself as the head coach, and I met Speedy and we talked for a little while. We knew going in that he wasn’t going to be a serious running threat.”
As it turns out, McCauley was given his nickname by his grandfather after being born before his due date. That doesn’t stop fans from expecting a vastly different style of play.
“Everybody assumes the nickname is for my speed,” he said. “Not so much. I’m not slow, but I wouldn’t call myself fast, either.”
The 5-foot-11, 190-pound McCauley has made much more of an impact with his arm entering Blue Ridge’s regular-season finale against St. Anne’s-Belfield (4-4, 2-0 ODFC) at 2 p.m. today. The senior has thrown for 1,305 yards and 17 touchdowns.
That performance has helped the Barons (6-2, 2-1) lock up a playoff berth, which they did with Saturday’s 40-22 victory over Atlantic Shores Christian. Last season, Atlantic Shores won the Division II championship while Blue Ridge sat at home after narrowly missing the postseason.
At stake today is the championship of the ODFC — although no one from the Barons or the Saints needs any extra motivation in the rivalry game.
“Everybody who we lost to last year are the only teams on the schedule from last year to this year,” McCauley said. “It’s motivation to get revenge for last year. We’re 4-0 so far — STAB’s the last one.”
Smith added: “We didn’t deserve to get into the playoffs last year at 3-5. We still almost got in with how the Division II rankings fell. We had some good wins versus Division I teams.
“I don’t think our guys were over-excited because it’s a goal that we’ve set all year. It’s something that we’ve been talking about all year. We feel like we’re good enough and we should be there this year.”
Several Albemarle transfers have helped Blue Ridge reach that level. Two of McCauley’s biggest targets in the passing game are former Patriots — 6-foot-7 Cameron Anderson and 6-foot-3 Andre Roberts, both in their first year at the school — while Kyle Aichs, who transferred with McCauley, anchors a strong group of linebackers.
“It helps on the deep ball a lot,” McCauley said of his tall receiving corps, which also includes 6-foot-4 A.J. Williams and 6-foot-3 Roderick Holloway. “I can throw it 40 or 50 yards and not have to worry about putting it on the money when they can go and get it.”
Smith’s team features players from all over the country, but has a large local contingent that has made big contributions to the team’s run to the playoffs. He hopes to build on that group’s success to make Blue Ridge a destination for local athletes.
“I think a lot of the student-athletes…want to play on the next level,” he said. “Coming out to Blue Ridge gets them away from a lot of the extracurricular distractions that are out there. They can concentrate on their academics and the weight room and excelling as student-athletes.”
Deceptive name or not, his quarterback is undoubtedly one of those success stories.