Endlish

KARNS CITY — It was a tape of Matt Endlish's senior season in high school that sold Thiel College football coach Jack Leipheimer.

"From watching that tape, I thought he had great poise," said Leipheimer. "You try to look for what a quarterback can do during a broken play, when he's faced with adversity. And we think Matt is an athletic kid and has great leadership."

Endlish, a 2007 graduate of Karns City High and resident of Chicora, completed 86 of 167 passes for 1,338 yards and nine touchdowns last fall for the Gremlins while helping the team to a 10-2 overall record and a trip to the District 9 Class AA title game before losing to Brookville.

"Thiel showed the most interest in me and I made my mind up in May that's where I wanted to go," said Endlish, who will major in secondary education with a goal of becoming a history teacher.

Endlish put academics first when making his decision on a college, but believes he also found a good school to continue his football career.

"Thiel has a reputation for having very good professors, and I liked that situation," said Endlish, who also considered Westminster College, Slippery Rock University and Clarion University.

"They've got a good football program and we should have a good chance to win some games," Endlish added.

Thiel has a quarterback in place in sophomore Willie Bova, who completed 12 of 17 passes for 232 yards and two touchdowns in the spring game against the University of Toronto.

The Tomcats also have senior signal caller Chris Ault on their roster and another incoming freshman in addition to Endlish, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 170 pounds.

"We'll have to work on his arm strength, but it's not bad," said Leipheimer.

"My goal is to learn from the other quarterbacks, learn the system and hopefully compete for the starting job in the next few years," said Endlish.

Thiel football has enjoyed a revival under Leipheimer, who will be entering his seventh season as the team's head coach.

In the 24 seasons between 1980 and 2003, the Tomcats tallied five wins in a season just once (1991).

But over the last three seasons, Leipheimer has guided Thiel to a combined record of 23-9, including 14-3 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference. That stretch featured a PAC title in 2005, when the team went a perfect 6-0 against conference foes.

Thiel went 5-5 overall and 4-2 in conference play last year.

"We've got great kids and a great coaching staff," Leipheimer said. "My job is to point the ship in the right direction and to get out of the way."