Mr. Everything

P-O's Czap has diverse set of skills

Guy Cipriano

- gciprian@centredaily.com

Zack Czap kicks and punts, returns kicks and punts and plays running back and safety for Philipsburg-Osceola's football team.

CDT file photo/Craig Houtz

Philipsburg-Osceola’s multi-talented Zack Czap (6) is also an oustanding catcher and leadoff hitter for the Mounties’ baseball team.

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WEEK 4 HIGH SCHOOL PREVIEWS

It gets more interesting once the season ends.

Czap catches for the baseball team, hunts, golfs, fly fishes and plays the guitar.

For Czap, an anomaly in an era of increasing specialization among high school athletes, down time means crouching in the woods, waiting for wild game to enter his range.

“Like any young person, he’s running full speed, a 110 miles per day,” Czap’s father Mike said. “He squeezes a lot into the day.”

Zack’s athletic focus wavers depending on the season. Right now it’s football, and Czap’s Mounties, who are 1-2, visit state-ranked Central (3-0) tonight. There’s a chance Czap could be involved in every play.

P-O football coach Jeff Vroman first observed Czap’s versatility while refereeing a fifth-grade game in 2002. Czap’s busy schedule started taking form that season as he rotated between running back and quarterback and defensive back and linebacker.

“I knew he was going to be something special,” Vroman said.

Czap’s role expanded in junior high when he started kicking and punting. He reached Vroman’s team as a sophomore, rushing for 516 yards on 61 carries, playing strong safety and kicking for a group that went 9-3 and advanced to the District 6 Class AA semifinals.

Czap’s role expanded after P-O graduated a class featuring multiple current college athletes. He responded by rushing for 716 yards on 146 carries, converting 17 of 21 extra-point attempts and playing multiple defensive positions last fall.

Czap’s role expanded again this season, with Vroman selecting him to replace Dusty Golding as punter. The heavy workload creates some interesting situations, especially during practice because the Mounties increased their emphasis on special teams.

Czap returns kicks and punts. But he’s also the kicker and punter.

“I never get a break,” he said. “Practice is just like a game. I’m involved in every team and whatever we are doing I’m out there. I never get a rest.”

Saturdays and Sundays are often the toughest days for Czap, but he shrugged off experiencing abnormal postgame exhaustion.

“I think everybody is exhausted to some extent,” said Czap, who has rushed for 167 yards and caught eight passes for 198 yards. “Of course, doing as many things as I do I’m sore the next day.”

Czap receives a temporary respite when the season ends. He spends late-fall and early-winter hunting on his uncle Wayne Harpster’s farm in Spruce Creek. Czap, naturally, hunts a variety of animals. He completed a triple crown last fall by bagging a 10-point buck, 236-pound bear and turkey.

Hunting season doesn’t last long because Czap is a serious baseball player who made the varsity team as a freshman. The 2007 season represented one of Czap’s best athletic experiences. He played alongside his older brother and current Shippensburg University outfielder, A.J., and the Mounties advanced to the PIAA Class AA quarterfinals.

P-O baseball coach Doug Sankey, like Vroman, was anticipating Czap’s arrival. As an eighth-grader, Czap spent winters working out with varsity players, including current St. Louis Cardinals prospect Matt Adams.

“I remember Matt and I were talking about him after a practice thinking, ‘He’s pretty good for an eighth-grader,’” Sankey said. “With his maturity, he fit right in as a freshman.”

Czap has caught 68 games and developed into a leadoff hitter by his sophomore season.

Sankey said Czap’s versatility carries over to baseball. “We know he can play anywhere on the field if we had the luxury of doing it,” Sankey said.

Czap fishes and plays golf during spring and summer weekends, and his golf game remains an enigma.

Mike and his wife, Jody, played college golf at Clarion and Penn State, respectively, and the duo held the titles of Philispburg Country Club men’s and women’s champions last year. Czap plays with his parents and older brother, often shooting in the low-80s at his home course. Czap’s responsibilities in the other sports — he plays on a AAABA team during the summer — limit the number of rounds he plays.

Mike and Jody exposed their sons to golf before either played baseball. But they never forced golf, or any other sport, upon Zack or A.J.

“We always felt they should be doing what they want to do and we told them that from the get-go,” Mike said. “If a sport wasn’t fun, then we wanted them doing something else.”

Czap said he wonders what life — and football — would be if he narrowed his focus to one task.

At one point during an interview earlier this week, he said he might focus on kicking in college. Vroman, who kicked at Lock Haven University, said Czap would make a fine college kicker. Czap already has three touchbacks this season, a number that might be higher if his only job was kicking.

“If he was focusing on one thing, in my opinion I could see him getting a scholarship to kick somewhere if that’s truly what he wants to do,” Vroman said.

But quickly after revealing he might pursue kicking, Czap also mentioned he might want to play baseball in college.

“He’s a very gifted athlete,” Sankey said. “He can do a lot of different things. He can be pretty good at pretty much everything.”

Whatever he decides, Czap should arrive in college with one important skill: time management.

“I think it will definitely help being involved in as much as I am in both school and sports,” he said. “I think if I focused on one sport in college I will in general have more time to manage my school work and that’s the most important thing. It should be easier for me.”