http://www2.readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=552176
Originally Published: 1/20/2015
Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on emailShare on printMore Sharing Services0
[URL='http://www2.readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=552176']
Courtesy of philmarphoto
Gov. Mifflin grad Trey Dunkelberger, on earning a scholarship to play football at Syracuse: “Nobody would ever expect me to be where I’m at. Nobody. It’s been unreal.”
Mick Vecchio didn't believe what he was seeing on his stopwatch. The Gov. Mifflin football coach figured he must have screwed something up.
He had Trey Dunkelberger run another 40-yard dash and called over two assistant coaches to watch as well.
They confirmed the amazing transformation Vecchio had witnessed.
"Over the winter, he went from a 5.5 to a 4.7," said Vecchio, still in a amazement at what he saw that spring day at the end of Dunkelberger's junior year. "He totally, totally turned it around."
A few months earlier, during his junior season, Dunkelberger didn't get on the field for a single play with the Mustangs. His time was limited to JVs.
As a senior he became the starting tight end for the Mustangs, but he caught only seven passes. He was happy just to get an offer to play at Shippensburg.
All of which makes this an amazing story, because less than three years after playing in relative obscurity for the Mustangs, Dunkelberger finds himself with a scholarship at Syracuse University. He's prepping to play at the Carrier Dome, where he figures to be one of the Orange's fastest tight ends this season.
"Nobody would ever expect me to be where I'm at," said Dunkelberger. "Nobody. It's been unreal."
Dunkelberger's college football story appeared over almost before it began. Two weeks into his freshman season at Shippensburg, he grew disenchanted with the situation and asked for his release.
"Once I got there, I knew I could play at a higher level," he said.
He stayed in school but began looking for other football opportunities. When he learned he'd have to sit out a year if he transferred to a Division I school, the junior college route became an attractive option.
He was contacted by Pierce Community College in Woodland Hills, Calif. When he learned of the school's track record for landing D-I scholarships for its top players, he enrolled.
Dunkelberger's game grew at Pierce, and so did he. The 6-foot, 170-pound high school sophomore who didn't like running and really wasn't all that interested in football blossomed into a 6-5, 245-pound tight end who could fly past linebackers and into the secondary.
"Playing at Pierce, I learned so much about the passing game and the things to do to get better at that," he said. "I got to run around a little bit in front of these (Division I) coaches (during spring practice), and they got to see what kind of speed I have."
Before he even played a down at Pierce, he had an offer from Akron. Later he got offers from Cincinnati and South Florida and had interest from Louisville, Clemson and Purdue, among others.
In November, he sent a message via Twitter to Syracuse assistant coach Bobby Acosta: "Hey coach are y'all looking for tight ends this class?"
Acosta's one-word reply changed Dunkelberger's life: "Yes."
Four days later, Syracuse offered a scholarship.
A few weeks later, even before he visited the campus, Dunkelberger committed.
"I don't think I was on their radar (before the tweet)," said Dunkelberger.
Things moved quickly after the Syracuse staff saw his game tape from Pierce.
"We got really excited about him," said Orange head coach Scott Shafer.
Because of his size and speed, Syracuse plans to utilize Dunkelberger as an H-Back type, moving him from tight end, to the backfield, to split end.
"Trey's strengths are his foot speed and his ability to get down the field," said Shafer. "At tight end you have to be able to stand up and block away from the tackle box and block in the box in the run game, and Trey can do both of those things.
"We're going to stand him up and walk him out and try to get mismatches with linebackers."
Dunkelberger, who arrived on campus last week and began working out with the team's quarterbacks and receivers, said an assistant coach told him he was third on the depth chart at tight end.
"He'll step right in and begin to compete for playing time from Day 1," Shafer said. "That's why we signed him. You don't sign a junior college kid to come in to be a backup. He'll be a contributor."
Trey's father, Ron, who also played at Gov. Mifflin, never gave up on his son. He kept pushing him to greater things.
"I knew he had it in him," Ron Dunkelberger said, "but after a while he didn't see it anymore. He had some failures, and sometimes kids quit on themselves."
A concussion and a hand injury limited him during his junior season. Following his spring lacrosse season, he worked with local trainer John Schaeffer of Winning Factor and transformed his body, dropping his body fat from 18 percent to 6 percent.
"That's what turned the corner for him," said Ron Dunkelberger, who saw new-found confidence, not to mention a boost in foot speed, in his son.
Without the encouragement his father provided, Trey said he would've stopped playing football long ago.
"I definitely felt I could do it, but (by) playing only my senior year of varsity, I didn't think the chance was going to be there," he said. "(Big-time) schools stop looking at you after your junior year (if you don't stand out).
"With my speed, I just knew that if I put it toward the right area I could do it. It's really been a long ride, and I've put so much effort and time into getting to where I am right now. I've grown so much."
[/URL]
