Episcopal Academy's Wide Receiver Steps Up

NEWTOWN SQUARE–’s Ian Strain was introduced to a new position last week in the .

Strain, Episcopal’s best weapon, usually plays wide receiver. But Strain was forced to replace starting quarterback Adam Strouss, who went down last week during practice with an injured ankle.

“We thought we were okay if we ran the ball, and up front Hun School has some post-graduates and they were a big team,” Churchmen coach Todd Fairlie said.

After halftime, the Churchmen remained their cool and moved forward.

“We got the ball with a minute and something left, down seven and our kids didn’t quit. We hung around and tied the game in the second half. I think we learned to turn the page at halftime and move forward," reflected Fairlie. "We stayed with things and we kept our heads and hung around. We prepared a little in case Adam got hurt, but we only got two days of practice with Ian."

Fairlie said the team is learning from experience and, although, he was initially nervous to put Strain in as quarterback, he played the position "brilliantly."

“A loss isn’t good, but we’re learning from the experience. I was nervous we wouldn’t put Ian in a position to be successful. But Ian was brilliant," said Fairlie. "We didn’t have to cut the package down too much. We ran the ball and kept it as a simple package. Ian managed the game, and made some big passes. He got more comfortable as the game went on. Ian is our guy—and he took every snap on defense.”