McCarthy finds his niche at Holy Cross

BY WAYNE WITKOWSKI
Staff Writer

Bill McCarthy made a snap decision to modify his role on Holy Cross’ football team, and his efforts helped the Crusaders to only their second winning season since 1991.

The former Brick Memorial star lineman saw his hopes for playing time on the offensive line threatened in a deep and talented unit, even though he was recruited for that position. So he worked at being a long snapper for kicks and punts last season and saw that was his ticket to regular action on the field this season.

“It was an opportunity for me to get on the field because on the depth chart, I was behind two pretty good players,” said the 6-foot-2-inch, 260-pound history major who was moved this past season from center to the left and right guard positions as a backup. “We rotate a lot of guys on the defensive line but not on the offensive line. They feel continuity on the offensive line helps, and no one was injured.”

But the junior also went from being the No. 2 long snapper a year ago to the regular long snapper this past season. He established himself in that role during spring workouts.

“That was a big stepping stone,” said McCarthy.

“Early on [during the season], I was very nervous and thinking about every possible thing that could occur on the play,” said McCarthy.

Holy Cross, in Worcester, Mass., started its season 5-2 but was beset by injuries while losing three games in a row, but capped it with a 56-35 victory over Bucknell in which it raced out to a 28-0 lead. When he did play on the offensive line, McCarthy had to concentrate his blocking schemes to a pass-oriented offense.

Along with effectively snapping the ball to a punter who earned second team All-Patriot League honors, and one of the better punt coverage teams in the league, McCarthy also reliably got the ball back to a kicker who missed only two extra points and, oddly, made four field goals on only five attempts all season. One of those successful field goals provided the difference in a three-point victory over Yale.

“I just concentrated on hitting the same target every time,” said McCarthy. “I tried to get the ball to the same spot so they know what to expect.”

The key, says McCarthy, is that the punter in college has just three seconds to get the ball in the air from the point when the ball is snapped. It’s a faster sequence than high school, says McCarthy, but he points out that the NFL is even quicker as long snappers get the ball into the punter’s hands in seven-tenths of a second.

“It’s not just snapping the ball, but blocking afterward for punts,” said McCarthy. “Teams charge up the middle on punts. On field goals, they rush mostly from the outside and the snapper cannot get hit until he picks up his head [after the snap]. You have to snap and backpedal to block the guy.”

McCarthy said that he was not hit early while snapping the ball, which would lead to a penalty for the opposing team.

With the season a fond memory, McCarthy was back home enjoying the holidays and will resume his post-season training when he returns to campus. That regimen will intensify as he heads into the brief spring workout session in April.