Rockets’ Alexander prefers to be the guy in charge

By: 
Mark Griffin

It was around the second grade when Jac Alexander, Clay Schulte and Tyler May began to figure out they were a little bit more athletic than most of their Oak Harbor classmates.
        “Every year on the day of the Super Bowl, we would have a (school) flag football championship,” Alexander recalled. “They would do testing for the best athletes in the first, second and third grade. I think I won that twice. It was always Clay, Tyler and I competing for that. It was always us three competing to be the best.
        “I think that helped us tremendously, because we had each other to bounce off of and keep each other in line. We’ve been so close, if we doing something wrong, we’ll tell each other. It has made us very competitive.”
        The three buddies never got to play on the same flag football team together, but they joined forces starting their freshman year and have been crucial to the Rockets’ success the past two years. Oak Harbor coach Mike May, who is Tyler’s father, said he knew way back when that Alexander was the Rockets’ future starting quarterback.
        “We knew all the way back to elementary school,” May said. “My son and he are in the same class, so I’ve seen him compete since back in the first grade. When he played flag football, you could see he was special. Once he became a sophomore, there was no doubt he was our guy. He’s mature beyond his years; just a special kid. Kids like Jac don’t come around very often.”
        Last Saturday, Alexander threw for one touchdown and ran for three others to help the Rockets crush visiting Beachwood 41-7, in a Division V playoff opener. Third-ranked Oak Harbor (11-0) entered Saturday’s game against fourth-ranked Eastwood (11-0) at Lake High School with a shot to reach the regional finals.
        Coach May said the 5-foot-10, 180-pound Alexander, a three-year starter at quarterback and free safety, has an uncanny ability to make most difficult plays look routine.
        “We know week in and week out he’s going to do his job and do it well,” May said. “He’s also going to make some of those plays that typical kids won’t make. He had one of those last Saturday when he avoided the rush, looked at multiple receivers and bought enough time to find our guy in the end zone. It was probably a play that only Jac would make. We (coaches) looked at each other and said, ‘That’s Jac being Jac.’ ”
        May added that Alexander is the best leader he’s ever coached.
        “I started coaching in 1996, and he’s by far the best leader,” May said. “He’s a three-sport athlete and he excels at all three sports. What sets him apart is his communication skills. He’s an excellent communicator and he has been in so many competitive situations that he never gets rattled. He brings a lot of confidence to the team because they know if we get in a tough spot, he can make a play to kind of bail us out of every situation.”
        Alexander holds six school passing records and has thrown for 3,172 career yards and 43 touchdowns, with just 12 interceptions during his career. He has also rushed for 2,564 yards and 32 touchdowns.
        Alexander has run the ball 100 times for 970 yards (9.7 average) and 15 touchdowns this season and is a unanimous first-team All-Sandusky Bay Conference pick at both quarterback and defensive back. He has completed 74-of-104 passes for 1,310 yards and 21 touchdowns, with no interceptions.
        Playing quarterback, Alexander said, “is a lot of pressure and I kind of like those situations.”
        “I feel like I can take the blame if something goes wrong,” he said. “Some kids don’t react well if something goes wrong. I like being in charge of stuff, and it’s nice being with Clay (running back) and Tyler (receiver) and the offensive line. That makes it easier. I like to be the guy in charge and be the one to grab the bull by the horns, so to speak.”
        Alexander has more than held his own in the defensive backfield, according to May. Alexander is the school’s career leader in interceptions, with 11.
        “He gets most of his notoriety on offense, but he’s just as valuable to our defense as our offense,” May said. “He didn’t have to make as many tackles this year because our defense was better. Offensively, he’s really like a tailback playing quarterback. He has an excellent arm and he’s accurate.”
        Alexander is the Rockets’ starting point guard in basketball – he already has more than 1,000 career points - and he also starts at shortstop in the spring. He has a 3.7 GPA and is a member of the National Honor Society.
        Alexander said he and Schulte, the 2018 and ‘19 SBC Bay Division Player of the Year, had a goal as freshmen to fill the home stadium with sellout crowds and make their mark in the postseason. Oak Harbor went 5-5 their freshman year and finished 5-5 again the next season. Last year’s team went 10-2, won the Bay Division title and reached the second round of the playoffs.
        “We had a team meeting with the underclassmen at the end of last year, and we put on the board that we wanted to win a state championship,” Alexander said. “You have to believe you’re going to play to week 15 if you’re going to do it. The senior class has been together a long time and we’re a tight group. We want to go down as one of the best teams in school history and we want to leave a legacy.”
 

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