EGELSTON TOWNSHIP – It might be a stretch to say that the Oakridge Eagles have suddenly become a pass-happy team.

But if senior quarterback Matt Danicek keeps throwing like he did in the season-opener last Thursday, who knows?

Of course the Eagles, a longtime area power, have been mostly a running team in recent years, for good reason.

With running backs like All-Stater LeRoy Quinn, followed by All-Stater Corey Vanderputte, there wasn’t much need to go to the air.

Danicek understood that last year when he became the new starting quarterback as a junior.

His job was to operate the offense efficiently – which he did – and occasionally run and pass the ball. But more times than not he was handing off to Vanderputte, Brendan Raymond or Trever Jones and letting them do the leg work.

Danicek’s passing numbers were decent in 2001. He completed 35 of 57 throws for 514 yards and two touchdowns, which was just enough to complement the ground game.

“It’s always nice to throw, but we had a better team to run it last year,” said Danicek, the son of Oakridge offensive coordinator Nate Danicek. “We had three great running backs, so we had the right team for that. It’s a team sport, and I loved seeing my teammates getting the touchdowns.”

Things changed a lot on Thursday night when the Eagles opened the season against Sparta. Danicek really turned it on, completing 14 of 18 passes for 208 yards and two touchdowns. That matched his touchdown total from 2021 and came close to equaling half of his total passing yardage.

Evan Miller caught both of the touchdown passes while Ty Maitland had four catches for 57 yards in the Eagles’ 30-14 victory.

Danicek also rushed for 86 yards, including a touchdown, and intercepted a Sparta pass on defense.

Needless to say, he was pumped about the way things went.

“It was really exciting,” Danicek said. “It was something new and different. I knew I had all the guys out there to help me out, and I knew we could do it together.

“We spent a lot of time passing during 7-on-7’s (in the summer), communicating and getting the passing routes down, and we finally got to show it on the field.”

Longtime Oakridge head coach Cary Harger said a decision was made earlier this year to pass more in 2022, for several reasons.

“We have a little different emphasis than last year, when he had a really big line and an All-State running back,” Harger said. “This year we lost a little size on the line, and we knew that Matt was more experienced at quarterback and we had more receivers who could be potential targets.

“We knew Matt could throw last year, but he’s gotten stronger physically, and he attended some quarterback training sessions over the winter. He definitely took advantage of those and learned more about the mechanics and accuracy.

“He had a good night throwing the ball around, and there were a good number of kids involved in the passing game. That will be good moving forward. We can stress defenses with more than just our running game.”

With more passing plays in the game plan, Danicek said he feels more involved in the offense, and more responsible for the results.

“Passing makes me feel like I can control the game more,” he said. “Being able to trust my receivers, having them trust me, and having a great line giving me time to throw, I was ready.”

The Eagles will now turn their attention to this Thursday’s game at Muskegon Catholic Central. The Crusaders faced a prolific thrower last week – North Muskegon quarterback James Young – but came from behind to take a 24-22 win.

It’s pretty well known that MCC is younger this year, with a lot of new faces in the lineup, but Harger said the Crusaders demonstrated on Thursday that they are the same as always – very tough to beat.

“That’s a common theme with Catholic – they don’t quit,” Harger said. “They are always going to be hard-nosed and physical. Just because they get behind in a game doesn’t mean their opponent can count on anything.”

The Eagles thought they had MCC beaten last season when they led 28-22 with 12 seconds remaining, but the Crusaders got a touchdown and two-point conversion as the clock ran down and won 30-28.

That loss stung, and the Eagles have not forgotten that feeling, according to Danicek.

“We lost to them last year, and we’re all pretty hungry,” he said.