When Brandon Napoleon was a youngster and considering which high school to attend, he remembers becoming fascinated with the play of former St. Peter’s Prep all-everything standout Will Hill.
“The first time I heard of Prep, I was watching a game on television,” Napoleon said. “And then I saw Will and said, ‘Who’s that?’ He was amazing. I knew that I would love to be like him.”
Now a junior at Grand and Warren, Napoleon is doing a lot of the same things that Hill did when he was a Marauder, before he headed off to the University of Florida.
Napoleon has given the Prep offense a dimension that had been lacking since Hill’s graduation, namely the ability of the quarterback to both run and throw with equal ability.
“I guess it’s the best of both worlds,” Napoleon said. “I know I’m able to run and throw, but I like throwing better, because I’m a quarterback and that’s what quarterbacks do. They throw. But if I get a chance to run and I see a hole, I’m not stopping.”
The idea of running and stopping may have come from Napoleon’s father, who did that hundreds of times during his standout playing days at the now-defunct St. Joseph of the Palisades in West New York.
Eugene Napoleon was one of the best running backs to ever wear a Blue Jay uniform. He was a three-time All-Hudson County selection who went on to have a fine career at the University of West Virginia (1987-89), where he still holds rushing and return yardage records. Napoleon played for several years in the Arena Football League and later became an author and record producer and executive.
The younger Napoleon said that he has heard a lot about how good of a running back his father was.
“He never lets me go a day without hearing how good he was,” Brandon Napoleon said. “He’ll say, ‘When I was at St. Joe’s, I turned a 50-yard run and break it into a 90-yard run.’ I hear that all the time. But he’s been great motivation for me. He works with me on my running, my throwing, my speed. We’re always doing something every day.”
The elder Napoleon is now a member of the Prep coaching staff as well, displaying his knowledge and expertise to the younger Marauder players.
“He tells me all the time to just be myself,” the younger Napoleon said. “It really has helped me.”
Napoleon received another piece of helpful advice at the end of last season, when outgoing Marauder quarterback Raphael Ortiz (currently playing at William and Mary) pulled him aside to offer the heir apparent some strong advice.
“He came up to me and said, ‘This is your team now,’” Napoleon said of Ortiz’s comments. “That really settled me down. He was a great quarterback for us and it was a good feeling that he said those words to me. It really calmed down my nerves.”
Napoleon hasn’t shown many jitters throughout his first year as the Marauders’ starting signal caller. He’s been practically flawless, throwing only one interception all year – coming in the Marauders’ lone loss to St. Joseph of Montvale.
And he’s displayed the ability to run and throw the ball, just as advertised.
“He’s done some things that enable him to keep progressing,” Prep head coach Rich Hansen said. “He hasn’t had many chances to throw, but when he has, he’s been very good. We’re happy with what he’s done. It’s all part of his development. With a quarterback like Brandon, you have a chance for him to make a big play every snap, because he can improvise. It gives you diversity and it makes him indefensible. He’s a good runner who has a very good arm. He’s learning the offense and the intricacies of the passing game. We ask him to do a lot, but he’s doing it within the offense.”
Napoleon showed a little bit of that diversity last week in a win over Memorial.
Napoleon rushed for 70 yards and completed all four of his passes for 100 yards and a touchdown, leading the Marauders to a 49-0 victory over the Tigers.
For his efforts, Napoleon has been selected as The Hudson Reporter Athlete of the Week for the past week.
Hansen likes the way Napoleon has become more comfortable running the Marauders’ offense.
“He is developing a strong football IQ,” Hansen said. “He knows what to do. He understands the offense better every day. I think it helps that he comes from a football supportive family. His father obviously knows the game. His mother is a basketball coach. It’s a plus to have that family support. Brandon knows the task at hand and gets it done. He is a pretty mature kid who knows his role.”
It also helps Napoleon that he has the state’s best running back in Savon Huggins playing in the same backfield.
“Having him there takes so much pressure off me,” Napoleon said. “All I have to do is hand the ball off to him and let him go. He’s a great running back. I’m used to my position now and what I have to do. I’m more comfortable back there.”
And Napoleon is fitting in nicely in a long line of diversified Prep quarterbacks like the aforementioned Hill, as well as Joe Dailey, who played at Nebraska and North Carolina.
“That’s a great thing to be considered with that group,” Napoleon said. “I don’t know if I’m there yet.”
Hansen believes that Napoleon can be a quarterback on the next level. He’s already had offers from some major schools, but that is as a defensive back.
“The skills are there for him to be a quarterback in college,” Hansen said. “Some schools look at him strictly as an athlete. But Brandon is a football player and can be a quarterback.”
He’s proving it already for one of the best teams in New Jersey. – Jim Hague
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.