Garfield HS

By CHUCK O’DONNELL
STAFF WRITER |  – The Record

Alex Victorino left the field Friday night with gaudy statistics and a feeling of exhilaration after leading Garfield to a 42-39 victory over Rutherford.

It wasn’t until later that the junior quarterback realized he also had come away with a few school records.

“I found out on northjersey.com when I got home,” said Victorino, The Record Male Athlete of the Week. “I went to northjersey.com to check out the scores of the other games and I saw Garfield, and it said ‘Alex Victorino set a school record.’ I had no clue.

“I was kind of happy. I was happy, but I wasn’t satisfied because I could have had a lot more. I want to be perfect all the time.”  Victorino and the Boilermakers were far from perfect at the start of Friday’s game. You wouldn’t have thought he was on his way to setting the school’s single-game marks for most passing yards (390) and touchdown passes (five) when he completed only three of his first nine attempts.

But besides making good reads at the line of scrimmage, Victorino says a quarterback’s biggest responsibility is “keeping everybody up.” So when Garfield started slowly, he continued to exalt his teammates on the sideline and in the huddle. “I said, ‘Guys, we have to wake up,’ ” Victorino said.

At some point, the alarm clock went off. In the second half, he completed 14 consecutive passes. He completed three two-point conversions. He ran for 51 yards on three carries.

Victorino says he has enjoyed the camaraderie of his teammates this season, and how they all buy into coach Jeff DeVito’s mantra: adapt and overcome.

– See more at: http://www.northjersey.com/sports/high-school-sports/football/h-s-male-athlete-of-the-week-alex-victorino-of-garfield-1.1119421#sthash.ksOUpRWp.dpuf