By John Raffel
Adam Stremlow is proving to be one of the most dangerous Division 8 quarterbacks in the state.
The Coleman senior quarterback is off to a sizzling start, leading the Comets to a 3-1 mark.
In the fourth game of the season, one that could decide the Mid-State Activities Conference title, Stremlow led the Comets to a 29-26 victory over Carson City-Crystal, the defending MSAC champion. He ran the ball 25 times for 112 yards and scored three touchdowns. He also threw for 254 yards.
In the first three contests, Stremlow was 41 of 70 passing for 778 yards, 13 touchdowns, and no interceptions.
This is his third season as varsity quarterback. Last season, he threw for 2,700 yards and 35 touchdowns and was first-team all-conference. Expectations were high coming into this fall.
“He’s completely changed his mechanics,” Coleman coach Chad Klopf said. “His leadership has gotten better. His command of the offense has gotten better. The big thing we noticed in week 1 was his footwork. There were times when he probably shouldn’t have been able to get the throw off, but he did.”
Some plays in the offense designed to utilize Stremlow’s running talents. “He’s very important to us,” Klopf said. “He’s more of a pocket passer. Last year, he had five touchdowns rushing.”
Stremlow played a little bit of football in middle school, during which he broke his wrist. “He never really became their starter,” Klopf said. “He was our quarterback his freshman year when we played Nouvel in the playoffs. He quarterbacked us the last drive or two.”
“Ever since I was little, I always wanted to play quarterback,” Klopf said. “In sixth and seventh grade, I wanted to be a receiver more. By eighth grade, we started to pass more.”
Stremlow is already a record-setting quarterback at Coleman, but he’s far from done putting his imprint on things. “It’s his drive and determination to keep working,” Klopf said. “He’s always pushing to get better. He worked with a group in Midland and drove down to Pontiac for quarterback school every week.”
Klopf has observed that teams apply pressure and attempt to throw his timing off. “I’ve been training all off-season,” Stremlow said. “I’ve been working a lot on reading defenses.”
Charlevoix defeated Coleman in week 3, 39-21.
“His numbers were a little lower,” Klopf said. “Charlevoix did a good job of bringing the pressure. We had penalty after penalty; we were still able to move the ball through the air despite the fact people were putting pressure on us.”
“Definitely they blitz more and throw more guys deep into the coverage,” Stremlow said. “When we go five wide, it opens it up more.”
Stremlow is hoping to lead the Comets to an MSAC title and a strong playoff run. “Coleman hasn’t won the conference in a long time,” he said. “That’s No. 1 on the list.”
“We’ve playing playing pretty well,” Stremlow continued. “The offense is running well and the defense is doing pretty good.”
Stremlow estimates that, right now, the Coleman offense favors passing 70%-30%. “My sophomore year, we ran a lot more because we had an all-state running back [Tim Anderson],” he said. “That year it was the opposite. My junior and this season, it’s been a lot more passing.”
Stremlow doesn’t mind. “My starting receivers are all seniors,” he said. “They’re good athletes. I can throw a 50-yard screen to them and they’ll run it 60 yards. I can see the field very well. I have good accuracy. I’m good at avoiding the rush.”
Stremlow takes pride in keeping down the number of interceptions. “It’s focus and making sure you know where you’re throwing the ball and don’t make bad decisions,” he said. “It’s my third year on varsity. Most of the nerves have pretty much gone away.”
Stremlow has college aspirations. “We’ve been in discussions with Saginaw Valley and some of the schools he would like to go to,” Klopf said. “Coming out of a Division 8 program, it’s difficult to get someone to recruit him. We’ve been doing a lot of legwork and camps in the off-season to help him.”
“I’m hoping to find a spot where I’ll go next fall,” Stremlow said.