SSN Athlete Feature: John McCall

Three Sport Stud

Jason Stutz

John McCall has been playing organized sports since he joined his first flag football league at 5 years old. Like lots of young kids, John tried lots of sports before ultimately settling on football, baseball, and basketball.

When asked how he chose those three, John responded, “They were all in different seasons, so I could play all of them. I almost played soccer, but it was the same season as football.” Today, it’s clear that John made the right decisions, as he made his way onto the varsity team for all three sports as a Junior.

At a young age, John was more than willing to sacrifice free time, which is still not something he sees much of. After a long day of tests, projects, and studying most students look forward to going home to relax. John, however, has had practice after school almost every day throughout high school. “I only got to go home after school 3 days last year. I think I’ve only had 2 weeks off since Junior High.”

John went on to say that he doesn’t have much of an off-season. Football starts practicing in mid-summer and stops near the week of basketball tryouts. Then basketball season runs well into February or even March, which is when the baseball team is preparing to start their season. After the baseball season, John plays club ball for baseball and basketball and stays busy well into the summer. Then -guess what- it’s time to start practicing for football again!

Time consumption isn’t the only reason being a varsity athlete at a 4-star school with talent like HSE is not an accomplishment to be taken lightly. John not only beat out countless other people trying out for spots on the basketball and baseball teams, but he’s a force to be reckoned with on all three fields of play.

John played significant minutes off the bench for the basketball team last year, totaling 91 points, 73 rebounds, 32 assists, and 18 steals. Going into his senior year John has a good chance to secure a starting spot.

John was one of only two freshmen to make the JV baseball team and started JV for both his freshman and sophomore years. After being bumped up towards the end of his sophomore year, John was a part of the Royals’ state-winning team in 2019.

He also earned the starting Quarterback job heading into his senior year after starting at safety for the past two seasons. Over those two seasons, John totaled 78 solo tackles, 33 assisted tackles 2 interceptions and 2 forced fumbles.

In the Royals first three games this season, John has completed 35 of 52 passes (66.7 comp. %) and ran 35 times for 592 yards and 4 touchdowns.

Head coach Micheal Kelly said that John’s ability to lead his teammates and run the ball separated John as his choice to start at QB. He also noted that, “There were a couple other guys nipping at his heels that made the decision difficult.”

HSE will be more than happy to find athletes like McCall in the future, as he has done more than most to elevate three different varsity teams to new heights and will continue to do so for the remainder of the year.