Danny Kesack has already moved on to his next stage in life.
The graduated Lyndhurst senior has been driving down to Dover, Delaware to Wesley College where he hopes to lead someday the Wolverines at quarterback.
Kesack has been taking part of captains practice at the Division III school that is considered one of the better football teams in the country. Wesley was pegged as the sixth-best school in the country for the NCAA 2013 Division III season.
That was one of the reasons that Kesack picked Wesley over New Jersey schools like Montclair State and Rowan universities.
“Every year they are good and have a tough schedule,” said Kesack who added that he also has family that live near Dover, Delaware.
In addition Kesack, who was first team All NJIC Liberty last season, said the attraction of having a shot at the number one quarterback job was too hard to turn down.
“They said that I can compete right away,” said Kesack. “The coaches there liked me a lot to play quarterback.”
He said that the other colleges that he looked at were not high on him playing quarterback. Kesack also played in the defensive backfield for Lyndhurst.
What Wesley liked about Kesack was his ability to throw and run the ball.
Last season with Lyndhurst, the Golden Bears quarterback threw for 1,363 yards and ran for 886 yards.
Overall he had 24 touchdowns, 15 of which came through the air.
“Danny is an exceptional athlete and someone who we believe can be a great college quarterback,” said Wesley College head coach Mike Drass.
“On the ground or through the air Danny has the ability to lead our offense,” said Drass.
His 2012 season topped the 2011 season where he accumulated almost 2,000 yards in the air and the ground.
Before the 2012 season Lyndhurst head coach Joe Castagnetti could not have been happier with Kesack’s play that continued last season.
“He’s doing a better job of reading coverage’s and getting the ball down the field,” said Castagnetti.
“He’s a dual threat who can run and throw,” he stated.
In addition to going down to Wesley on weekends, Kesack has been throwing the pigskin at any open football field that he can find from Old Tappan to Lyndhurst.
“Every day I wake-up and doing running and lifting,” said the Lyndhurst graduate about his training regime in the summer.
The highlight of Kesack’s four years as signal caller for Lyndhurst had to come during his junior season where the Golden Bears were a win away from making the state sectional title game.
He points to Lyndhurst‘s 38-13 victory over Rutherford in the 2011 state playoffs as his biggest thrill as a Golden Bear.
It was the first state playoff win for Lyndhurst in almost 30 years.
“That was huge and the first state win since 1983,” said Kesack.
He also points to the 25-22 win over Hasbrouck Heights on the road that clinched the Bears trip to the state playoffs, but it was also something else.
“That win was great,” said Kesack. “We kept them from making the playoffs.”
For now the past is the past as Kesack turns in his blue and gold of Lyndhurst for the white and Navy blue of Wesley College.
