For a defensive back in football, the biggest dream, goal and thrill is always to return an interception or fumble for a touchdown, no matter at what level of play.
With a couple of heady and opportunistic maneuvers, Potomac School’s Jake Adamec fulfilled both in the span of about three minutes during the first half of the Panthers’ 48-22 defeat of St. John’s Catholic Prep on Sept. 6 in non-conference action.
“It was so much fun,” Adamec said. “I hope there will be more to come this season.”
First came the interception return. Playing in the middle of the field on the play, the 5-foot-8 senior safety stepped in front of a receiver at the opponent’s 45-yard line. Adamec made the catch cleanly, cut left to begin his return, then made a couple of nifty tackle-avoiding moves as he approached the goal line, scoring on the final play of the first quarter to give his team a 12-6 lead.
“I saw the quarterback looking at the tight end over the middle. So when he threw, I jumped around in front of him to catch the ball, started running and the dudes make blocks for me,” Adamec said.
Next came the fumble return for a 72-yard TD. Playing off the line of scrimmage, again in the middle of the field, Adamec scooped up a one-hop fumble forced by Mack Repke. With the ball in hand, Adamec made a quick cut to his right, then outraced everyone down the sideline untouched for a TD with 9:01 left in the second quarter.
“It was a Christmas gift. The ball bounced right to me,” Adamec said. “Before the game, I had envisioned getting a pick six, but not a scope and score [fumble return],” Adamec said. “For a defensive back, any sort of interception is a lot more exciting. The day was totally electric for the whole team.”
The pick six and scope and score were the first for Adamec in his high-school career. They were two dream plays and two touchdowns amounting to 117 yards in returns and 12 points for the varsity starter.
Also in the game, Adamec made another big play with a touchdown-saving tackle on a St. John’s kickoff return.
Through two games this season for the Potomac School football team, Adamec has made eight total tackles, with of course the one interception and fumble recovery.
For Adamec, playing sound defense in the middle of a field is what he’s accustomed to doing. Last spring, he was the starting centerfield for the Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament champion Potomac School baseball team. In 23 games, Adamec played errorless ball with 35 putouts and two assists from that position.
He has committed to play college baseball at Stevenson University in Maryland.
