A Foothills Falcon was so happy he was whistling Dixie as he signed his letter of intent to throw passes south of the 49th parallel in two years time.
Falcons quarterback Taylor Armsworthy signed on April 10 to play for the Dixie State University, a Division II NCAA school in St. George, Utah.
“This has been a long process,” Armsworthy said. “The recruiting process started in Grade 11 with all of the coaches that talked to me from the other schools.
“There is so much going on in your life with school, sports and you just have to wait to see where you are going to play.”
The process likely started when Armsworthy was a youngster. He credited former coaches from Jim Koshman in the former Foothills Falcons Minor Football Association to his present high school coaches in offensive coordinator Jayson Krause, head coach Greg McLeod and assistant coach Darren Stuber.
“It (high school football) taught me a lot about the team — it isn’t about the individuals,” said Armsworthy, an honour student. “It also taught me to keep me on top of my studies so I was able to move on to post-secondary.”
It is about team, several members of the Falcons’ team attended Armsworthy’s signing at Foothills Composite High School.
He said working with Krause, who is a life coach, also taught him some of the intangibles about being a football player.
“He helped me work on my leadership skills — you need that as a quarterback,” Armsworthy said. “He taught me how to be positive in a negative situation.”
Armsworthy came of age as a high school quarterback due to a negative situation as a Grade 11 student.
He was able to shake off a devastating loss when he fumbled on the goal line while going in for what would have been the winning touchdown on the final play of the game against the Cardston Cougars.
His handling of the situation impressed the Falcons head coach.
“He owned it and took responsibility for it even though it wasn’t all his fault,” McLeod said.
“I think that was the defining moment that really stuck with him. Taylor wants to be the guy who has the ball in the end — and he didn’t want something like that on his shoulders again.”
Armsworthy saw a few snaps as a Grade 10 student, before being named as a starter in Grade 11 and taking off from there.
“Like any kid in high school, there is a physical maturation but also a mental maturation,” McLeod said.
“Taylor is the kind of kid who will do whatever it takes to make himself a better football player and person.
“I don’t think Taylor even has a television set, but he watches countless hours of game film.”
One DVD he must really enjoy is the Falcons’ 42-21 upset over the then defending Tier I champion Harry Ainlay Titans last September. In fact, the DVD has become quite popular.
“The highlight of our year was against Ainlay and that was a game we were down early and Taylor just took over,” McLeod said. “Our team didn’t lay down and I attribute most of what happened in that game to him.”
McLeod said Armsworthy’s performance took on near legendary status and coaches were asking to see the game film.
Armsworthy had four touchdown passes in the victory over Ainlay.
Although he spent his entire football career in Canada the Grade 12 student at Foothills Composite High School always had longings to play south of the border.
“I always wanted to play in the United States for post-secondary,” Armsworthy said. “It has always been a goal and a dream of mine ever since I was little, just because of the high level of competition down there.”
He worked with a recruiting agency that sent a DVD of Armsworthy’s career to Dixie State.
He liked what he saw when he visited the Utah school earlier in the year. He also garnered some interest in Canada, from Simon Fraser University (which plays in same league as Dixie State), and the University of Calgary Dinos.
“I was really impressed with the school when I went down there,” said Armsworthy, who would like to study physiotherapy or speech therapy.
Armsworthy is the first Falcon to play NCAA football since Bryn Roy attended Texas A&M Commerce. Roy is now a member of the Montreal Alouttes.
“This is big for our program,” McLeod said. “Taylor has set a goal in his life and he worked his tail off to achieve it.”
However, it won’t be until the fall of 2015 that Armsworthy will head down to Utah to play football. While football is a high priority for the affable Senior, his top priority is family and his faith. Armsworthy plans to do two years of missionary work with the Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints before attending Dixie State.
“That was the reason I chose Dixie State,” Armsworthy said. “They are allowing me to defer my scholarship until I am done with my mission.”
Armsworthy, the Big Rock Football Conference 2012 MVP, is not quite done with his high school football career.
He was selected to the Team South All-star team for the Senior Bowl on May 20 at McMahon Stadium in Calgary along with Holy Trinity Academy Knights running back Ryder Stone.
