photo by Bill Wyckoff. Ben Sasu runs for Quince Orchard

Published on: Wednesday, October 07, 2009

By Joe Slaninka

Quince Orchard’s 31-10 loss to eventual state champion Sherwood in the 2008 Maryland 4A Regional Final signified the end of junior Ben Sasu’s multi-year reign as the Cougars’ backup running back.

Now a senior, Sasu is not only the starter, but also is the county’s leading rusher with 697 yards and 13 touchdowns. Think of him as the Ben Sasu Express. Still, he said a championship is all he is thinking about this year.

“Although it is nice to be recognized for individual accolades, the only thing that matters is wins,” he said.

Sasu said he is approaching this season much differently than past seasons.

“This is my senior year and I know that I will never be able to experience the high school atmosphere ever again,” he said. “I just try and approach every game like it’s the state championship.”

For the last two-and-a-half years (he moved up to varsity halfway through his freshman year), Sasu has flown under the radar and in the shadows of the likes of past Cougar running backs Travis Hawkins, Thomas Addison and Dawaun Genies. He rushed for more than 500 yards and eight touchdowns last season.

“We were lucky enough to have great talent here and we still have great talent,” Quince Orchard head coach Dave Mencarini said. “Ben is just adding to that tradition and every time he touches the ball, something positive happens.”

Mencarini said the 5-foot-9, 200-pounder “patiently waited” for his time to shine and respects him “tremendously for that.”

“In years past he has been more of a power back,” Mencarini said. “He has worked really hard this off-season to add that speed element to his game and now I consider him to be what you look for in a great tailback.”

The Cougars are undefeated so far this season (4-0) and Sasu has been one of the major factors in each of those wins, including the 37-13 demolition of Damascus on Sept. 11 when he posted 211 yards and four touchdowns on 35 carries.

“It feels good,” Sasu said, about finally getting his chance. “I’ve been waiting for three years and now I just need to come out this year and ball as hard as I can.”

Sasu said he blames his backup status the last few seasons on not working hard enough, but now he uses it as motivation.

“The coaches thought that I wasn’t the No. 1 guy because the other running backs worked harder than me, so that made me just want to work harder to make sure that this year – my senior year – I’m starting and not have it any other way,” he said.

The humble running back credits his success on the field to his teammates and said, “my heart goes out to them because without them, I’m nothing.”

The Cougars moved to Class 3A, which packs a punch this year with the likes of Damascus (3-2), Seneca Valley (3-2) and fellow 3A newcomer Clarksburg (4-0). Sasu said the Cougars are taking it game by game.

“We have to make sure we play hard every game because points in this region are hard to come by,” he said. “We need to just come out every day and bust our hump in practice.”

Coaches will tell you Sasu has worked hard his whole career – even before high school.

Part of the Sasu lore goes back to his eighth grade year. While playing running back for St. Francis, Sasu was late to a game against Maplewood – both teams at the time were in the Capital Beltway League.

At half time St. Francis was down by more than 30 points, but when Sasu showed up, St. Francis came storming back.

On a Maplewood punt, Sasu punctuated his performance with a startling 57-yard return. Dodging and weaving Sasu made his way down to the Maplewood 20-yard-line.

Then things got interesting.

A Maplewood player knocked Sasu’s helmet from his head, but Sasu didn’t stop running. At the Maplewood 10-yard-line the punter remained the only player between Sasu and the goal line. A helmet-less Sasu broke down on the defender as if he would run him over.

The defender backed off and Sasu scored.

When a Maplewood coach asked why his punter retreated in the face of a player without a helmet, the player could only shrug his shoulders: fear had made him back away.

Sasu apparently knows no fear and this year, other teams are getting a good healthy dose of the Sasu Express.