GNAC Sports

Football: CWU QB Draws Comparisons With Kitna

Jon Nowacki
Duluth News Tribune - 09/20/2007

Reilly

Detroit Lions quarterback Jon Kitna had what he described as the worst pain he ever felt after suffering a concussion in the second quarter of Sunday's game against the Minnesota Vikings.

According to reports, Kitna wanted to reenter the game, but the team initially wouldn't let him. He re-entered the game in the fourth quarter and led the Lions to a 20-17 overtime win, taking several big shots along the way.

Central Washington football coach Beau Baldwin wasn't surprised. The two were teammates for the Wildcats in the early 1990s before Kitna went on to an 11-year NFL career with the Lions, Bengals and Seahawks.

“We both played quarterback, but Jon had a little more talent than me,” Baldwin said, laughing. “That's why he is where he's at, and I'm where I'm at.”

For Baldwin, however, that's not a bad place to be, especially when you have a quarterback like junior Mike Reilly, who will lead Central Washington into its North Central Conference game Satu rday against Minnesota Duluth in Ellensburg.

Baldwin is a former Wildcats assistant who returned to his alma mater after former coach John Zamberlin took the head coaching job at Idaho State. Baldwin sees a lot of similarities between Reilly and Kitna, and on Tuesday, Central Washington's coach and quarterback talked about Kitna's performance.

“Mike was impressed, but honestly, that's the type of player I'm lucky to have in him,” Baldwin said. “Mike would be right there doing the same thing. I'm very fortunate to have a guy like that, because that's the kind of stuff you can't teach. Mike stands in there and isn't afraid of taking a shot in the face or running downfield. He's tough.”

UMD saw that last year when the Bulldogs rallied for a 31-25 victory at Malosky Stadium, despite Reilly's 265 yards passing and two touchdowns, as well as 64 hard-fought rushing yards.

Reilly is in his third season at Central after transferring from NCAA Division I Washington State. Last year, he completed 231 of 351 passes for 2,660 yards, with 21 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. More than that, however, his toughness reminded many Wildcat fans of Kitna.

“People bring up his name and try to compare you, but it's kind of like, ‘Hold on a minute: Kitna is pretty good to be comparing anyone to,'” Reilly said. “I thought it was pretty amazing that a guy with that much money on the line would compete like he did on Sunday. Even after he had the concussion, he wouldn't run out of bounds. He was tucking the ball in and taking shots, and that's the kind of mentality I consider myself to have. Sometimes I make the coaches go crazy by not running out of bounds or sliding, but I've gotten a little bit better at it.”

Reilly has gotten better at a lot of things.

Tabbed a first-team preseason All-American by D2Football.com, Reilly has lived up to the hype. The 6-foot-4, 215-pounder has completed 51 of 77 passes for 598 yards in tw o games, with six TDs and no interceptions. Last week, he nearly rallied the Wildcats (1-1 overall, 0-1 NCC) to an upset of second-ranked North Dakota.

Reilly completed a career-high 32 passes for 340 yards and three TDs against a normally stout Sioux defense. He has a pair of good-size receiving targets in Johnny Spevak (6-3, 200) and tight end Jared Bronson (6-4, 260).

“Reilly is very good, and I think they have a good receiving corps and improved running game,” UMD coach Bubba Schweigert said. “They're just a good football team. It's going to be tough like that every week.”

That showed when the teams met last year, but UMD (1-2, 0-1) will be facing a team Saturday with a slightly new look. This season, Baldwin has implemented a 3-4 defense similar to the Bulldogs' scheme, so rather than rely on the scout team, the Wildcats' first-team offense saw extensive action against the first-team defense this week.

Baldwin also has implemented a new offense, one that has given Reilly more offensive options on every play.

One thing that hasn't changed, however, is the toughness and leadership Reilly brings to the position, something he models after the Wildcats' most famous football alum. Reilly recalled getting a concussion in a game against Western Oregon last season, and he reacted much like Kitna on Sunday.

“I was just kind of knocked out on the sideline,” Reilly said. “I wasn't even thinking, really, but I just didn't want to come out of the game, so I went back in. It may not be the smartest thing in the world, but I think every competitor wants to be out on that field, no matter what. That's the kind of player I am. I'm not coming out unless somebody pulls me out, so if I'm ever given the choice, I'm going back in.”