The Villanovan's Athlete of the Year: Matt Szczur

Matt Szczur stood in the backfield and awaited the direct snap. Villanova was aligned in the Wildcat formation, one tailored to Szczur's skills and one that Villanova Head Coach Andy Talley says Szczur plays better than Brian Westbrook did when he was at Villanova.

Talley knows he can count on Szczur, and that's why he's given him the ball in such a big spot. It's fourth-and-one from the third-yard line, and a Villanova touchdown would give the Wildcats a comfortable 23-14 lead over Montana with 11 minutes to play in the FCS title game.It's a moment Szczur has been dreaming about since his freshman year when, while watching Appalachian State play, he turned to his roommate John Dempsey and said, "It'd be crazy to be them right now."

 On a day when Szczur would finish with 270 total yards, it was just these three he needed to stop dreaming and help Villanova become the Appalachian State of 2009.

The snap came to Szczur, and he moved to his left. His entire game is built on speed as he has blazed past opponents in every sport he's played. But here his speed will do him no good as 216-pound Montana linebacker Josh Stuberg is standing between him and the first down marker. With no chance to go around him, Szczur, who is more than 20 pounds smaller than the linebacker, pulls a new trick out of his bag. He runs right over him and into the end zone.

While the Montana side of Finley Stadium in Chattanooga groans, the Villanova side erupts, and no section is louder than the Szczur contingent of family and friends from Cape May, N.J. As the 11 minutes wind down, the cheers grow louder and won't stop until the wee hours of the morning.The game ends with Villanova on top 23-21 and Szczur on top of the podium to accept the game's most valuable player award as his teammates and family look on.

"It was amazing," said Marc Szczur, his father. "I don't know how to describe it, but I will never forget it."

While the evening was a coming-out party nationally for Szczur, for those who have known him for his entire life, it was just another part of the Szczur legend.

"I'm not a handyman."

Szczur has all the answers on the field, but there is a least one question he stumbles over: What is he not good at?

"I'm trying to think of something," Szczur said, not in boastfulness but in honesty. "There's got to be something."

At least in athletics, it's hard to find anything. Szczur was a four-year starter at Cape May Regional High School on his baseball, football and indoor track teams. Before high school, he was a South Jersey champion in wrestling. His senior year, he was set to play basketball before he injured himself playing football. 

"The first time we went out and played ‘Horse,' he picked up the ball and was draining 3's," said Villanova quarterback Chris Whitney, who rooms with Szczur.

Then what about Szczur's local street hockey league? 

"He won that, too," his father said with a chuckle.

Golf? The first time he played he shot a 67 on the front nine and a 45 on the back nine.

A jack-of-all-trades, Szczur is an accomplished artist and a good student, too, yet is described as humble and down to earth by everyone who knows him. 

In fact, he was even able to find out what he wasn't good at.

"I'm not a handyman," Szczur said. "I'm a momma's boy. She did everything for me."

On many nights in Cape May, Marc Szczur would come home from work to his house on Seashore Road, step out of his car and see his two sons, Matt and Marc, by the door with a bucket of baseballs ready to go to the field. The two were always ready to play, and their mom and dad were happy to oblige.

Szczur always had a knack for picking things up quickly, mainly because he had to in order to keep up with his big brother. Szczur played with his brother's friends and even wound up on his brother's teams as he would play up a few years in baseball. 

"Maybe it came from my brother," Szczur said of his competitive nature. "I was just trying to be better than him."

It was always apparent that athletically, Szczur was mature beyond his years.

He threw so hard in baseball that they moved the mound back in Little League, and parents demanded to see his birth certificate to verify his age.

His parents, who were at those games and almost every one since, never had a problem showing the evidence that he was indeed their son.

"Matt doesn't punt."

Szczur's senior season came with expectations — something rare for a team at Lower Cape May Regional. Behind Szczur, who had transitioned from running back to quarterback the season before, the team was in position to grab homefield for the playoffs. Szczur was called on to play an unfamiliar role late in that game when the punter got hurt, and he was forced into duty.

Facing a fourth-and-six late in the game, Szczur was hesitant to punt, but Coach Bailey sent him out there with those orders. As he waited for the snap, Szczur's father, who was a regular on the sidelines as a ball boy, turned to the photographer to his left and relayed one simple message.

"Get your cameras ready because Matt doesn't punt," he said.

His father was right because when Szczur got the snap, he tucked it into his body and ran to his right for 10 yards for the first down. When he ran past his sideline he called back to his coach, "I'm sorry." Lower Cape May Regional then took three kneels and won the game.

While Szczur was making a name for himself on the football field, he was turning even more heads playing baseball.

Szczur made plays all over the field, whether it was beating out ground balls to third base, picking runners at second base while catching or hitting long home runs. Eventually, scouts began to take notice, and by his junior year he was taking batting practice before games with a wood bat. A senior season in which he hit .681 confirmed the inevitable: Szczur had a big decision to make.