York Catholic football's 'secret weapon'

Here's a name you may want to get used to seeing: Qua'Shawn Grooms.

That was one of the impressions I got from my visit to York Catholic football practice on Wednesday. The sophomore wideout had a breakout performance during last Friday's loss to Northeastern, hauling in seven passes for 90 yards and a touchdown.

And Grooms should continue to figure prominently into York Catholic's revamped receiver corps -- part of a spread offense piloted by James Dougherty.

"He was sort of our secret," Dougherty said of Grooms. "But now he's out."

Grooms got a head start on this season by working out this summer with Dougherty and former Irish standout receiver Patrick Montgomery, who posted a YAIAA-best 1,111 receiving yards last season.

"Just teaching him how to get off the ball, how to run a few routes," Dougherty said. "Qua’Shawn looked up to Pat last year a lot, which was really big.

"Losing Pat, a lot of people in our division probably thought I wasn’t going to have anybody to throw to. Now I have five, six guys who can catch the football."