Huntingdon graduate Alec Tressler will primarily be playing safety for the South in tonight's Lezzer Lumber Classic, and he might get some time at cornerback.
Should, however, South coach Ernie Fetzer needs Tressler to play on offense, he can play quarterback.
And fullback.
And tackle.
And guard.
And center.
Fact Box
Lezzer at a glance
When: Tonight, 7 p.m.
Where: War Vets Field, Huntingdon
South coach: Ernie Fetzer, Penn Cambria
North coach: Les Smeal, West Branch
Last year: South won, 35-14
And tight end.
And wide receiver.
And tailback.
Tressler has played all the offensive positions throughout his high school career, and most of the time he stepped and volunteered to play those spots when they were opened because of injuries or transfers.
"I try to be a leader," he said. "I like to win more than have my own numbers and name out there."
Take for instance last year, when Tressler volunteered to play quarterback - a position he had never played before - after the previous starter, John O'Korn, transferred to a school in Florida.
He completed 48-of-130 passes for 436 yards and was picked off 14 times.
"We really needed someone to step in there," Tressler said. "I had been practicing there all summer, and I pretty much volunteered for it just to help the team. Playing quarterback was difficult. It's a huge responsibility because you have to remember whatever everybody else is doing. There's a lot of pressure on the quarterback when you're not doing well."
"When we needed a kid at varsity-level quarterback, he stepped in and said 'I'll do it,' " Huntingdon coach Jim Zauzig said. "When you're a quarterback, everybody sees your game. He had a great game against Central Mountain, but he had some bad games. But he kept going back out there, and you won't see a lot of emotion out of him.
"We went 3-7, so we had bigger issues than quarterback. Against Central Mountain, he was threading the needle and made three third-down passes to seal the deal. We possessed the ball about the last six minutes of the game."
Tressler is one of 26 area players who will play for the South in the 28th annual game, which kicks off at 7 p.m. at Huntingdon's War Vets Field. Five area players make up the North, which is being coached by West Branch's Les Smeal.
The 5-foot-11, 180-pound Tressler had played all over the offense as a junior, including the offensive line. He wore No. 68 when he played on the offensive line because of injuries to linemen, which made it kind of interesting seeing someone with that number playing safety.
"I was a lot smaller than all of those guys," Tressler said. "At tackle, they had me blocking defensive ends. Coach Zauzig always joked about the other team's scouting report with No. 68 at defensive back."
As a junior, Tressler lead the area in interceptions with six from his safety spot. An Altoona Mirror Honorable Mention selection as a junior and senior at safety, he had two of the team's four pickoffs last year to go with 48 tackles.
"I think Alec made his mark as a safety," Zauzig said. "His body doesn't say safety, but he knows what he's looking for. He only had two interceptions his senior year, but one was huge at the end of the Central game. Central had a fourth down at the 10, and they threw a pass over the middle, and Alec intercepted it."
Tressler, who will continue his career at Lock Haven University, is looking forward to playing one more game on his home field.
"That's always a motivator," Tressler said. "There will be a lot of people from Huntingdon there. It's going to be a good time. I've made a lot of relationships this week with guys I had never met before. I'm going to miss playing high school football, so I get to do it one last time."
