Lessons too good to pass up

Summer leagues build football skills

Natick quarterback Scott McCummings credits the summer passing league with helping him learn to read coverage. (David Kamerman/Globe Staff)

On a steamy summer evening earlier this week, the Natick High quarterback was unleashing his powerful throw, sending balls on a line into the outstretched hands of his receivers in a series of informal scrimmages on the turf field surface behind Framingham High.

Scott McCummings, like his twin brothers before him, is a natural athlete. But last fall, when he lined up as a sophomore first-year starter for the Redmen, the 6-foot-3, 190-pound McCummings struggled a bit in breaking down defensive coverages. When he looked downfield, he "wouldn't see anything," he said.

Now, that vision is coming naturally. When he lines up to take the snap, McCummings no longer sees a couple of defensive backs standing idle. He sees a Cover 2 or a Cover 3 defensive scheme.

"Usually last year, when I lined up under center on in shotgun, I had to depend on Thad and Theo to tell me every single coverage area," said McCummings of his brothers, who were senior backs on last year's Natick squad. "Now I see it for myself, and I know what I'm looking for every play."

He credits his experience in a summer passing league for helping his development as a skill position player. One night per week over a five-week span, McCummings and his Natick High teammates lace up their cleats, and sans shoulder pads and helmets, play in the six-team Framingham Passing League, now in its eighth year of operation under the direction of Tom Click, a former assistant at Framingham High.

As the head coach at Framingham's Marian High in the mid-1980s, competing against such powerhouses as Archbishop Williams and Bishop Fenwick, Click was forced to be creative in his play calling.

His playbook was full of run-and-shoot schemes, taken out of Glenn "Tiger" Ellison's groundbreaking books (such as "Run-and-Shoot Football: The Now Attack") and never short of trick plays.

Click idolized passing greats such as Johnny Unitas and Bart Starr. So when Framingham head coach Gary Doherty approached him nearly a decade ago about starting a passing league, he was all ears.

"I bit right away. I was all in," said Click.

Sitting in a chair on the sidelines, the 65-year-old Click rules the roost, trading friendly barbs with players, interrupting a conversation about his passion for offense with frequent yells of "nice catch."

Hudson and Lincoln-Sudbury head up to the 12-team Merrimack Valley League in Lowell, while the Marlborough Passing League, which includes Algonquin, Ashland, Assabet, Milford, and two Marlborough squads, is in its second year.

The rules are straightforward: seven players per side, one-hand touch, no running plays, no pass rush, and three downs to go 15 yards. Balls that are incomplete, intercepted, or not released after a five-second count by the referee are considered dead.

The Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association rules do not allow head coaches or assistants to participate in the league. They are free to watch as spectators, but cannot be involved in any coaching.

Some might view the leagues as a glorified game of touch football. But it allows the players to work on their skills in a controlled setting.

"I wish I had this when I was in high school," said Adam Engle, a former Natick High player who has been coaching the Natick squad for the last six summers.

Framingham High senior Dan Guadagnoli has benefited from his experience in the league. As a sophomore starter, he admits that he struggled with making the right reads.

"If I were to just jump into the season and not play in a seven-on-seven passing league, reading coverages and finding my guys in game situations would be a lot more difficult," he said.

Natick captain Tom Brandt, exclusively a defensive end for the Redmen last fall, will be worked into the passing attack this season as a running back. The league allows him to "get warmed up" for the season, he said.

With more and more high school and college programs running the spread attack on offense, passing leagues have become more prominent and popular. Wayland, another Framingham participant, rode the spread, and quarterback Ben Sherry, to a 2006 Division 1A Super Bowl title.

Lincoln-Sudbury runs the Wing-T formation under Tom Lopez, who said the leagues "help everybody. It helps the quarterback with reads - who's going to be open, and when - but it also helps out the defensive backs and linebackers with their coverage. It's good for recognition."

For Click, who works six nights per week for the Police Athletic League, being out on a football field on a summer night is good for the soul.

"I live for this," he said.

Brendan Hall can be reached at bhal59@hotmail.com.