In his words: Southside Christian's JW Hertzberg
After going 31-7 as a starter at the high school level, amassing over 6,800 passing yards, and throwing for 73 touchdowns, Southside Christian's JW Hertzberg is ready to take the next step in his athletic and academic development.
The Marist verbal commitment recently spoke with PalmettoPreps.com to reflect on his high school career and look ahead to the future.
Following is Hertzberg, in his own words.
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Looking back at this season, we had some ups and downs and some new players. It took us some time to get some chemistry down. Me and Hosea Mattison have been together for a while now and we've always had a chemistry. I think that really helped us out this year, same with Luke Kissenberth. It just felt like everyone knew what was going on and we had one goal in mind. This senior class, we changed the culture. It's not just about 'we won', it's about winning the right way. It was a shame we didn't get to finish on top like we all hoped and dreamed but we had an amazing run. It was a heck of a season and I'll never forget it. I enjoyed every bit of it.
Coach (Mike) Sonneborn has a great team up there. His offense is really my type of fit; he took me under his wing and showed me how he wants his offense run. I don't know, it just kind of clicked. I felt like I was made for that position and I'll never be able to thank Southside Christian and Sabre Nation enough.
I'm verbally committed to Marist and really looking forward to it. Everyone tells me that it's cold up there and I'm not going to like it at all because it's Marist. That's not even it, there's no consideration right now. There's this home feeling every time I go up there for a visit or when the coaches come to see me. They make me feel like I'm already one of their players. Coach (Jordan) Johnson, my recruiting coordinator, he's been with me and been in my ear 24/7. I love their mentality and I love Coach (Jim) Parady, what he has in mind for that culture.
Everything about Marist is special. Not only is the campus great, but the people is super nice. Everyone is interested and it seems like a great place to build off of. I'm signing in February. I think my goal is, I want to walk in there, prove my point, show the coaches that I have what it takes to be their starter. I think that Coach Parady's offense also has that click. I haven't been in it yet, but there's this sense that Coach Sonneborn and Coach Parady are somewhat alike. They think the same way. I think that's one of the reasons that I fell in love with them. The coaches are telling me I have a shot and I'm going to take that shot and run with it.
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