The summer didn’t get off to a great start for Shepard’s Billy Massey.
The rising senior suffered a broken left foot while running the bases in a baseball game, sidelining him for the start of the Astros’ summer workouts. It wasn’t an ideal situation, with Massey set to take over as Shepard’s starting quarterback after the graduation of Noah Vaughn.
“It’s really hard to see, like, all my boys are out there having fun and playing this contact sport, where I’ve got to sit on rhe sideline when I’m injured and not able to be out there,” Massey said while watching practice last month.
Massey was cleared to return earlier this month and had “a really good showing in mixed practices,” according to Astros coach John Rone.
Massey, a three-sport athlete who also plays baseball and basketball, isn’t used to being idle. So he did what he could to stay ready while his foot was healing.
“I just focus on myself and my well-being and trying to get myself in the best shape for when I am back to help out my boys when it’s time for basically war out there,” he said during the layoff. “I can’t really do anything lower-body. But I do a decent amount of upper-body (work) and I keep myself in good condition because I know if I don’t do that, when I come back I’m gonna be out of shape.”
Massey played tight end last season, when the Astros went 7-3 and Vaughn accounted for 1,942 total yards and 24 touchdowns. Also graduated are receiver Cameron Tryon, who averaged 18.6 yards per touch and scored 14 TDs, and lead back Anthony Loughran, who ran for 870 yards and 13 TDs.
So Massey will be expected to do some heavy lifting for the Astros’ offense. He’s ready.
“It’s going to be a fun year,” he said. “Not being able to play (quarterback) last year but playing it the two years prior, I’m going to have knowledge of what to do. But I think it’s going to be learning steps, especially with (me) being rusty.”
Rone has no hesitation in giving the keys to the offense to Massey because of what he brings to the role.
“No. 1, that’s leadership,” Rone said. “Another thing he’ll bring to the table is he has a very good working knowledge of the offense.”
Just as Massey presents a new look at quarterback, he’ll be working with a different kind of backfield mate.
“Anthony Loughran … was fast as well as big and powerful,” Rone said. “Our running backs aren’t very big, (but) they are quick and fast. One of them, (rising junior) Aarien Lee, is ranked in, like, the top three in his class in the state for the long jump.”
Rone’s hope is that the offense comes together well enough for the Astros to cross off the big items on their to-do list.
“We have three stated goals,” he said. “We want to win what we consider to be the District … (218) football crown, a conference championship and we’ve got to take care of business at least through the quarterfinals of the (IHSA) playoffs. The program’s never been there.
“We always have the ultimate goal of a state championship, but those three things need to get checked.”