Hayes ready to make noise for Timberlane football

Dan Hayes is in an interesting spot as the Timberlane Regional High School football team gets ready for this season.

The senior quarterback enters his third year as the starter for the Owls, but around him will be a handful of players that, in some cases, will be getting their first taste of varsity football. 

But despite some potential inexperience, Hayes is still familiar with many of the guys he'll be taking the field with this fall.

"A lot of his senior classmates now find themselves in the lineup and this is the first chance they’ve had to play with Dan since he was a freshman," Timberlane coach Kevin Fitzgerald said. "He is poised and confident and has a good understanding of what we want to do. He communicates well with the players and the kids look up to him."

Knowing that it was going to take time for everyone to get on the same page, Hayes encouraged his teammates to join him for some extra work throughout the offseason.

"We’ve been to the field a lot," Hayes said. "We’ve repped in a lot of routes and some new schemes for this year. Last year, we graduated a lot, so we’re really trying to get the chemistry going. There’s a lot of new guys."

Putting in extra work to improve his skills is nothing new to Hayes, who has been playing the quarterback position since fifth grade. Once he reached high school, the focus on getting better increased, and Hayes eventually began thinking about the possibility of not only starting on varsity, but of playing at the next level.

"Going into freshman year, I had always trained for football," he said. "I went to a college camp as a freshman and was doing as well as some seniors. I knew where I stood. I felt like I could play, and when I won the (starting quarterback) job sophomore year, it confirmed it."

Hayes has been working with Darrin Nicoli, a quarterback training coach, to improve his mechanics, and help get his name out there among college coaches.

"I would describe him as a football junkie," Fitzgerald said. "He loves talking, watching, playing football. He watches a lot of film. He’s been to a lot of camps to improve his skills. Any opportunity to throw, he takes advantage of it and he works hard in the weight room."

Now, as a senior, Hayes has taken on plenty of leadership responsibilities, too, thanks in part to being a three-year starter and the varsity quarterback. 

"Definitely as the years have gone on, I’ve become more confident," Hayes said. "It’s easier for me to start helping guys. When I was a sophomore, I’m letting the coaches do things or asking them what to do.

"Now, if kids get confused, they’ll say ‘Dan, where do I go,’ or other kids ask what to do. They want to learn, and if I see something, I make suggestions."

That's included helping his backups, senior Sean Rudd and junior Jared Morrison.

"He's at the forefront of this year’s group," Fitzgerald said. "He has worked very hard to put himself in position for success and we’ll expect big things from Dan. And he expects big things from himself."

Just how far Hayes and Timberlane can go remains to be seen. This year, the Owls will have a new opponent in the Division I South Conference, as Windham moves up. Pinkerton, Salem and Londonderry - three playoff teams last season - are also in the conference. 

"What would be a successful year for us, it’s tough to say," Hayes said. "Everyone wants to win. Offensively, it’s just moving the ball and not being overpower on the line. It’s being in games and scoring points and putting pressure on defenses to stop us. To having a winning year would be successful."