Profile: Ty Lenhart

Profile%3A+Ty+Lenhart

Eli Klopp, Editor

Chants of “I’m blind, I’m deaf, I wanna be a ref” echo throughout the stands on a crisp Friday night in October. The fans can barely be heard by the players on the field. Everyone is focused on the new guy standing behind the offensive line. Ty Lenhart, senior quarterback, receives the snap and the stands are rumbling, waiting to see what he will do.

Ty started playing football in the 6th grade for the Crofton Cardinals. His parents got him into football very early on in life. “Both of my parents went to Penn State so I’ve been going to Penn State football games since I was one.” He has always loved football and has always wanted to be a quarterback. The youth football league went by weight class, and because he was bigger than his friends he would have to play up, something he didn’t want to do. He and his parents also agreed that he should start playing in middle school.

Former stags quarterback Beau English played a role getting Ty comfortable with the responsibilities of leading the team as early as Ty’s freshman year. “As a freshman he taught me the ways of how to run things and how to execute.”

“The biggest challenge is adapting to the team. There are changes you have to make to what you and how you do things. We are still trying to find our identity as a team and we will get there but that’s a challenge. It always is.”

The Bishop Gorman game to open the season was the biggest stage Ty has played on. There was a lot of talk around him and if he could carry the team, the game was on ESPN, and colleges were watching to see what he could do. “I tried to put that all out of my head and focus on the team and executing the game plan.”

An average practice for Ty is, simply put, “tough.” “It is a lot harder than most practices anywhere else. We win games during the week. That’s our motto and it’s the truth. You win games through the hard work, conditioning, through the extra reps, and holding yourself accountable during the week. If you slack off during the week you’re going to slack off during the games. Bad practice weeks usually mean bad games.”

Most of the colleges interested in Ty are Ivy League, and they want to see him perform consistently over the season. “Right now a lot of colleges want to see the first five or six games to see what I do. I have a bunch of interest in them, they’re Ivy League and that would be a crazy opportunity.”

Other schools including Indiana and other BIG 10 teams are showing interest in him as well. “I’m just looking at all the different choices and letting all play out, just being patient and not rushing anything.” After college Ty wants to get a job related to business but he isn’t looking into any specifics quite yet.

Besides playing football Ty loves outdoor activities. “I love fishing, skiing, hunting, and going out on the water.” Ty has been going shark fishing as early as he has been going to the Penn State games with his parents in Hilton Head, South Carolina. “The biggest one I’ve caught is a nine foot bull shark.” Ty has a few battle scars from close encounters with these sharks, but it remains one of his favorite things to do.

This season the football team is seeking to win their fifth WCAC Championship in a row, looking to Ty as their new offensive leader. While there are many things for this senior quarterback to focus on, he keeps his head in the game whenever he gets on the field, saying that “when the lights come on, when it’s Friday night, your mind gets taken over.”