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Bradshaw Mountain's Audsley set to play for AZ All-Star team


Les Stukenberg/The Daily Courier, file photo

Former Bradshaw Mountain QB Tyler Audsley slips out of a Chino Valley defender’s grasp Sept. 23, 2011, in Prescott Valley. Audsley was selected to play in the Arizona vs. Southern California All-Star game this weekend.
6/19/2012 10:02:00 PM

 By Doug Cook

 PRESCOTT VALLEY - Little could Tyler Audsley have imagined nearly nine months ago that he would get one more chance to represent Bradshaw Mountain High School on the football field.

Audsley, the 2011 Bears varsity team's star senior quarterback who suffered a freak season-ending broken left leg during warm-ups prior to a contest against Glendale Deer Valley Sept. 30 at home, has been selected to compete in the second annual Arizona vs. Southern California All-Star game this weekend in the Phoenix area.

Kickoff is 7 p.m. Saturday for the showdown at Surprise Stadium, 1590 N. Bullard Ave., which is the Spring Training home of the Kansas City Royals in the suburb of Surprise.

Although the 5-foot-11, 175-pound Audsley played his entire varsity career under former BMHS coach Chuck Apap, it was the Bears' new lead mentor, Adam Schiermyer, who nominated the dual-threat QB to play for the Arizona All-Stars.

Audsley said Schiermyer - who has known the standout all of five weeks - notified him last Saturday that he made the AZ All-Stars as a backup signal-caller and a cornerback, a defensive position at which Audsley also excelled at Bradshaw.

"It was just kind of a big shock and pretty moving," Audsley said of being chosen. "I got really excited. I got pretty nervous. I haven't been playing football in about six months."

Schiermyer is a member of the Arizona Football Coaches Association (AzFCA), which puts together the AZ All-Star team and considers only this state's best graduating senior players in the Arizona Interscholastic Association's (AIA) Division I and II ranks for spots on the squad.

The Southern California All-Star team has a similar composition, with the Southern California Interscholastic Football Coaches Association (SCIFCA) considering only the finest graduating senior players in its upper divisions from its part of the state.

According to the AzFCA, each state's association member high school head coaches choose the top 32 players from Arizona and Southern California, respectively, for the All-Star teams. The associations selected the players based on their athletic and academic achievements as well as their dedication to the game and their respective communities.

During a meeting last Tuesday in Phoenix, at least 30 to 40 head coaches in the AzFCA cast their votes to decide who would be on the Arizona team's roster, Schiermyer said.

"To be voted in and to be accepted into an All-Star game at any level is a prestigious honor," he said. "Tyler's a great kid, and he deserves it."

***

Based on his overall body of work dating back in part to a phenomenal junior season, Audsley has earned his All-Star billing.

Even though this past fall Audsley started in just four of D-II Bradshaw's 10 games because of two separate injuries, he compiled impressive statistics nonetheless.

Through the air, he completed 20 of 37 passes for 491 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions. On the ground, he rushed for 538 yards on 57 carries and 7 TDs.

Despite his limited playing time, Audsley finished the 2011 season as the Bears' leading passer and their second-best rusher.

This off-season, after spending three months with his left leg either in a cast or a walking boot, Audsley has labored tirelessly on the field and in the weight room since January to return to his former playing shape.

Most recently, in early May, he spent hours out at BMHS's spring football drills to get his left leg and throwing arm moving again. Audsley said he lost about 20 pounds after the injury before quickly gaining all the weight back.

"My leg's 100 percent - there's no more pain," Audsley said. "It's a little tender still, but it's come a long way. I'm running full speed. I'm cutting on it. I can jump off that leg now."

***

This morning, Audsley will report, along with the other elite Arizona prep players, to Surprise Stadium and stay in Phoenix for the rest of the week to practice with the AZ All-Star team.

Before the All-Star game on Saturday, the stadium will play host to an AzFCA Passing League Tournament, although the tourney's championship contest is scheduled for halftime of the All-Star tilt.

Schiermyer's 2012 Bradshaw Mountain varsity team will participate in the 7-on-7 passing league tournament, which starts at 10:30 a.m. Saturday. The coach and his players plan to stay and watch Audsley play that night, alongside several other high school and college coaches.

"Tyler's been working really hard with us, even post-graduation," Schiermyer said. "He's going to excel out there (at the All-Star game). If he gets the opportunity, he'll perform, because that's the kind of kid he is."

Schiermyer added that Audsley will play defense and that "he might see 10-12 minutes at quarterback" in the game.

"I'm excited to see him play," Schiermyer said. "This will be neat not only for Tyler, but for Bradshaw Mountain and even northern Arizona, because there's not a whole lot of kids from the northern part of the state (represented in the All-Star game)."

A month or so after Audsley's appearance in Saturday's game, he plans to enroll at Peru State College in Peru, Neb., where he has a scholarship to play football for the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) program.

Among other things, the All-Star contest gives participating athletes who have not yet signed letters of intent to play in college an opportunity to get their names mentioned one more time.

"I kind of look at it as a second chance to maybe get noticed from those schools (college programs) that were looking at me (during the recruiting process)," Audsley said. "But, more importantly, it's a perk or a bonus just to be able to play one more game in high school. I'm going to try to go all-out and, hopefully, it works out."


 

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