Chiarolanzio finds

home at Averett
By Steve Behr
sports@wataugademocrat.com

There was a reason why Watauga’s football team went to the state 4-A semifinals the last two years — the Pioneers had some pretty good players.

Big and small colleges are finding that out. Averett College became the latest to tap into Watauga’s talent pool by signing quarterback Adam Chiarolanzio to a letter of intent Thursday.

Chiarolanzio was a two-year quarterback, along with Blake Beason, for the Pioneers. He ran for 630 yards and scored seven touchdowns for the Pioneers, who went 12-3 last year. He also 38-of-75 passes for 713 yards and seven touchdowns and two interceptions.

Chiarolanzio developed the reputation of being the running quarterback, while Beason was the passer.

However, Beason showed that he could run the ball and Chiarolanzio proved he could pass it.

“I can do both,” Chiarolanzio said. “(Averett) saw I could do both on film.”

Chiarolanzio brings size (6-foot-2, 200 pounds) and athleticism to Averett, which went 0-10 last year after winning the USA South Conference championship the year before. Averett also runs the same Spread Offense that Watauga ran during Chiarolanzio’s prep career. Chiarolanzio said the Averett system, used by head coach Mike Dunlevy, is very similar to what the Pioneers have used.

“He was showing me plays when I was there and they do the same thing we’ve been doing the last two years,” Chiarolanzio said.

Chiarolanzio is the fourth Pioneer to sign a letter of intent and the fifth to be invited to a fall camp. Watauga running back Eric Breitenstein signed with Wofford, center Mike Farris signed with Emory & Henry, guard Casey Augustine signed with Wingate and kicker Savva Kostis will walk on to kick at Appalachian State.

Chiarolanzio’s road to Averett, a Division III school located an hour north of Greensboro in Danville, Va., started when his prep coach, Adrian Snow, sent the school some tapes. Chiarolanzio filled out two questionnaires before he was called and asked to make a visit.

“We told them that he’s a talented athlete,” Snow said. “It took us all year to get him to run behind his pads, and up until the middle of the season he started doing it and then he dinged his shoulder doing it. But he was a threat and that was good for us, and he got to the point where he threw it pretty well for us. He has a strong arm. I remember when he was in the gym and he was either knocking bricks out of the wall or breaking fingers. He’s got a cannon, no doubt about that.”

When Chiarolanzio visited the Averett campus, he felt comfortable with the school.

“They have a lot of really good athletes,” Chiarolanzio said. “They won a conference championship the year before last. They’ve got really good coaches and it’s a small town. It felt right.”

Averett has one junior at quarterback, Shan Fairbanks of Groveland, Fla., on the roster. Also signed were Jeremy Dixon from Hawthorne, Fla., and Phillip Kwaitkowsky from Coral Springs Fla.

The Cougars lost 23 seniors from the previous season, according to Chiarolanzio. They also took their lumps, including a season-ending 75-7 loss to powerful Mount Union, in 2007.

Chiarolanzio, who said some red flags “popped up” in his mind when he saw the Cougars’ 0-10 mark, said he would like to be part of the team that returns the Cougars back to the top of the USA South Conference.

“Once I got there and saw what they were doing, it all made sense,” Chiarolanzio said. “Whenever you lose 23 seniors, it’s going to be a rebuilding year.”