It’s fourth down. Time enough for one last play. Difference in points is five — one score needed for victory. Marcus McGill is split wide.
The above scenario is something of a sugarplum dream for the junior wide receiver, and a nightmare for opposing defensive backs. His speed and gridiron emotions will be 6-feet-2, 200 pounds of lighting-quick commotion.
“Wide receiver is a play-maker position, which is why I love it,” McGill said. “One big catch can change everything, and when the game is on the line, or we need something huge, I want the ball thrown in my direction. Anything I can do to help my team, call on me.”
When watching Gates Chili this season, keep all eyes pealed on No. 23 — the electrically charged speedster split wide with legit 4.5-second 40-yard dash speed, a 32-inch vertical leap, and a 9-foot broad jump. Starting on varsity last fall as a sophomore, the multi-faceted teenager has packed on a solid 15 pounds of muscle in the offseason, has increased his speed greatly, but most importantly, he says, is that his attention to detail has vastly improved.
“Everyone thinks that you have to do drills to get better, but you have to be very coachable, and I would say I possess that quality,” McGill said. “I have really tuned into listening skills more, which has helped me get off the ball quicker, and my footwork has improved a lot. I also did a lot of traveling over the summer. I went to the National Underclassmen Combine at Bishop Kearney, got invited to New Jersey to play, was invited to a national combine in Texas, and went to the Rutgers football camp. Right now, I am ranked third on the East Coast.”
In addition to numerous appearances at camps during the offseason, McGill works out with a personal trainer at World Gym in Rochester with fellow Section 5 players such as Rush-Henrietta wide-out Justin Medley, Bishop Kearney’s four-star linebacker Quentin Gause who will play at Rutgers next fall, and former teammate Andre Nix, who transferred to play at Schroeder this year.
“Lifting weights has been a key to my improvement,” McGill said. “I have lifted weights for years, but have become so much more dedicated this past offseason.”
What could be most dangerous, and perhaps one of the more key aspects to both McGill’s and the Spartans’s success this season, is the relationship between McGill and Malcolm Frazier, the senior starting quarterback.
